At Half King last night, luminaries of the magazine world came together for a reading of selections from The Best American Magazine Writing 2005. Vanity Fair's David Kamp was there to read "American Communion," his piece for VF on the relationship between Def Jam's Rick Rubin and the late Johnny Cash. After he was introduced, he walked up to the podium and said, "Hi, everyone, I'm JT Leroy."
• On Fake Writer Day, it's not just about the fake writers. Blogger Claire Zulkey, who has interviewed both JT Leroy and James Frey for her blog, crumbles to the floor and realizes her blogging ethics have suffered at the hands of these evil, literary minstrels. [Zulkey]
• We've no idea what sort of club would call itself V.I.P. room and then use Tara Reid as its spokeswhore, but her malformed side-boob defeats any notions of the venue's V or I. [Hollywood Tuna]
• Lindsay Lohan and Leonardo DiCaprio are 88% compatible. You have a 6% chance, however, of giving a shit. [Jossip]
• Star Jones would appreciate it if you didn't post on her blogs in all caps. It gives hubby Al a headache, you know. [Just Jared]
• We've no complaints regarding the calculated pimping of Anderson Cooper, other than that we'd like to see more jackets in the ads. Why not a bomber jacket? Perhaps a khaki trench? The puffy coat, while warm, just isn't flattering. [B&C] • As for this morning's Blind Item Guessing Game, you all were more silent than a scared altar boy. We're not sure how to punish you for playing poorly, but it'll likely involve force-feeding you complex carbohydrates.
Amid all the excitement about Warren St. John's positive identification in today's Times of the (female) actor who's been playing "JT Leroy," and the concomitant final proof that "Leroy" is almost certainly the creation of San Francisco couple Laura Albert and Geoffery Knoop, New York magazine doesn't want you to forget its writer said it, too. And months ago. (Except, you know, without identifying the person who appears as "Leroy" in public, or being willing to remove a lot of likelys and probablys from the expose.)
Earlier today, it was revealed that ambiguous literary wunderkind JT Leroy, who claims to be an AIDS-stricken truck-stop hooker turned literary star, was really a fabrication of Laura Albert and Geoffrey Knoop and played, in public, by Knoop's half-sister Savannah. In an email sent to Galleycat, JT Leroy's book agent, Ira Silverberg, comments on being completely duped into believing his client:
In case your short-term memory is as fried as ours, an October article in New York suggested (perhaps more loudly so than previous suggestions from other outlets) that successful young author JT Leroy — the former West Virginia truck-stop hooker with a history in the San Francisco drug scene and a solid case of AIDS — didn't exactly exist. Leroy, the piece maintained, was merely a fabrication of Laura Albert and Geoffery Knoop, the couple who are said to have rescued Leroy from his tragic life and helped him to become a "brilliant" dark writer.
• Go forth, little mischief makers, and make your own subway sign — just because you can. [Subway Fun]
• If you read that Times article about a month ago about the magically irritating converted schoolhouse shared by a bunch of creatives in Bushwick and thought, "Hey, that's neat," now's your chance to move in. You're an idiot, but, hey, we're not judging. [Craigslist via Lindsayism]
• How she gets the scoops: Daily News gossip girl Jo Piazza is a kissing bandit. [NYO]
• Three of the top seven most emailed Times articles pertain to macaroni and cheese, and yet we wonder why America is the land of the obese. [NYT]
• Only the brave should listen to the new Kevin Federline track. We, as we've noted before, are total pussies. Knock yourselves out, though, and tell us how it goes. [Yahoo! Music]
• Whether or not author JT Leroy is real, at least the experience of figuring him out is decidedly surreal. [Guardian]
• After Blairgate and Judygate (and with Wen Ho Leegate and Stephen Hatfillgate pending) Times cancels J.T. LeRoy piece for T after New York convinces them he may or may not exist. [WWD]
• Is People the new Us Weekly? Keith Kelly seems to think so, saying that Time Inc. celeb title is up while its competitors are down. [NYP]
• Bill and Cathie at ASME: Buckley and Hearst's Black to receive lifetime-achievement awards from the mag group. [AdAge]
• Tokion sold, as if that makes any difference to your life. [Folio:]
• Taking a cue from his pals' pal Judy, Bush, too, should take a severance and a letter to the editor and just retire already, says Greg Mitchell. [E&P]
• It seems the kids like the blogs. [News.com]
Next week's New York features a shocking expose of reclusive author JT LeRoy (NB: Like Michael Jackson and "king of pop," journalists are contractually obligated to preface mention of JT LeRoy with the phrase "reclusive author"): he might be a fraud:
