Nikki Finke–attention seeker, corrosive personality–is suing, or rather her parent company is suing, the embattled Hollywood Reporter’s parent company over copyright infringement. It’s a joke, really. Nikki keeps complaining THR is stealing stories from her website. Most of the stories Nikki publishes come from press releases that she reprints or repurposes with swiftness. Then she calls them “exclusives” or “breaking news.” Her site lifts from everywhere. Her London writer reads the British papers and then uses the info, calling it his own. I’ve cited them on many occasions for all of this. The Reporter does the same thing. So now tow entities that do the same thing are in a lawsuit. Call it “Breaking News.”
Finke complains THR tries to poach her employees. Well, the publisher of THR was poached by Finke, then returned to THR. Nellie Andreeva, who is also known for repurposing existing material and calling it “exclusive” was at THR and left for Finke. You need Advil to follow these stories. Today, Keith Kelly reports in the New York Post that THR’s newish parent, Promothesus Global, formerly e5, is trying to find a buyer. Michael Wolff, who no one likes, is said to be on the outs from AdWeek. Everyone knows Billboard is a mess. Publisher Richard Beckman, who came to PG with a lot of baggage from Conde Nast, is also said to be out or removed from his daily functions by Jimmy Finkelstein–a kind of comic character who has no business running The Hollywood Reporter. Breaking news! Toldya! Oy vey.
Each entity puts out a daily, hourly recitation of stuff that will never happen. My favorite stories are the ones about TV actors, writers and producers no one has ever heard of. They’ve just signed a deal to make a pilot that will never air for a show you don’t want to see. These tidbits are presented with the same urgency as downed fighter pilots in Pakistan. You’ve never heard of any of these people! Right now the lede story on Deadline is “Shelley Lewis to Run Programming for Current TV.” Who is Shelley Lewis? What is Current TV? Who cares? I’m sure Shelley is great, and someone must be watching Current TV. And Deadline doesn’t report the story. They just reprint the press release.
Really, if you’re interested in entertainment industry news, read Variety. Supplement it with this column. And Entertainment Weekly.
