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Oprah Mag Mysteries: Why Is It Closing with Large Circulation? Why Did the NY Times Bury the News? More Hearst Layoffs?

Roger Friedman
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Oprah Mag Mysteries: Why Is It Closing with Large Circulation? Why Did the NY Times Bury the News? More Hearst Layoffs?

There are more mysteries than ever about the ending of the print edition of the Oprah O Magazine.

No one can explain it– or is bothering to. According to the Audit Bureau, O Magazine has a circulation of 2.2 million. It’s number 19 on the list of all magazines, which is pretty impressive. Business should have been booming. Just for comparison: 2.2 million is twice as much as Vanity Fair or Vogue.

Did it have something to do with Hearst’s now ousted Troy Young, who made lewd and racist remarks to his staff? “Nothing at all to do with Troy,” says a source, “but timing is very unfortunate.”

They continue: “I don’t feel the magazine is over and that was never the message…That said O mag ain’t dead …”

Second mystery: why did the New York Times bury the story of the print edition ending in Ben Smith’s media story? It’s not in the headline or in the many paragraphs leading to almost the end, where the news i thrown away. I’d think the end of Oprah’s magazine is a huge story.

Third: I’d heard a few weeks ago that layoffs are coming to Hearst, which announced in June that there would be no layoffs. Dropping the print edition bodes poorly for the staff. So brace yourselves. This isn’t over.

 

UPDATE: Oprah’s O is Over as A Print Magazine, Now Going Digital So It Can “Lean In” On Health and Well Being

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Oprah’s O is Over as A Print Magazine, Now Going Digital So It Can “Lean In” On Health and Well Being

UPDATE
I told you on Saturday night that Hearst was shutting down the print version of Oprah’s O Magazine after 20 years. There’s no word on why exactly except that print magazines are coming to an end, Hearst doesn’t care, and is staying in business with Oprah at least tangentially so it doesn’t look like a total disaster. The website will carry on without the bound magazine.

A spokesman for Hearst sent this to me tonight after no response all day. The theme is they’re all going to lean into things I guess until they fall over. The corporate line is sad. Wait til we hear about all the layoffs.

“To clarify since I think some reports have been a bit misleading, the brand is not going away, it is reinventing how it delivers Oprah’s unique perspective on issues including health and well-being, climate change and social justice while continuing to lean into moments that are central to the brand’s DNA. This is a natural next step for the brand, which has grown to an online audience of 8 million, extending its voice and vision with video and social content. We will continue to invest in this platform as the brand grows and evolves into one that is more digitally-centric.”

Oprah Winfrey says in a supplied quote:
“I’m proud of this team and what we have delivered to our readers over the past 20 years,” said Oprah Winfrey. “I look forward to the next step in our evolution.”

Quote from Lucy Kaylin, editor in chief O, The Oprah Magazine said:

“Twenty years ago O, The Oprah Magazine launched as a personal growth guide to help women live their best lives,” said Lucy Kaylin, editor in chief, O, The Oprah Magazine. “As we embark on this next chapter, we will lean into moments that are central to the brand’s DNA and deepen the connection with our loyal readers.”

and finally Kristen O’Hara, Chief Business Officer of Hearst Magazines adds: “Hearst is honored to be working with Oprah and her team to reimagine the future.”

Patti Smyth, Not Patti Smith, Is Back with Her First Single “Drive” and New Album Aptly Titled “It’s About Time”

Roger Friedman
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Patti Smyth, Not Patti Smith, Is Back with Her First Single “Drive” and New Album Aptly Titled “It’s About Time”

Let me catch you up a little bit about Patti Smyth, as opposed to Patti Smith.

Patti Smyth is married to John McEnroe. She’s that one. She has six kids in a blended family. In 1984, Patti headed up the group Scandal, and she was a fierce rocker. With Scandal she had a smash hit called “The Warrior.” She had two solo albums in 1987 and 1992, but then life caught up with her– all those kids– and she was backburnered as a rocker and front burnered as a mom.

Now, 18 years after that third solo album (there was also a Christmas album in there), Patti is back. Her album is coming in September and it’s called “It’s About Time.” I’m going to call it, It’s about effing time. Every time I see Patti I ask her to make a record. She is a wildly good singer and guitar player. She’s a Rock Star. Hey, her first husband was even Richard Hell.

So now we have the first single, and it’s called “Drive” and I love it. The only problem is she signed with BMG Records, which just self destructed on the Pretenders’ new album, “Hate For Sale.” Brilliant record, but zero marketing or publicity. “Hate for Sale” sold 2,500 copies is DOA. Will BMG do that to Patti? Yeah, probably.

You know when I wrote to BMG to ask for a review link for the Pretenders record, the PR department denied it was their release, cc’d a bunch of people and never got back in touch. I couldn’t have been alone. Hence, 2,500 copies.

So Patti should hire an outside firm now. And just forget about BMG. And if you love women rockers, download her music. And the Pretenders.

In the meantime, “Drive” is damn good.

Drive

The Warrior

Kathie Lee Gifford on Her Friend and Co-Host Regis Philbin: “I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh”

Roger Friedman
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Kathie Lee Gifford on Her Friend and Co-Host Regis Philbin: “I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh”

Kathie Lee Gifford is a class act. She posted a beautiful tribute to Regis on Instagram. Regis and Joy and Kathie Lee and Frank really were friends. They went to dinner together in Greenwich, Connecticut where they were neighbors. They had their ups and downs, like all friends, but it was all real. Kathie Lee brought Regis on the Today show with her many times as guest and co-host because she knew he was a little lost not being on TV after he left ABC and “Live.” (Now Kathie Lee is in Nashville, and we miss her in New York!)

She wrote:

“There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis. I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift. We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly—a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day. I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh. It brings me great comfort knowing that he had a personal relationship with his Lord that brought him great peace. I send all the love in my heart to Joy, to his children, to the rest of his family and to the innumerable people he touched over his legendary life. There has never been anyone like him. And there never will be.”

View this post on Instagram

There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis. I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift. We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly—a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day. I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh. It brings me great comfort knowing that he had a personal relationship with his Lord that brought him great peace. I send all the love in my heart to Joy, to his children, to the rest of his family and to the innumerable people he touched over his legendary life. There has never been anyone like him. And there never will be.

A post shared by Kathie Lee Gifford (@kathielgifford) on

Taylor Swift’s New “Folklore” Album Sells a Startling Number of Copies on Its First Day, All Digital, No CDs

Roger Friedman
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Taylor Swift’s New “Folklore” Album Sells a Startling Number of Copies on Its First Day, All Digital, No CDs

Taylor Swift really won the day on Friday.

Her surprise album, “Folklore,” had a whopping opening day in sales. The number was 107,000. And it was all digital.

“Folklore” has no general CDs on sale. The only way to get disc right now is through Swift’s website on her merch page. This is very, very unusual. In the past, her sales have tilted more to toward physical sales.

But “Folklore” is only available as a download or via streaming services. And when you add it all up, Friday was huge.

Would it have been more with CDs? Probably. But there’s no explanation so far for not having CDs ready on amazon, Target, Walmart, and all the usual places.

Taylor’s previous first week sales for her album, “Lover,” were 866,800. Can she top it? We’ll see how this develops.

 

 

Olivia de Havilland, Famed “Gone with the Wind” Actress, Hollywood Star, Dies at Age 104 in Paris

Roger Friedman
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Olivia de Havilland, Famed “Gone with the Wind” Actress, Hollywood Star, Dies at Age 104 in Paris

Two-time Academy Award-winning actress, Dame Olivia de Havilland has died peacefully from natural causes on July 26 at her residence in Paris, France. She was 104.

de Havilland was famous for many things, starting with her life as a star. But she also will be remembered for feuding over decades til their deaths with her movie star sister, Joan Fontaine. She recently sued producer Ryan Murphy over her depiction in his mini series “Feud” about the sour relationship between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

I hope TCM puts on a deHavilland/Fontaine festival. In the meantime, here’s the release:

Born Olivia Mary de Havilland on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan, Olivia de Havilland was the last of the great cinema stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. After making her professional debut as Hermia in Austrian director Max Reinhardt’s legendary Hollywood Bowl production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, she was signed to a contract with Warner Brothers that would begin a career which spanned more than 6 decades.

She first came to prominence as one half of a screen couple opposite Errol Flynn in adventure films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). One of her best-known roles is Melanie Hamilton in the film classic Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress.

De Havilland departed from ingénue roles in the 1940s and later received acclaim for her performances in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949), receiving nominations for Best Actress for each, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She was also successful in work on stage and television, receiving a Golden Globe Award and Emmy nomination for her performance as the Dowager Empress in Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna in 1986.

