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The $6 Million Forbes Scandal, as Recounted by Former “Law & Order” Writer Whose Son Worked for the Magazine for 15 Years

Roger Friedman
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The $6 Million Forbes Scandal, as Recounted by Former “Law & Order” Writer Whose Son Worked for the Magazine for 15 Years

Suzanne O’Malley was a much admired screenwriter and journalist for “Law & Order” for years.

Her son worked for Forbes for 15 years.

So O’Malley has a lot to say about the new scandal at Forbes involving the dismissal of editor in chief Randall Lane. According to the NY Times, Lane took a secret $6 million gift from a firm associated with Forbes. When the magazine found out, they fired him. Lane, it seems, gets to keep the money!

Anyway, I respect O’Malley’s thoughts on the subject, which you’ll see below. I like the story about Lane ordering expensive sheets for himself. It must have been hard to be a lowly paid journo constantly writing about all these rich people and their glossy lives. Lane wanted to be them, I guess.

PS You can also read Forbes’s response to the Lane firing here.

Golden Globes Total Civil War, Hilarious Saga of the Empire vs. Dissidents, Shady Operations, and a Dead End Lawsuit

Roger Friedman
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Golden Globes Total Civil War, Hilarious Saga of the Empire vs. Dissidents, Shady Operations, and a Dead End Lawsuit

The story of the Golden Globes is funnier than any movie they could nominate for Best Comedy.

Today, Page Six’s Tatiana Siegel reports that the old Hollywood Foreign Press Association — which now calls itself the Golden Globe (no ‘s’) Foundation, fired its CEO Gregory Goeckner.

You can think of this group as the dissidents, who are not in power anyway. And Goeckner was already gone, so I don’t know how they fired him.

On top of that Siegel worked for decades for Penske Media, which owns the actual Golden Globes with Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries.

Penske and Boehly bought the Globes from the highly corrupt, racist Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which everyone thought then disbanded. Penske and Boehly took a few of the old members, added hundreds more voters, and reinvented the Globes with a TV show from Dick Clark Productions, which the media company also owns.

But the HFPA never went away. They took their 501c3, dropped the ‘s’ in Golden Globes, and kept going like a shadow organization. I told you a couple of months ago that these old veterans of free trips, gifts, dinners, and swag filed suit against Penske saying they didn’t understand the terms of their sale.

Of course, the old HFPA can stamp their feet and “fire” whomever they like, but they have no TV show. And that’s what this is all about. Penske owns the Globes name, and Dick Clark Productions. They have the deal with CBS for a show in January. Those awards will be voted on by their own people. The HFPA, or whatever it calls itself, has no standing. Penske will prevail.

But is all very funny. Really, the whole thing should disappear. It’s devolved into chaos.

As for the Golden Globe Foundation: its most recent tax filing ends June 30, 2024. They claim to have $119 million in net assets, with $70 million in revenue for that year. That’s a lot of money for “movie critics.” That label is a joke in itself. The listed president on the tax form is Henry Arnaud, a cheese ball who posts a lot of pictures of himself with celebrities on Instagram and gave himself the nickname “Mr. Hollywood” there and on YouTube. The pictures are evidently proof of his existence.

You can’t blame Arnaud. He’s just the latest iteration of decades of mad dictators who’ve made their names on the backs of actual achievers in Hollywood. Their only accomplishments have been feeding off the work of others, bad or good, pretending they hold sway in a crumbling kingdom.

According to the tax filing, Arnaud was paying himself $115,010. Total salaries of the main players came to $400,000. The group gave grants totaling $5,000. Total expenses (apart from salaries) were over $500,000 — most of it spent on travel. Why is anyone still giving them money? It’s a headscratcher.

How will this all end? Penske and Dick Clark Productions will go on with their Golden Globes show on CBS. The HFPA lawsuit will be snuffed out. But getting to that point will be an adventure.

Oh, and more thing: the new Golden Globes has been looking high and low for voters — not members, just voters. They made a big push this past spring to lure critics from the Critics Choice Association, whose own TV show will be broadcast live a week before the Globes and has far more substance. (I can say that because I’m a member!)

Carly Simon’s New Album Doesn’t Just “Come in Waves,” It Hits Full Force with a Phenomenal Collection of New Songs — Her First in 18 Years

Roger Friedman
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Carly Simon’s New Album Doesn’t Just “Come in Waves,” It Hits Full Force with a Phenomenal Collection of New Songs — Her First in 18 Years

So here we are, at last.

After 18 years, “Comes in Waves” is a whole new album of songs from Carly Simon, who ruled the airwaves in the 70s and 80s with one beautifully crafted hit after another. Simon wrote them, sang them, sometimes produced them.

They all went to the top of the charts, and she enormous respect as part of a trio — with Joni Mitchell and Carole King — of the women who helped invent the singer songwriter era.

It didn’t hurt, in Simon’s case, that she was also beautiful, had a highly publicized love life with A list men, and married a famous singer (James Taylor).

I first heard “Howl” five years ago when it was titled “Call Love a Liar.” You didn’t have to be Clive Davis to know it was a hit. How to get past the fury of love going bad, and still hoping to carry on — Lana del Rey, anyone? Billie Eilish. This is how they knew it could be done.

It took that time following the birth of “Howl” to push through massive loss and personal illness for Simon, now 83, to find her way back to an actual album. But she has, and it was worth the wait.

“Peaches” is a deceptive Latin cha cha cha that you won’t get out of your head. And then…Already gossip columns are blowing up with “Maybe I Never Loved You,” a personal taunt that makes Taylor Swift’s guess-who-this-is-about songs seem like child’s play. Skip to the end for “Do It Anyway,” an old demo Carly rescued and revived as an earwig. “Slowly” sneaks up on you like a slow gospel number. “Love Has No Ending” tempers “Maybe I Never Loved You,” almost taking it back.

And then there’s the sweet little gem you don’t expect: “The Father Daughter Dance” was written by Simon and Ernest Thompson, playwright of “On Golden Pond.” Thompson has been planning it for inclusion in new productions of his famous play. But knowing Simon’s story — her troubled father who created Simon & Schuster — gives the song a poignant new meaning.

Simon has a 55 year career with an enormous catalog. So her remaster of the 1971 song, “Share the End” — from the “Anticipation” album, written with Jacob Brackman — is spot on. Talk about political prescience in metaphor. Back then it was Nixon, now it’s you know who.

Grade: A+, the perfect gift for the cozy days of autumn. Bravo!

Willem Dafoe Is Brilliant (As Usual) In A Most Unusual, Lovely Indie Film Called “Late Fame,” Which Will Not Break Box Office Records

Roger Friedman
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Willem Dafoe Is Brilliant (As Usual) In A Most Unusual, Lovely Indie Film Called “Late Fame,” Which Will Not Break Box Office Records

I’m not sure I hear people saying, “Where is Willem Dafoe’s Oscar?” enough at all. He is such a sublime actor, and capable of such range in characters that we’re wasting a lot of time in not driving toward that goal.

Such is the case with Kent Jones’s beautifully realized very small independent movie called “Late Fame.” Released by Magnolia, “Late Fame” is playing in two theaters and has made $41,000 so far. It’s not “Spider Man” or “The Odyssey.” It’s a wrenching personal work based on a novel published in 1895 by the very cutting edge Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler.

Schnitzler was best known for his erotic and modern take on sex. But in “Late Fame,” which Samy Burch brilliantly found and reimagined, Schnitzler could already see maybe his own celebrity slipping away. (He didn’t die until 1931.) Perhaps he was already feeling like his best days were behind him when he wrote “Late Fame.”

