coverawards.com» Search Results New York Times Angelina Jolie

Newsstand Junkie: Angelina Jolie does a script ‘tease’ with Johnny Depp

Melissa Noble — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:36:53 +0000

***Pulled from The New York Daily News

Is it spring already? Because love is in the air. Sure, the tabs are still singing Brangelina’s death knell, but now we have all kinds of fresh assignations. Reese and Gerard? Taylor and John? Taylor and some guy from “Glee”? And did Angelina “sink her claws” into Johnny Depp? Find out in the ‘zines!

Star comes down hard on Winona Ryder for hogging the free samples at Bristol Farms. “She kind of went overboard,” according to a source who says that Winona snacked on cookies from the bakery, turkey from the deli and pieces of steak from the meals-to-go-aisle. I’d expect a little more compassion. At least now she’s stealing things that are free.

Sparks flew between Taylor Swift and “Glee’s” Cory Monteith at a Grammy party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, says OK! The mag has a picture of them sitting together, and an eyewitness says that Cory asked for Taylor’s number “so they can stay in touch while she’s on tour.” This is great news. He seems nice, and they both like singing. But does this change her “Twilight” affiliation with Team Jacob?

Us Weekly says that Lindsay Lohan is thinking about doing a show like “The View” but geared toward teens because “she thinks she can relate to young girls.” If mom Dina taught her one thing, it’s how to relate to underage girls. You just put them in glitter stockings, sneak them into a nightclub and turn a blind eye to their drinking!

Katie Holmes has taken Suri to see “Mary Poppins” on Broadway two times, and now, says OK!, Suri is “entranced” by the theater and determined to be an actress. I would make some comment about how age 3 is too young to be planning your career — but hadn’t Dakota Fanning already graduated from Juilliard by then?

Mark Wahlberg was shopping at Babies “R” Us in L.A. when a fellow shopper busted him for parking in the “Expecting Mothers” spot. “A woman yelled at him as he was getting out of his car, but he pretended he didn’t hear,” says Star. “She took her complaint to the manager, who confronted him inside the store.” I pity the man who had to confront a pregnant Mark Wahlberg.

OK! says that Brad Pitt’s recent trimming of his beard means he’s ready to resolve his problems with Angelina. “A beard very often signifies hiding from whatever is around you — all the people and all the problems,” says Dr. Gilda Carle, who has not treated Brad or his beard. “Trimming it suggests that he’s willing to be clearer and more honest about everything that’s going on in their relationship.” So he’s ready to face the music. But he’d better not get too cheeky. That would be a close shave.

Star claims that Reese Witherspoon and “Hollywood’s playboy du jour,” Gerard Butler, have been friendly ever since producers at New Line asked them to read a few scripts together to test their chemistry. “They got very chatty while reading the scripts,” says a source, and then started “secretly meeting up.” But don’t worry, the mag says Reese views this as a casual thing and isn’t interested in taking it any further. In other words, she’s not going to get all Jen or Renée on this one.

Us Weekly’s “Dirty Secrets of ‘The Bachelor’ ” story includes a dossier of scandalous info about each of the final four ladies. The most interesting (and longest) is Vienna’s. The 23-year-old is charged with stealing people’s boyfriends in high school, “acting like an idiot,” cheating, faking tears to get attention, draining her ex-husband’s bank account while he was deployed in Iraq so that she could pay for breast implants, and working at Hooters. Wait, when you put those last two together — does it count as a business expense?

OK! says that Tiger Woods‘ estranged wife, Elin, has chosen to “put her divorce plans on hold” to help Tiger with his recovery from sex addiction. After taking part in his therapy, she sees that “sex was his drug of choice.” Of note is that Tiger’s six-week counseling program is named “Gentle Path.” I’m guessing that must have been Elin’s first compromise. Because I would have wanted to sign him up for “Tortuous Crushing Path.”

“Real Housewife of New York” and mom-to-be Bethenny Frankel told OK! everything she ate one day last week, and then they got a nutritionist to say what she should have eaten instead. Example: Bethenny says, “I ate a scooped out whole-wheat bagel with a little butter.” Nutritionist says, “Glad to see the bagel was scooped out. But an even better choice would have been a slice of whole-wheat toast.” Bethenny’s baby says, “Forget the scooping out! And put a burger on that bagel!”

