A former New York Post editor who was fired last month for complaining about a ludicrously racist cartoon has filed a detailed complaint in federal court accusing editor Col Allan of racism, sexism, and all-round dickishiness of the highest order.
If you thought Liz Smith was cranky and bitter about her profession before the New York Post dropped her column, just wait until you hear the 86-year-old gossip columnist now.
The Post is dropping gossip columnist Liz Smith. The reason? The economy, naturally. "Like so many other newspapers around the nation, we are buffeted by unprecedented economic gales," Col Allan, the Post's editor, explained in a letter to Smith earlier this month when he informed her that the paper had decided not to renew her $125,000-a-year contract. But if you're thinking the 86-year-old gossip is planning to retire her quill pen, think again! Smith says she'll continue turning out a column five days a week for syndication to other newspapers, she'll be penning a twice-a-week column for Daily Variety, and she's also signed on as a contributing editor of Parade magazine. Oh, and she'll be contributing to wowOwow, the website for elderly women that she co-founded last year, where, she says, she's looking forward to posting scoops "free from the constraints of newspaper deadlines." [NYT]
The official investigation into Eliot Spitzer's efforts to discredit Joe Bruno has landed four former administration officials in legal hot water. More amusing are some of Spitzer's emails, many of which show that while Spitzer may have been a stickler when it came to what to wear in bed, he wasn't all that anal when it came to the English language: "Referring to a meeting that Mr. Spitzer apparently had with Rupert Murdoch, the Post's owner, and the paper's editor, Col Allan, the governor wrote, "Col allen essebntially said they uswe trheir paper as a club. Subtlety is not their world view. At end, who cares. Substance trumps." [NYT]
On the safe-for-women news site WowoWow today, octogenarian Post gossip queen Liz Smith weighs in with her opinion of bosses: "My boss is an absolute total shit!" Goodness, Liz! "As I have a lot of bosses in this world just as newspaper, magazine-writing, TV-appearing, Internet-contributing souls all have, I will not identify just which particular boss this is," she adds. But of course, we know exactly who she's talking about.
Taco Bell's Value Menu slogan is "Why Pay More?" But if a rapper were to say it, they would say, "Why Pay Mo'?" Because black people can't talk right, ha! Cannily tapping into urban culture, the fast food chain is running a "Why Pay Mo'?"online promotion, complete with a Rap Name Generator (mine is Super Fly H. Nach!). Taco Bell's beef tastes like dog food, and their ad agency is making them look like a bunch of tone-deaf racists. But I can almost forgive them for all that, because their site's "Why Pay Mo' Rhyme Generator" allowed me to create a hip hop supergroup featuring evil columnist Andrea Peyser, Spitzer hooker Ashley Alexandra Dupre, drunk Post editor Col Allan, and author of the year Keith Gessen, all kicking rhymes about the fat value menu. Action photos below!:
Have you heard any wild rumors about anything in the news from any source at all? Why not call New York Post editor Col Allan so he can put it right in the paper! Last Thursday, Col's wife phoned him and said "Elaine died!"—referring to a family friend in Australia. But Allan, with a newspaperman's instincts, naturally assumed she was talking about famous restaurateur Elaine Kaufman. So he set his city desk to work calling all over town, asking her friends about her death. Finally some qualified reporter who should be fired immediately pointed out that, based on actual facts, Kaufman was not dead. Reminiscent of the Post's glorious, fictional splash about John Kerry choosing Dick Gephardt for his running mate, which likely originated with Rupert Murdoch. Ha, reporting for the Post is just like playing a game of Telephone! In Allan's defense, "Mistakes happen, chicken fish monkey pineapple." [Daily Intel]
Five years after a visit to the Scores gentleman's club, Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd is still catching hell. And it's all the fault of the New York Post! (Fellow Aussie and NYP editor Col Allan was the one who took him there.) Now that Rudd is campaigning to curb teenage drinking, his opponents are not going to let him forget about his own foibles. The prime minister has pointed that he is no "Captain Perfect," whoever that is. We're sure he's the only man in Australia to ever have gotten drunk at a strip club! Concludes an AP article, "Australians are relatively tolerant of excessive drinking. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke held a Guinness World Record for speed beer drinking during his days as a Rhodes Scholar." [Associated Press]
Ever notice how Scores, the standard bearer of Manhattan strip clubs, gets such good coverage from Page Six? Not just the various career moves of the club's leaders, like today's item about former frontman Lonnie Hanover's jump to Rick's Cabaret, but all those celeb sightings in the club. Lindsay Lohan dances! Jean-Claude Van Damme gets beat up! Dennis Quaid loses his credit card!
Col Allan
Oh dear. Could it be that not one but two new British tabloid editors (insert obligatory Denton joke here) are coming across the pond? Over at Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, Keith Kelly is reporting that the Daily News has been wooing Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace for the better part of a year. We're also hearing that Rebekah Wade, editor of the Sun, Murdoch's other tab, is the heir apparent to truculent Post editor Col Allan. Of course, this could also be complete crap or a conflation of the facts—two Fleet Streeters (with the same initials—conspiracy!) headed to New York's tabbies at the very same time? Both of whom have pretty pretty hair? Not possible. Possible? You tell us.
The Times finally gets around to noting this coming Sunday's launch of Page Six The Magazine. New York Post magazine editor Col Allan notes that the Post isn't just aiming at the New York Daily News; the Times itself is a target. Why? Well, the Times reminds you, "The Times' Sunday magazines—a century-old weekly, and four new, less frequent ones—attract a lot of ads and are important money-makers for the newspaper." Duly noted! And clearly necessary! Another Rupert Murdoch publication, the Wall Street Journal, has announced its launch of a glossy magazine resurrecting the "Pursuits" rubric. Robert Frank, the paper's chronicler of rich people, is expected to play a large role in the monthly mag. It's just so nice to see everyone at every newspaper on the same page (as it were). Maybe later they will start making money on the internets!