Believe it or not, this not Burch’s only current movie. She also wrote the animated film, “Coyote v. Acme,” which is getting rave reviews. (I’m watching it next.) She also wrote Todd Haynes’ much loved “May and December.” What’s going on here? I don’t think we’re getting it yet.

Burch and Jones have reset the main character, Dafoe’s Ed Saxburger, as a Greenwich Village poet who published one work of genius in the late 70s and then went to work for the Post Office. He lives alone in a rent controlled walk up and has long disappeared from the literary scene. He has no money or fame, and lives quietly.

All of a sudden, a bunch of young, wealthy NYU kids find him and start ginning him up. They’re in awe of Saxberger, who’s been so isolated for decades that he begrudgingly joins their group of earnest young men who seem like they could be related to the ones in Whit Stillman’s classic, “Metropolitan.”

No one flies, there are no battles at sea, there is just the artful unfolding of this unexpected chapter in Saxberger’s life. The young people capture him like he’s a rare sea turtle. They are so psyched to have found their “re-discovery.” The result is a real contemplation Edmund Donovan as Meyers and Greta Lee as Gloria anchor Saxberger’s new world, with a Greek chorus of Saxberger’s adult friends — David Oreskes, Clark Johnson, and Tony Torn — giving perfect balance.

Does anyone care about a movie about ideas anymore? I guess Magnolia Releasing does. The ideas aren’t even that deep, and a cynic like me could see a lot of it coming. But then again, not so much. Jones and Burch avoid a lot of cliches, and imbue Saxberger with an unsentimental gallantry. Dafoe is so watchable that you wouldn’t mind staying for the sequel.

The screenplay really needs applause. That Burch and Jones discover this tug of war between pretentious modern kids with dough who are denouncing smart phones and technology while they live in lofts bought by their parents vs. Saxberger’s organic and unapologetic life of an artist — the whole thing just sings.

I can only hope the Gotham and Spirit Awards find this movie, and embrace it like another Dafoe mini masterpiece, “The Florida Project.” I really thought I’d never see a character study of such intimacy and humor again.

Trump Hollywood Ambassador Sylvester Stallone Will Be Unsurprising First Live Guest of “CBS Sunday Morning” at 92St Y to Plug His Delayed Memoir

Roger Friedman
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Trump Hollywood Ambassador Sylvester Stallone Will Be Unsurprising First Live Guest of “CBS Sunday Morning” at 92St Y to Plug His Delayed Memoir

Sylvester Stallone is one of Donald Trump’s Hollywood ambassadors. Remember when he was appointed by Trump along with Mel Gibson and Jon Voight.

Stop laughing.

Stallone — who’s lived on the fame of “Rocky” for fifty years — was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor last year, ahead of more likely candidates such as Denzel Washington and Liza Minnelli.

Now Stallone and the Trump media agenda will meet each other as the movie star will be the first featured live guest of CBS Sunday Morning’s new series of discussions at New York’s 92St Y. He’s plugging his memoir, called “The Steps.”

The book — to be released the next day — is about his early days leading up to “Rocky,” not the 50 years since then.

Sunday Morning’s Tracy Smith will depose him live on stage on September 28th, in person and on live stream. CBS News’s Bari Weiss must be glistening that she pulled off a clever sop to Trump and her bosses, the Ellisons. Who are the next live Sunday Morning guests at the Y? Pete Hegseth? The other Trump ambassadors? Dennis Quaid?

(Just a note: Michael Douglas is releasing his memoir the following week, which will undoubtedly be much more interesting.)

My guess is that Smith will not ask Stallone about his antisemitic drawings he posted a few years ago when he went on a campaign against “Rocky” producer Irwin Winkler over the rights to the movie. The largely Jewish crowd might just get up and leave.

Trump Media Stock Down Almost 17% in 5 Days as Company is Sued Over Offering Early Access to Trump’s Truth Social Posts — for $100,000 a Month!