According to In Touch, Taylor Swift’s “risky hookup” with John Mayer consisted of sitting on his lap in a recording studio and whispering in his ear. But a source also claims that Taylor spent a night in John’s hotel suite and ordered a late breakfast the next morning. So she still had an appetite? She impresses me more every day.

Star says that Kanye West and Amber Rose stormed out of dinner at Philippe in NYC because their food took half an hour to come out of the kitchen. But the mag also says they had ordered Peking duck, which takes 45 minutes, and it says so on the menu. There is no comment from Kanye in the story. But if he had been reached by the mag, I suspect he would have blogged: “THAT’S BULL@#$%. I CAN COOK A PEKING DUCK IN 50 SECONDS WITH THE HEAT FROM MY RHYYYYYYYMES!!!!!!!”

Finally, Star insists that Angelina Jolie has “set a trap to snare” her “The Tourist” co-star Johnny Depp. The “shameless tease” is “back to her old tricks” and “has no limits.” What does that mean? Well, apparently the sexy screenplay is merely a “front” for her seduction, and an excuse for her to go over to Johnny’s house and sip red wine and “get in character.” But seeing as this is an action flick, “getting in character” probably means using Johnny’s tattoos for target practice. So no worries, Brad!

~Written for The New York Daily News by Patrick Huguenin

Newsstand Junkie: Celebrity Weekly Round-Up

Melissa Noble — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:03:53 +0000

This week, reality stars are putting their feet down. Say the Gosselin children on the cover of OK!, “STOP WRECKING OUR LIVES!” Says Khloe Kardashian on the cover of Life & Style, “DON’T CALL ME FAT!” But, really, all this is minor compared to the week’s earth-shattering event: Someone took new pictures of Knox and Vivienne. Find out in the ‘zines where the Jolie-Pitt twins were spotted!

Star theorizes that things are still tense between Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff because one of the mag’s spies allegedly saw him putting liquid soap in her cup of tea at a Lipton event in Los Angeles. Her handlers prevented her from drinking it and, I hope, explained to Maksim that if he’s trying to get Karina to clean up her act, he’s thinking too literally.

An OK! headline promises the details of Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson’s “WILD PARTIES” in Vancouver, but the article reveals these consist of steakhouse dinners, riding in a chauffeured Prius, “gentle kissing,” “acting totally silly” and, in Rob’s case, a trip to a local dive called Loose Moose, where a fan tells OK! that seeing him was “like finding Elvis alive.” Something tells me that Elvis could have gotten in a little more trouble than these kids.

In the wake of her split with Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel is prepping for a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, says Star. She’ll scale the Tanzanian peak in January and has been practicing on the climbing wall at L.A.’s Rockreation Sport Climbing Center. She’s also sleeping in a $3,000 altitude-bed system that preps her body for high elevation. Sounds like she’s determined to rise above.

Life & Style reports 45-year-old movie producer Sonja Morgan is joining “The Real Housewives of New York City.” The frosty-looking blond, once married to the great-grandson of financier J.P. Morgan, also was recently sued for breach of contract for a movie in which John Travolta had been tapped to star, and has a $7 million judgment against her. “I am appealing,” she tells the mag. (She means that in the legal sense.)

Kiss just released their 19th studio album, and Us Weekly asked Gene Simmons what his kids think of his music career. “That their dad’s cool!” he answers. “He spits fire and throws up blood.” I was about to make fun of this response but, frankly, in the world of celebrity dads, at least this one has a job.

On page 56 of Us Weekly, Heidi Montag welcomes you to the special section “What’s in My Closet.” I learned that Spencer Pratt’s wife has “so many Hermès belts and bangles because H is for Heidi. The store is made for me.” Plus, Carrie Ann Inaba loves hats because she feels “cool and mysterious in them,” and Juliette Lewis doesn’t like leaving home without feathers incorporated into her outfit. And you thought the answer to “What’s in My Closet” was going to be “skeletons.”

