Will Reality Fans Be Able to Track Kardashians' Periodical Monthly?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe tabloid New York Post reports today that the omnipresent Kardashian clan is negotiating with National Enquirer owner American Media, Inc. to produce a glossy (not as in "brilliant") magazine about the celebrity family.

The fanzine may be on newsstands as early as spring, the Post reports, though neither side would confirm the story. No details were offered about the content of the Kardashian magazine, but "TUOL" suspects articles about the latest achievements of Kourtney, Kim and the rest of the klan, er, clan, will be augmented by columns featuring wedding announcements and NBA scores.

Look for the back of the book to be full and heavy with advertisements.

National Enquirer Parent Company Shopping Itself?

Image via WikipediaAccording to a story in today's New York Post, American Media, Inc.(AMI), parent company of supermarket tabloids The National Enquirer and Star Magazine, as well as other journals, including Muscle & Fitness and Radar Online, is looking for a buyer.

The Post claims private equity firm Apollo Management is kicking the tires. Apollo declined to respond to inquiries by the Post, but speculation remains the firm might consider snatching up AMI and combining it with its recent acquisition of CKX, which owns American Idol.

AMI emerged from a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York [In re American Media, Inc., 10-BK-16140] in late 2010 (see "TUOL" post 11/17/10).  "TUOL" is hopeful that the National Enquirer's current owner holds out until it either is purchased by space aliens or adopted by Madonna or Angelina Jolie.

Extra!: National Enquirer Pitches Reality Series to CBS

Image via WikipediaAmerican Media, Inc.-owned supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer is working with CBS to develop a reality tv series involving the daring exploits of Enquirer reporters as they uncover, or create--depending on one's perspective--scandalous news stories.

The New York Post reports today that CBS veteran Has Gessner is producing the pilot series, Breaking It: Behind the Scenes at the National Enquirer, featuring Enquirer Executive Editor Barry Levine. Reportedly, one of the teaser items in the reel pitching the series includes 2008 footage of a secret liaison at a hotel involving Rielle Hunter and America's current favorite sleazeball du jour, former Sen. John Edwards.

"TUOL" is intrigued. National Enquirer and "reality" rarely appear in the same sentence. A caveat to the suits at Black Rock contemplating airing a series celebrating Enquirer snoops on the network where Murrow & Cronkite once roamed: If you 'Breaking It,' you bought it.

Extra: Natl. Enq. & Star Scribes Cut--Staff Caught in Hot News Bureau Share

Image via WikipediaTwo Star Magazine writers and one National Enquirer reporter are the latest job casualties as circulation and financially beleaguered American Media, Inc.("AMI") continues to trim costs.

According to a report by WWDMedia.com, the two tabloids, which already share office space, are going to operate as an AMI news bureau, with New York-based editors doling out the celebrity scandal articles generated by the bureau between the two papers.  AMI filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (In re American Media, Inc., 10-BK-16140) last November.(See "TUOL" post 11/17/10.)

Circulation figures for the supermarket tabloids remain flat, despite the continued presence of Mel Gibson and Michael Jackson's physician/pill dispenser.

X-Posed: National Enquirer & Star Tabloids in Bankruptcy Love Nest

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As anticipated here [see "TUOL" post 11/2/10], Boca Raton, Fla.-based American Media, Inc., whose publications include the Star and National Enquirer supermarket tabloids, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (In re American Media, Inc., 10-BK-16140), according to Bloomberg News.

The publisher of the popular gossip tabloids listed assets of  under $50,000 against debts of up to $1 billion in its court filing.  The Enquirer's circulation as of September 2010, averaged 695,000, a drop of 83,000 compared to October 2009 figures, while the Star's  numbers during the same period saw a decrease to 940,000 from 1.1 million, according to Bloomberg.

National Enquirer Seeks Chapter 11 Protection: Space Aliens to Blame?

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If Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Courtney Cox and other Hollywood celebs have an extra bounce in their step today, it's probably because they read The New York Post story about National Enquirer parent company American Media's decision to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.


American Media, which owns Shape and Star, along with the Enquirer, previously planned a debt-for-equity exchange, but instead has opted for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 re-organization plan.  Key bondholders Capital Research, Avenue Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co. and the Oppenheimer Fund, along with fellow bondholders, who are owed upward of $355 million in total, are likely to wind up with a 95 percent controlling interest in American Media Stock, according to the Post story.


The Chapter 11 filing is two weeks away, and the tabloid owner is expected to emerge from bankruptcy within 60 days after filing, according to the Post.  Meanwhile, Enquirer editors are keeping their fingers crossed that another John Edwards or Michael Jackson story is just around the corner.