Roger Friedman
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Trump Media Stock Down Almost 17% in 5 Days as Company is Sued Over Offering Early Access to Trump’s Truth Social Posts — for $100,000 a Month!

Donald Trump’s Trump Media stock is sinking yet again.

Completely without value anyway, the stock — DJT — is down 17% in five days. It’s currently at $8.30.

The stock supports Truth Social, Trump’s social media sewage system. This is where Trump and his idiot lackey Republicans can post lies and conspiracy theories.

But now there’s a new wrinkle. The company is offering something called Truth Social API. You can pay around $100,000 a month to get Trump’s fruit loop posts early. So, say he’s making shit up about bombing some country. Or saying something obnoxious and untrue about Obama or Biden. You see it before anyone else!

This, of course, specious since Trump is the president of the United States. But it’s just his latest grift. After all, he earned two BILLION dollars last year by breaking every existing law. And his followers LOVE it. They love being raped in the wallet. They lined up for it.

DJT stock has dropped because two media groups — Intercept Media, a news organization, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit group — are actually suing Trump Media in federal court.

You can read about it here.

I’m impressed anyone has had the balls to do something about this latest con. Trump has gotten away with so much in the last two years, and previously in his first administration. I wish these plaintiffs luck.

Amal Clooney Sends Message as She Wears Dress by Antisemitic Designer John Galliano to Foundation Dinner After Complaints About Met Gala

Roger Friedman
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Amal Clooney Sends Message as She Wears Dress by Antisemitic Designer John Galliano to Foundation Dinner After Complaints About Met Gala

George Clooney’s wife, Amal, is sending a message. Are you getting it?

Amal is not stupid. Everything she does is, to use the word of the year, “intentional.”

This week she wore a John Galliano designed dress to her Clooney Foundation dinner in Lake Como, Italy.

Galliano, a noted antisemite who stood trial in France for his embrace of Hitler, will be the honoree next May at the Met Gala. He was selected by Anna Wintour.

What do you want to bet George and Amal Clooney, or maybe just Amal, will be on the welcoming committee?

Amal has worn and celebrated Galliano before despite his history of antisemitism. But to parade around now in one of his frocks she has a purpose. She’s endorsing Wintour’s choice and supporting Galliano.

There are people who say that Galliano repented for his sins, apologized, and met with rabbis. That’s very nice. It doesn’t mean he should get a big installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a dinner full of celebrities and tickets that cost $250,000.

What did Galliano do? Watch the video below. I don’t know how any self respecting Jew who belongs to the Met, or is involved with fashion, would condone this tribute.

UPDATED Kennedy Center Board Votes Again to Put Trump’s Name on Building Against Judge’s Orders, Also to Close for Renovations

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED Kennedy Center Board Votes Again to Put Trump’s Name on Building Against Judge’s Orders, Also to Close for Renovations

UPDATE I thought this was something from The Onion, but it’s true. The Kennedy Center board voted also to get around Judge Cooper’s edict to remove Trump’s name from the building, according to the New York Times. Now they will try and add: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

Judge Cooper is all that stands between us and madness.

EARLIER The Trump appointed board of the Kennedy Center has voted again to shut the place down for renovations.

This is after a recent court ruling that the theater complex had to remain open, and that Donald Trump’s name had to be removed from the building.

Since then, with Trump’s name presumably gone, a tarp has hidden the name of the complex completely.

Now the Board says they have a plan for the shutdown and will submit it to Judge Christopher R. Cooper of Federal District Court in Washington as soon as next week.

If Cooper agrees, the bust of President John F. Kennedy will be moved to an annex called REACH, which was funded by former Kennedy Center CEO David Rubenstein.

Otherwise, the nation’s main arts institution with be closed, and remodeled to look like a Trump casino.

There is also now no plan for the annual Kennedy Center Honors. Without the Kennedy Center itself, there is no theater large enough for the presentation in Washington. Even so, the choices for the honorees lies with Trump, a dilettante with no interest in the arts, just in advancing his conservative agenda.