Star claims that Kanye West feels so bad about “hurting Taylor Swift” in what they call the “VMAs debacle” that he is “making plans to spend a month at an ashram in Pondicherry, India.” I’m glad they got so specific about where the ashram is. Now maybe Taylor Swift can make it a tour stop.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt has seen “Pirates of the Caribbean” 12 times and now carries a plastic sword and calls her siblings matey.”OK! says “Angelina thinks she’s a hoot.” She’ll think that until she’s told, “Avast, wench, bring me more rum!”

Ever since Mary-Kate Olsen started dating artist Nate Lowman and Ashley started dating Justin Bartha, they’ve been in a “race to the altar,” says Star. Complicating the rivalry, both want their weddings featured in Vogue and both want custom gowns by “their friend Karl Lagerfeld.” This makes me wonder if “Bride Wars” could have been more successful as a documentary.

Even though she shed 25 pounds for her wedding, Khloe Kardashian was disheartened to see that “wicked bloggers” called her a “monster beast,” “Kong,” “Bigfoot” and a “fat skunk” after she walked down the aisle with Lamar Odom, says Life & Style. So she used the insults as an excuse to do yet another bikini cover! “I don’t think with my bone structure I could get much smaller than a 6,” she tells the mag. Hear that, wicked bloggers? She’s “big-boned skunk” from now on. Meanwhile, Star claims that a week before he met Khloe, Odom proposed to one of his ex-girlfriends, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, but she turned him down. Lamar Odom: the basketball world’s answer to Jen Aniston?

“Hannah Montana” co-star Cody Linley had a wild night out in Orlando, and the caption Star runs with the photos of his naughty escapade says it all: “After making out with a female clubgoer, Cody followed the young woman outside, where he carried her around — and sloppily kissed her some more! The teen actor also let fans autograph his bare chest and ripped stomach.” I can hear his publicist saying, “Great job, Cody! They called you ‘ripped’!”

George Clooney bought girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis a ring, says In Touch, clarifying that “it’s not an engagement ring,” just a regular ring. He also bought her a Hermès bag and is “looking at a Maserati.” So, if she’s smart, she might hope that the serious ring is 10 or 12 big-ticket gifts down the line.

Finally, there are pictures of Brad and Angie’s babies on page 1 of Star, 6 of OK!, 18 of Life & Style, 44 of In Touch and 51 of Us Weekly. Knox looks like Brad. Vivienne has cute lil’ earrings. They went out for ice cream with Mom and Dad Oct. 2 in Amman, Jordan, and Ihab Fakhouri, owner of Licky Licious, took pictures of the visit. Little did the Jolie-Pitts know, Fakhouri peddles not only ice cream but tabloid gold.

Written by: Patrick Huguenin

Click on each image to see its full-size

Hottest Celeb Weekly Gossip Items

Mark Pasetsky — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:14:20 +0000

We’ve reached the doldrums of August, but Jon Gosselin is keeping gossip alive, telling In Touch “I’M TIRED OF BEING BLAMED” in an exhaustive interview. Which of his 20-something ladyfriends is he actually dating? Find out in the ‘zines!
High-decibel chef Gordon Ramsay graces Us Weekly’s “25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me.” Things I learned: He sleeps only five hours a night, he recently got a bulldog named Rumples and if he weren’t a chef, he’d be a scuba diving instructor — in which capacity he would stand in a rowboat and scream down into the water, “You can’t tell a @#$%ing brain coral from a blasted anenome? Disgusting!”
Star dotes on Jennifer Love Hewitt’s slimmed-down bikini body, which was conveniently photographed while she happened to be playing tennis in a sexy black two-piece and glittery wedge heels. After that, she hit the treadmill in her negligee and Louboutins.
While on location preparing to film “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” on April 14, NeNe Leakes grabbed Kim Zolciak by the neck and “tried to chocked [sic] her out,” according to a police report obtained by OK! Since then, Kim has retained a bodyguard, and will be sorely disappointed that, despite this fact, no one is any more interested in listening to her cover of “I Will Always Love You.”
There is a rumor, per Us Weekly, that reality TV princess Lauren Conrad’s semiautobiographical novel “L.A. Candy” will be turned into a movie. If this happens, Hilary Duff will play Lauren, Megan Fox will play Audrina and Heidi will be portrayed by the fembot from “Terminator 3.”