Judge Seals Testimony of Upcoming Rielle Hunter Deposition

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Bad news for National Enquirer readers: The Raleigh News & Observer reports that Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour has ordered sealed any information gleaned from the as-yet unscheduled deposition of  Rielle Hunter, campaign videographer and canoodler of former presidential candidate John Edwards, in her lawsuit against Andrew Young, former Edwards aide and philanderer surrogate, concerning ownership rights of a sex tape starring Hunter and Edwards, the one-term, two-timing U.S. Senator from North Carolina.

Judge Baddour's order will keep Hunter's musings under oath under seal for 45 days, after which he will entertain arguments for extending the order.  Hunter's attorneys had tried to obtain a more extensive order from Judge Baddour that would have sealed all depositions in the case and imposed on parties a gag order preventing them from discussing the contents of deposition testimony in public.

Hunter's attorneys argued that exposing Hunter's testimony to public view would subject their client to an invasion of privacy and would be harmful to her reputation.  An interesting, if unpersuasive argument, given that Hunter freely babbled to Oprah about pitching woo with "Johnny" and posed, sans pants,  in GQ Magazine.

Sorry, "TUOL" readers--as much as you may hope for it, both parties in a civil lawsuit can't lose.

National Enquirer Eligible for Pulitzer Prize After All

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The Pulitzer Prize Board has accepted submissions from supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer.

The Enquirer is in the running for the coveted journalism prize in two categories: Investigative Reporting and National News Reporting for breaking  the lurid scandal involving former U.S. Senator and Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards and his campaign videographer Rielle Hunter (see "TUOL" post 1/22/10). The Enquirer was first to report about the adulterous relationship, the out-of-wedlock child, and the ongoing federal grand jury probe of possible campaign fund misuse. Most recently, the paper alleged that Edwards and Hunter are engaged and living together in a $3.5 million beach house.  Edwards is separated from his wife, Elizabeth.

The Enquirer in recent years has bested the traditional mainstream media on political scandal stories, including the Sen.Gary Hart/Donna Rice affair and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's "love child."  A combination of persistent reporting and checkbook journalism--the Enquirer unapologetically pays sources--has brought the tabloid to the pantheon of journalistic excellence.

If the Enquirer wins, presumably executive editor Barry Levine will accept the award, rather than the spawn of Martian and Earthling canoodling about which the Enquirer has written in the past.

National Enquirer Hopes to Ride Sen. Edwards to a Pulitzer Prize

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Barry Levine, executive editor of The National Enquirer, told Washington Post Media Critic Howard Kurtz that the supermarket tabloid deserves the coveted Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the sex scandal that derailed the political career of former Democratic presidential candidate and one-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina, John Edwards.

The Enquirer initially reported in 2007 that Sen. Edwards, the photogenic star litigator and John Kerry's vice-presidential running mate in the 2004 presidential election, engaged in an extramarital affair with his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter. Edwards dismissed the allegations as "tabloid trash" at the time, but fessed up to Nightline in August 2008, that he was romantically involved with Hunter.

Nevertheless, Edwards continued to deny another Enquirer story that said he was the father of Hunter's child, again branding the Enquirer a "supermarket tabloid," and noting that the timing of events precluded him from having sired Hunter's baby. Apparently, Edwards has as much difficulty with math as morality, as he admitted to NBC correspondent Lisa Myers this week that he indeed was the father of Hunter's child. By the way, Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, was battling cancer during the course of her husband's escapades.

Although The Washington Post did report about allegations that Edwards' former campaign chair paid Hunter a considerable sum that allowed her to leave North Carolina and relocate to a multi-million dollar home in Santa  Barbara, Calif., which is the subject of a federal grand jury probe into possible illegal campaign payments, The National Enquirer pretty much had the sex scandal story to itself. It's unclear whether the Enquirer can get its submission to the Pulitzer committee by the February 1 deadline, but as Enquirer readers no-doubt know, the Pulitzer judges are in reality, hostile pod-sucking aliens from the planet Zebulon in human form, so the tabloid's chances of winning are slim anyway.

The Enquirer, which routinely engages in "checkbook journalism" by paying sources for stories, a practice eschewed (though sometimes followed) by the so-called mainstream traditional media, has a successful track record of scoops, including Rev. Jesse Jackson's "love child" story in 2001 and Rush Limbaugh's prescription drug woes story in 2003.

As for Sen. Edwards, his political platform may or may not be correct that economically there are "2 Americas," but there certainly is one special place in Hell for preening, pathological prevaricating, playboy politicians.