In addition to a canon of magnificent film performances, the de Havilland legacy includes a historic court victory which changed Hollywood forever. After fulfilling her seven-year Warner Bros. contract in 1943, de Havilland was informed that six months had been added to her contract for the times that she had been suspended. At the time, the studios had adopted the position that California law allowed them to suspend contract players for rejecting a role, and the period of suspension could be added to the contract period. Most contract players accepted this, but a few tried to challenge this assumption, including Bette Davis, who mounted an unsuccessful lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the 1930s. On August 23, 1943, de Havilland filed suit against Warner Bros. in California Superior Court seeking declaratory judgement that she was no longer bound by her contract on the grounds that an existing section of the California Labor Code forbade an employer from enforcing a contract against an employee for longer than seven years from the date of first performance. In November 1943, the Superior Court found in de Havilland’s favor, and Warner Bros. immediately appealed. A little over a year later, the California Court of Appeals for the Second District ruled in her favor. The decision was one of the most significant and far-reaching legal rulings in Hollywood, reducing the power of the studios and extending greater creative freedom to performers. California’s resulting “seven-year rule”, as articulated by the Court of Appeal in analyzing Labor Code Section 2855 in the de Havilland case, is still known today as the De Havilland Decision.

De Havilland has lived in Paris since the early 1950s, and received honors such as the National Medal of the Arts, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and the appointment to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

She was married twice; first to author Marcus Goodrich from 1946 to 1953 and then to journalist Pierre Galante, editor of the French magazine Paris Match. She is preceded in death by her son, Benjamin Goodrich and her sister, the actress Joan Fontaine. She is survived by her daughter, Gisele Galante Chulack, her son-in-law Andrew Chulack and her niece Deborah Dozier Potter.
Funeral arrangements are private. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cathedral in Paris.

Oprah Shutting Down O Magazine Print Edition After 20 Years with Embattled Hearst Publications

Roger Friedman
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Oprah Shutting Down O Magazine Print Edition After 20 Years with Embattled Hearst Publications

O stands for Oprah and for over. The Oprah magazine, called O, is apparently over.

Begun twenty years ago in print, and 10 years ago digitally, there are reports that O will cease print operations with the December issue. The website may continue. One editor has hinted at that on social media.

This is a surprise since the magazine has been considered a success in Hearst’s shaky empire of publications that include Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harpers Bazaar, and Marie Claire. O has a reported average paid circulation of 2.2 million copies and a 10 million print audience

But Hearst is in a huge crisis since the ousting this week of CEO Troy Young after a New York Times story exposed his extreme bad behavior. Young and his cohort, chief content officer Kate Lewis, came from the digital side of the business, took over the magazines, and began destroying them.

It’s unclear right now if Oprah herself pulled the plug, or Hearst did it for her. It would seem if Oprah –who’s appeared on every cover — wanted to continue the print magazine she could publish it or herself or move it to a different publisher. But the headaches of continuing may be something she’s simply not interested in anymore. She’s 66 years old, and concentrating on her OWN Network.

When O the Oprah magazine began, Oprah’s bff Gayle King ran the show. But over the years, Gayle, obviously, has found great success with the CBS Morning News. The current editor in chief is Lucy Kaylin, who’s been with Hearst for 14 years. But Kaylin must have known the writing was on the wall. She hasn’t Tweeted since February 9th.

Stay tuned…

If anyone knows more, I’m at showbiz411@gmail.com.

 

Kanye Update 7 Million: Apologizes to Wife Kim Kardashian, Shows Cover to “Donda” Album That Wasn’t Released Friday

Roger Friedman
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Kanye Update 7 Million: Apologizes to Wife Kim Kardashian, Shows Cover to “Donda” Album That Wasn’t Released Friday

Kanye West had a busy day. He entertained Justin Bieber and Damon Dash. Then he apologized on Twitter to his wife, Kim. After that he showed off a water color that he said was the cover of the album he didn’t release on Friday called “Donda.”

Here’s what he wrote to Kim:
“I would like to apologize to my wife Kim for going public with something that was a private matter.
I did not cover her like she has covered http://me.To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me.”

Here’s the album cover:

UPDATED RIP Regis Philbin, One of the Greats, Talk Show Host, Entertainer, Family Man and Friend, Dies At 88

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED RIP Regis Philbin, One of the Greats, Talk Show Host, Entertainer, Family Man and Friend, Dies At 88

It is with great, great sadness that I report the death of Regis Philbin. He was 88, and wife Joy were living in California near their kids and grandkids. Regis passed away here last night in Greenwich, Connecticut. He and Joy had sold their house and were packing up. Regis, I’m told, died in his sleep, peacefully.