‘Tween heads must be spinning over the pictures of Taylor Swift locked in an amorous embrace with Taylor Lautner (see page 7 of Star). True, they were shooting a scene for their movie “Valentine’s Day,” but seriously, the country queen and the “Twilight” hunk have the SAME NAME — this rumor should have already been in the works!
None of the mags say anything about it, but a picture on page 53 of Us Weekly reveals that Suri Cruise is sporting a new hair style: straight tresses that fall past her shoulders. So does this mean bobs are out? Do the children of Hollywood know?? Have Violet Affleck and Coco Cox-Arquette scheduled salon appointments???
In introducing George Clooney’s latest Italian babe, TV host Elisabetta Canalis, Star picks up a report from the Italian magazine Chi that says when George and Elisabetta smooched during dinner in Rome “their passion set fire to the restaurant!” I’d like to clarify that this is an instance of hyperbole. If George actually had this effect, the country would be scorched from Napoli to Alto Adige.

While “Bachelorette” winner Ed Swiderski was winning Jillian Harris’ heart, he was also juggling two girlfriends back home in Chicago, says Us, and his reprinted messages to one of them are priceless. From the set of the show, referring to Jillian, he e-mailed her, “I am not, in any way, attracted to that chick.” Later, after proposing to Jillian, he text-messaged his girlfriend that she should sneak over to his house and “bring beer and condoms” — an offer she allegedly refused. I’d feel really bad for Jillian right now except that the mag also brings in a sex expert to discuss a bedroom condition of Ed’s they call “Guilt Wilt.”
Penn Badgley is so smitten with his “Gossip Girl” co-star Blake Lively, says Star, that he wants to marry her. For the time being, Blake has apparently proposed a “trial marriage” in which they move in together, share expenses and co-adopt a puppy, who will inherit from her parents a love of inappropriately busty attire and a tendency to growl around Chace Crawford.

Kimora Lee Simmons shows off new baby boy Kenzo in a photo shoot in OK! and, when asked if she’ll have more kids, says, “I feel like I could go again right now.” Hear that, Heidi Klum? There’s a new supermodel baby machine on the block!

Just weeks after they broke up, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo were supposedly spotted by Us Weekly snuggling and boozing at an L.A. bar. “They weren’t making out, but there was lip-to-lip contact,” says a witness. That’s right, Vanessa, you’d better make this work until you can get a song at least as good as “I Can’t Hate You Anymore.”
To illustrate back-to-school style, Us Weekly uses my favorite reality TV children of all time: Johan and Francois of “The Real Housewives of New York City” and Gia, Milania and Gabriella of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Modeling the latest looks, Gia, as usual, smiles like an eerie life-size doll. Johan (or Francois? Who can tell?) eats his tie. Welcome to the next generation of TV entertainment.
Star paints a gut-wrenchingly cute picture of Mark Wahlberg at his wedding last Saturday. He was nervous and attentive, says the mag, covered his wife’s hand with kisses and “choked up when he was reading his vows.” Phew. Okay, now that that’s over, he can go back to shooting stuff and threatening to punch Andy Samberg.
Asked by Star if he’ll ever make another dance movie, “Step Up” hoofer turned “G.I. Joe” action hero Channing Tatum says, “I’m sort of writing one. It’s kind of a ‘Wizard of Oz’ or ‘Alice in Wonderland’ type story. A fantastical dance-ical — that’s what I like to call it!” And so begins another era of little boys all over America doing what I did — making their G.I. Joe toys perform “A Chorus Line.”

And finally, in his exclusive interview with In Touch, Jon Gosselin reveals that he’s still with Hailey Glassman, he’s just “friends” with Star reporter Kate Major and he is terrified of his ex-wife. Asked if Kate Gosselin knows he’s dating, he says, “She hasn’t said anything. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” (You can almost hear the shudder behind that answer.) Of the differences between his ex and Hailey, he says, “If I want to go out with my friends, Hailey says, ‘Oh, go out.’ I’m not used to that. … Sometimes I ask Hailey permission, like I used to do with Kate, and she says, ‘You don’t have to ask permission.’” At least Kate can be proud that, while her marriage didn’t last, her husband-training is hard to shake.

Written by Patrick Huguenin, NY Daily News

Rihanna Face Photo and Rihanna Speaks!

