Scary Boston Gossip Bitches Will Totally Cut You
You might mistake the duo at right for a mild-mannered pair headlining an NPR telethon; that would be the last mistake you ever made. The two are in fact Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa — the "Gals" — twin terrors of Boston's gossip scene and lead reporters on the Boston Herald's Inside Track column. A humbugging profile of Fee and Raposa in Boston magazine is amusing on several points, such as how even those who fear them are quick to note that at least things aren't as bad as in New York:
"It's a favor bank," [publicist Peggy Rose] says. "It's not the money-and-bribe relationship they have in New York. The big thing is having photos or giving them scoops so that you can call in a favor later on when you need one. There is a quid pro quo there, no question, but that's how the game works."
More favor banking after the jump.
Further NYC perspective is gained from author and former New York Post gossipist Deborah Schoeneman, who clucks disapprovingly at Fee and Raposa's shoddy fact checking. Such gall! Perhaps best are the antics of Boston PR mandarin George Regan, who seems to style himself as the Beantown equivalent of New Yorkers Ronn [sic] Torossian and/or Donny Deutsch:
When I first began reporting this story, I received multiple phone calls saying the Gals were on to me. Before I'd written a word, my boss had received four calls, one of them to inform him that I'm "a punk." Restaurant owner Joe Cimino sent a letter to this magazine, insisting his name not appear in the article. Before long, disparaging comments about my loyalty to Boston magazine started seeping into our office. (If you see me panhandling outside Store 24, drop something in my cup.) George Regan, one of the Gals' PR buddies (who, incidentally, represents BoMag and the Herald), asked me to come down to his gym to "settle this." He also issued a fatwa against me, sending out a companywide directive that no one at his firm talk to me. Ever. (Regan confirms he sent the memo "with pride," before announcing that any employee who does talk to me will be out of a job.)
So cute, these Massachusettsians. Let us know whey start the on-camera drunken shoving.
