It’s definitely civil war at Penske Media.
Now Variety has retaliated against sister site Deadline.com in the ongoing scandal of Francis Ford Coppola kissing extras.
Variety now has an extra on the record saying she was “in shock” when Coppola kissed her on the set of “Megalopolis.” Originally Variety had reported Coppola — and offered a video — of him doing such a thing during the movie shoot.
Then Deadline.com found an extra who was kissed and said it didn’t bother her.
The two publications are owned by Jay Penske, who’s cornered the market out west and even east, buying up Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Rolling Stone, WWD, plus the Golden Globes, and Dick Clark Productions.
You’d think this would guarantee no public skirmishes among all these groups, but you’d be wrong!
It doesn’t help this is a slow summer, with few new movies or deals to report. These people have to write about something!
So click here for the new Variety story. And wait for Deadline to come back with something on this extra. I hope this poor woman doesn’t have any parking tickets!
Meantime, Coppola’s “Megalopolis” needed all this publicity since it’s been panned wherever it’s been shown. The three hour epic opens next month via Lions Gate.