Mark Pasetsky — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:50:36 +0000

Celebrity Weekly Cover Prediction

The Rihanna/Chris Brown saga may have received a temporary reprieve from last night’s Oscar events.

But, don’t be fooled.

This is the hottest story of the year and with last week’s release of the tragic Rihanna photos, it’s going to be on the cover of a celebrity weekly this week!

I expect one of the weeklies to demostrate that they have spoken to Rihanna and received her side of story.

And, you know what, they can get away with this without even speaking to her because Rihanna released an official statement.

However, I hope to see MUCH MORE than that. Perhaps, People Magazine scored an exclusive?

Update:

Check out this report from the Daily News about how Chris Brown is trying to win Rihanna back!

Related: Pasetsky’s Celebrity Weekly Cover Predictions

Octo Mom
Rihanna
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
Jennifer Aniston

Tune in Wed!

Page Six Covers Whitney Port

Mark Pasetsky — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:33:57 +0000

“For those of you who are obsessed with The Hills (and we know you are, admit it!), you will no doubt be glued to your TV sets for Whitney Port’s spin-off show, The City—and with good reason,” says Page Six Magazine Talent Director Patty Adams. “We are dubbing Whitney the new Carrie Bradshaw: the fashion-forward girl about town who’s taking New York City by storm.

At our shoot, Whitney was just as sweet and stylish as she appears on TV. But she also wasn’t afraid to dish, either. She revealed that you’re going to see a whole other side to her on the new reality show. While she kept her private life, well private, on The Hills, she’s inviting us in to see her navigate through relationship ups and downs and work drama, while fighting off home sickness. It has all of the makings of must-see TV.”

For a sneak peek of this week’s issue, make the jump:

In this week’s Page Six Magazine – Whitney Port has left The Hills of Los Angeles for The City—her very own NYC reality show. But in her search for love, success and fame, can this bubbly blonde TV star be the next Carrie Bradshaw?

On her cast mates from The Hills:

“I still talk to them every now and again—obviously, we’ve been part of such a big thing together, so we’re close in that way—but I was never too close with Audrina and Heidi. But Lauren and I talk. If anybody knows what I’m going through right now it’s her.”

On how she came to be on reality TV:

“I had an interview [for an internship at Teen Vogue] and then got a phone call from MTV a couple of days later. They were like, ‘We’re shooting this documentary-style TV show about girls growing up in L.A. and the fashion industry, blah blah blah’ and I was like, ‘OK that’s interesting, whatever.’ And the next thing I knew they wanted to cast me on the show. But I was really just trying to get the job at Teen Vogue!”

On why the guys in New York City are better than in L.A.:

“I was recently in L.A., and I couldn’t help but think, ‘Oh my gosh, everyone is kind of the exact same here.’ You have all these guys in the entertainment industry who are just trying to be smooth and super-cool. The guys [in New York] are [still] trying to be cool—guys do that everywhere—but they’re more confident and they know what they want.”

On handling her critics:

“I’ve never really noticed anyone giving me a hard time. Maybe they are and I’m just naïve. But I figure if I just stay true to myself and I am the Whitney that I’ve always been, people will look at me not as Whitney from the show, but as a human being.”

For more on Whitney Port, check out this week’s issue of Page Six Magazine, free inside the Sunday edition of the New York Post and online on Monday here.

Celebrity Weekly Critiques

Life & Style: Janet Jackson Preggers

National Enquirer: Martha Stewart’s Dark Secrets

Globe: Barack’s Illegal Election

In Touch: It’s a Girl for Brangelina

Star: Angie’s Having Twins

Us: Candace Cameron Lost 22Lbs

People: Tom Cruise & Ricky Martin’s Twins

BIG STORY: Celebrity Weekly Category in Crisis! Bailout Next?

Mark Pasetsky — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:56:33 +0000

HERE’S WHAT CAN BE DONE TO SAVE THE ONCE THRIVING CATEGORY!

Will we be seeing the top executives from major celebrity weeklies heading to Washington D.C. for a bailout of the celebrity weekly category?

I am partially kidding.

But, it sounds that way after hearing Kent Brownridge (photo right) this morning in the New York Post.