I was very lucky to have a long friendship with Regis, one of my heroes and a person I enjoyed so much. There will be lots of tributes to him over the weekend. I can tell you that Regis was a loyal, great friend, and as the shock of his death sets in I am tearing up. He really was one of the greatest.

The Regis story takes him from the Joey Bishop show to all kinds of hosting jobs to starting “Good Day LA” with Cindy Garvey. But it was when Regis came east and started “Live” with, eventually, Kathie Lee Gifford, that his star soared. Regis invented what we call “host chat.” He’d come on every morning live and talk with Kathie Lee or some of the women who preceded her, about his night out in New York with Joy. The stories were hilarious and Regis was mesmerizing. It was a live monologue, and it was never boring, particularly when Regis acted out what had happened to them at the theater, at movie screenings, at premieres. One of my favorite stories is when he and Joy showed up a day early for dinner at Martha Stewart’s house. Joy was co-hosting that day, and it was flat out hysterical.

No one loved Regis more than Michael Gelman, who was not the original producer– I think it was Steve Ober– but Regis liked to say he raised “Gelman” from a pup. Regis and Joy also loved Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford, and actually did socialize with them all the time up in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The thing is, no matter what a big star Regis became, he didn’t change. Honestly, he remained totally himself, a kind of savvy Mr. Magoo who’d seen it all in Hollywood and Las Vegas but was always the kid from the Bronx. He loved Dean Martin and Perry Como, he loved his kids, and most especially Joy. Years ago, some woman went to the National Enquirer with an invented story about him, I checked it out and wrote that she was a phony. He thanked me profusely. There was too much velcro between Regis and Joy for any funny business.

Twenty years ago I edited an Oscars magazine for Tina Brown, and the great publicist Norah Lawlor threw a dinner party at an Italian restaurant on the east side. Who comes in, out of nowhere, Regis, with Gelman. Regis said, “What are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this.” They stayed all night. There was a mentalist doing tricks for entertainment, he made a lit cigarette float through the air. I’ll never forget Regis saying, Do it again. He couldn’t get over it.

The fact is, Regis and Joy — I am so lucky to say– have been a big part of my nightlife in New York the last 30 years. We’ve seen good movies and bad, same for Broadway shows. Regis always says, “Roger, come here, what was that?” I’m always shaking my head with him. “I don’t know.” When Regis left “Live” for greener pastures, we still each other and kibbitzed. It was often with Peggy Siegal, or at one of her events. She loved him, and the Philbins loved being out as her guest. Regis was great at talking up movies the next morning on the show, even if he didn’t understand them.

My head is spinning. One lucky bit was that back in the mid 90s, Regis and Joy’s daughter JJ was an assistant to us at the Intelligencer at New York magazine. We had a lot of fun. Today, she’s a big TV producer and writer, as is her sister, Joanna. Regis was bursting proud of them. We also talked about his older kids, who he was equally proud of.

He wrote a book called “I’m Only One Man!” It’s a great read. Pick it up on amazon. He was courtly and polite, an insider’s insider who knew to how a good guy could survive in a world of sharks. I really loved him, as so many people did. Condolences to Joy, the family, and the Gelmans. There was only one Regis Philbin.

Peter Green, Heart of the Original Fleetwood Mac, Dies at 73, Wrote Santana Hit “Black Magic Woman”

Roger Friedman
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Peter Green, Heart of the Original Fleetwood Mac, Dies at 73, Wrote Santana Hit “Black Magic Woman”

Not to knock the second iteration of Fleetwood Mac with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks but the original group featured Peter Green and Danny Kirwan. Green died today at age 73. He left the group in the early 70s and suffered from schizophrenia. Reports say he passed peacefully in his sleep.

Peter Green wrote “Black Magic Woman” for Fleetwood Mac, and and then Carlos Santana covered it on “Abraxas” and became an enormous classic hit forever. Green also wrote other early Mac classics like “Oh Well” and “Albatross.”

This was all before Fleetwood Mac became a soap opera in which all the members slept with each other and fought in public. These songs, and “Hypnotized,” “Bare Trees,” even “Heroes Are Hard to Find” plus all the bluesy deep album tracks were what made the group. That was my Fleetwood Mac. RIP Peter. Peace, at last.

 

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