Following WWD's speculative article about the state of her contract (up at the end of the month), rumors festered yesterday evening that AMI editorial director Bonnie Fuller had left the company. AMI CEO David Pecker had called a smoke-filled meeting with the company's brassiest balls, fueling the chatter that the Canadian Fury had left the building, no doubt in an imagined fit of shin-kicking and ceramic-mug throwing. AMI flack Lisa Dallos says, "Nothing could be further from the truth."

So why the big meeting and resultant rumor milling? It might have something to do with today's news that AMI plans to auction off five of their special-interest titles: Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Flex, Country Weekly and Mira!, which together comprise just under a third of the company's total library. AMI is reportedly shooting for a target price of $300 million, which should just about cover the cost of renewing Fuller's contract and gym membership.

American Media Puts 5 Titles Up for Auction-Report [Reuters]
American Media to Sell 5 of Its Magazine Titles [WSJ]