“With the exception of People, which had two phenomenal issues in the fourth quarter, all of the other celebrity weeklies are down.”

Indeed, OK! is moving to a “special” double issue strategy throughout the rest of 2009, in what looks like a cost-saving measure.

“There are three weeks where the schedule gets messed up with the wholesalers – Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. I just said, freak it, I’m publishing double issues instead.” (I think Kent really said F–K it.)

This, by the way, is a rare moment of honesty from a celebrity weekly publishing executive who is finally revealing the truth about the once thriving category.

It’s in BIG trouble.

But, for those that have been watching the category, this comes as no surprise.

Take this week for example looking specifically at the covers.

Out of the six glossies, there were four magazine covers focused on the life and times of Britney Spears.

Life & Style

Star

Us Weekly used an age old strategy that will prove to be a complete disaster on the newsstand. It followed up its previous Heidi Montag cover with ANOTHER Heidi Montag cover.

This strategy could work but the magazine’s angle was focused on what Heidi’s mother had to say about the reality star’s quickie marriage to Spencer Pratt. Who cares about Heidi’s mom. I mean she’s not Lynne Spears.

And, next up is In Touch, which inexplicably released this cover asking “Who’s Really Pregnant.” As I said earlier this week, the magazine clearly has no idea who is pregnant by simply asking this question.

Beyond the above examples from this week, make the jump for key areas the celebrity weeklies are missing.

Cover Layouts: Remove the logos from the above covers, and guess what, they all look the same.

Headlines: Too generic. Earlier this week, I suggested that the weeklies use a dramatic quote from Britney Spears as a main headline. Unfortunately, nobody followed my advice and we’re stuck with ‘Baby Crisis,’ ‘Deadly Diets’ and ‘How They Got Thin Fast.’

Style Insets: Whenever the weeklies put style on the cover, they forget that their readers aren’t living in NYC. And you know what, even NYC readers will begin to reject the pricing offered by the category. Take Us Weely’s style inset which offers dresses $27 ‘AND UP.’ Why ‘AND UP’ and ‘not BELOW?’ (See bottom left of Us Weekly cover.)

Cover Photos: Wow. These continue to get worse. I’m still stunned that OK! magazine was the ONLY magazine to use the hot new picture of Britney Spears for its cover. Did all the other photo editors miss this perfect cover shot?

Brangelina to Death: Are they the only compelling Hollywood couple in Hollywood? In Touch Weekly featured that Angelina Jolie was pregnant for 3 out of its last four issues. (That would be fine if it were proven true.) The editors need to admit that the category is hitting bottom and take chances with new stars, e.g. Megan Fox.

Break Stories: Congrats to Us Weekly for breaking the Heidi and Spencer elopement story. But, those cover stories are far and few between. This is a HUGE problem – especially with the Internet providing consumers every detail of their favorite stars.

Speaking of the Internet: With the exception of People and Us Weekly, the other four glossies have a weak Internet presence at best. This lack of focus online leaves the editors in chief behind on the big trends that are happening on a minute-by-minute basis. How many times have you read a weekly magazine and said to yourself – I’ve already read that online? This ultimately leads to lack of creativity on the cover front. If the editors were more involved with trends online, they would be suggesting more innovative covers for their magazines.

In defense of the weeklies, many have been forced to increase their cover prices during the past year. Take Bauer’s In Touch and Life & Style, which saw their prices raise from $1.99 to $2.99.

And, of course, we’re in a massive economic crisis. That goes without saying.

But, if the editors look at what I’ve outlined above, I believe they can begin to celebrate better sales on the newsstand.

In summary, I’m suggesting that the weeklies begin diversifying topics on their main covers, pay closer attention to Internet celebrity trends, change the look of your covers, find better cover photos, retire Brangelina for a few weeks AT LEAST, and break stories!

Related: Pasetsky’s celebrity weekly cover critiques!

People: Kevin Federline Tells All

OK: Britney Spears in Crisis

Star: Britney Spears’ Deadly Diet

National Enquirer: Kelly Ripa Splits With Husband

Globe: Hillary to divorce Bill?

Us: Heidi Montag’s mom speaks out!

In Touch: Who is Really pregnant?

