It's been a few weeks since we checked in on the Shirley Halperin saga — and no news is bad news.
You know Shirley as the woman who quit Us Weekly to head to Teen People, returned to Us when her new magazine folded, and then quit again when BFF Lori Majewski found her an opening at Entertainment Weekly. Caught in the middle of that was staffer Mia Sulpor, who was working under Ken Baker at Us' West Coast office when Shirley returned for the second time — and took Mia's office.
As you might imagine, Mia was none too pleased. But now she's having the last laugh: We hear she's up and ditching Us herself, heading to a new gig at Variety on Tuesday. Perhaps something to do with Ken Baker's exit to head the magazine's website? Or, you know, just a general "fuck you" to the Wenner tab.
Exclusive
While Star magazine weathers its own storm, we hear things aren't remaining too quiet for Us Weekly, either. An insider tells us entertainment editor Shirley Halperin has quit the magazine. For the second time.
As we understand it, Shirley (seen here with Kyle XY's Matt Dallas) left Us at the end of '05 to join fellow Wenner tabloid vet Lori Majewski at Teen People, where she was EIC. Then, as you'll recall, Time Inc. unceremoniously shuttered the title, and Lori took off for Entertainment Weekly (which we were the first to tell you about) — but she was unable to take Shirley with her, we're told.
Jobless, Shirley reluctantly returned to Us Weekly's West Coast office with Ken Baker, knowing it would only be a temporary arrangement before Majewski could find an EW opening. Janice Min & Co., however, weren't aware she was just biding her time — and ousted staffer Mia Sulpor from her office to make room for Shirley, also handing her the type of assignments senior editors fight for, like the first interview with Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels after the birth of their twins.
But now word comes that Lori has found a place for Shirley among the Time Inc.-ers, reuniting the best friends — and, once again, leaving Us empty handed.