It’s tragic what Trump has done to the Kennedy Center. It’s up to Judge Cooper to stop him from shutting down to make unnecessary changes like installing marble and gold. As the Washington Post reported yesterday, the shut down imperils the National Symphony Orchestra, which is in a financial free fall since Trump’s takeover of the Center.

Perfect “Crime”: Forbes Editor Got $6 Million Secret Pay Out from Associated Firm, Was Fired, and Probably Gets to Keep the Money

Roger Friedman
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Perfect “Crime”: Forbes Editor Got $6 Million Secret Pay Out from Associated Firm, Was Fired, and Probably Gets to Keep the Money

My hat is off to Randall Lane, the hat-wearing former editor of Forbes magazine.

A couple of weeks ago, those of us in the NY media word heard Randall had been tossed out of Forbes after 15 years.

The magazine issued an odd statement saying he was gone, with no explanation. His name and picture were removed from the website.

NYTimes media writer Ben Mullin went on Twitter asking if anyone had information.

Now his work has born fruit. Mullin reports that Randall got a secret $6 million payout from a firm associated with the magazine.

It’s always the quiet ones, right? I mean, Randall Lane — Wally Cox would play him in the movie.

Of course, the magazine fired him. The kicker is, it seems like he gets to keep the money!

Why didn’t I think of that? That’s what every one of my peers is thinking tonight. I remember when Randall had a little independent magazine and came to me looking for freelance work!

This could be the perfect crime!

And this is the best part: what’s he doing now? He doesn’t have to back to work at some stinking magazine. After taxes he has at least $3.5 million. Here’s the last paragraph of Mullins’ story:

Mr. Lane is now focusing on his own projects. In 2023, he co-founded the National Thoroughbred League, a competitive horseracing association. And this summer, he mounted a rock musical he wrote about Benjamin Franklin titled “The Sound of America” in Philadelphia that cast the founding father as “America’s first rock star.” It finished its debut run this month.

Brilliant!

The Emmy Nominated Star of Rosie O’Donnell’s Favorite Soap — Ilene Kristen from “Ryan’s Hope” — is Behind This Important New Doc (Watch)

Roger Friedman
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The Emmy Nominated Star of Rosie O’Donnell’s Favorite Soap — Ilene Kristen from “Ryan’s Hope” — is Behind This Important New Doc (Watch)

Rosie O’Donnell’s favorite TV soap from her early days was “Ryan’s Hope,” which ran on ABC for 13 years around noon time.

We often joke that Rosie thought the Ryans were her own family!

For most of that run, Ilene Kristen played bad girl Delia Ryan. Delia was an inventive schemer and liar, and drew huge ratings. Years later, Kristen was nominated for Daytime Emmys twice on “One Life to Live.” (She was hilarious.)

In real life, Kristen is behind a new documentary (you can watch it below) called “Heist.”

Ilene tells me: “We started shooting at the end of Feb. 2025 right after the St. Valentines Massacre, when thousands of Federal Civil Servants were sent emails that their jobs were approaching “a fork in the road” and maybe they just should retire before their inevitable firing was coming down the pike.

“You could cut the anxiety in Washington with a knife and many of the Feds could not even be interviewed for fear of being sued or jailed for violations of their contracts. So we (Rebecca Cammisa — Oscar nominated for docs Which Way Home and God is the bigger Elvis and me) followed every demonstration to see where the story would take us.

“We shot until July ‘25 so we could get this out fast…we wanted it out on YouTube rather than a streamer who might buy it and then buckle to the demands of this administration. It’s challenging getting the word out independently but so far so good. We were nominated for an Emmy back in May.”

“Heist” is just 40 minutes long, and is pretty riveting. It’s certainly got more dramas and cliffhangers than even the best soap — and it’s a true story about real people!

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