Life & Style: Angie & Britney lost 10lbs with a shake

Larry Hackett Responds On CNN to NY Times' Angelina Jolie Article

Mark Pasetsky — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:30:27 +0000

Remember that New York Times article, where People was accused of providing positive coverage in exchange for the rights to spend a ton of dough on Brangelina’s twins’ photos.

Or, the internal email that People’s EIC Larry Hackett sent out denying the NY Times’ allegation.

Well, in case you missed it, Larry Hackett appeared on CNN to further deny the allegations.

Enjoy the clip.

People's EIC Larry Hackett Responds to New York Times' Angelina Jolie Article: He's Pissed

Mark Pasetsky — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:13:16 +0000

Larrry Hackett, the editor in chief of People Magazine, is not very happy about how People Magazine was portrayed in the NYT this morning.

According to the article, Angelina Jolie allegedly received editorial control and future positive coverage in exchange for People receiving huge dollars for the Brangelina twins’ photos.

In addition, People apparently will no longer call the couple Brangelina.

In a memo to his staff, Hackett made his outrage quite clear after the jump!

Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 3:30 PM
Subject: Today’s New York Times
Importance: High

I don’t normally address press stories about how we do our business
here at People. But today’s New York Times pg. 1 story about Angelina
Jolie requires a response. In the lede, the story strongly suggests
that People, while negotiating for the twins pictures, had explicit
conversations about our “editorial plan” and made “a promise” that
coverage would be positive.

These sorts of stories have appeared in media gossip columns before.
I have ignored them in the past as the unfortunate fallout of competition
and sour grapes. But today’s story, in a much different venue, takes these
rumors to a new level, so let me be absolutely clear: The suggestion that
we have ever made any promise of positive coverage, or have submitted
an editorial plan, is completely false. That I or anyone else would promise,
on paper or verbally, to purposely slant coverage as condition for acquiring
pictures, is insulting to all of us.

Here’s what is true: Celebrities—and senators and business executives and
athletes–are always trying to bend stories their way. We deal with that pressure
every single day and engage in many conversations regarding all elements of
coverage. Angelina Jolie is very candid about wanting attention for her charitable
efforts, and we have covered many of them because we believe they are interesting
stories. But in doing so, we have never relinquished editorial control. There have been
occasions when her goals and our needs could not be reconciled, and we have walked away,
as we have with countless other story subjects.

In our coverage of both celebrities and everyday people, People certainly often celebrates
their accomplishments and milestones. To say that our coverage of Angelina Jolie has not
been admiring would be disingenuous. But the suggestion in today’s Times that this “positive”
coverage is codified and promised is totally bogus, and needs to be
rejected.

Larry

Angelina Jolie Buys Positive Coverage with People Magazine Baby Photo Deal

Mark Pasetsky — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:11:52 +0000

I Knew it! Angelina Does Read The Tabloids

Angelina Jolie doesn’t like to read all that negative stuff about her and Brad.

So much so that when she and Brad Pitt negotiated with People and other celebrity magazines this summer for photos of their newborn twins and an interview, the stars were seeking more than the millions they received from the deal.

They also wanted a hefty slice of journalistic input — a promise that the winning magazine’s coverage would be positive, not merely in that instance but into the future, reports the New York Times.

The winning magazine had to provide an “editorial plan,” reports the NYT.

The winner was People and it was People’s best seller of the year. The article featured Angelina’s transformation to a United Nations good-will ambassador and devoted mother of six.

In the People interview, there were questions about her and Pitt’s charity work and no use of the word “Brangelina,” the tabloid amalgamation of their names, which irks the couple.

People has issued a denial on these claims.

Celebrity Weekly Cover Prediction: Jennifer Aniston vs. Angelina Jolie

Mark Pasetsky — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:12:56 +0000

No she didn’t! Yes she did!

Here’s prediction number 3!

In this weekend’s NY Times, Angelina Jolie declared that she and Brad Pitt fell in love while on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

This is the first time she has ever made this public pronouncement.

How could/should one of the weeklies handle this juicy drama that NEVER GETS OLD FOR SOME REASON?

IT’S WAR: Angelina Strikes Jen when she Least Expects It. And, Jen turns to John Mayer for support.

Plus – Brad’s caught in the middle!