In other celebrity tabloid insider news, in addition to Us Weekly’s Joey Bartolomeo jumping to People, we hear In Touch just removed David Thompson, their West Coast bureau chief, who was described to us as “very strange” and one with “no people skills,” and simply wasn’t up to the task at hand.
He came aboard at the end of November from OK! (and, before that, The Globe), replacing Martin Gould (now at Star). Gould’s deputy at the time was Ashley Dillahunty, who remained the No. 2 on the West Coast as news director when Thompson took over.
Now, it’s her turn to shine: Dillahunti has been elevated to the bureau chief spot, while former Us Weekly staffer and 944 Vegas editor-in-chief Abby Tegnelia, who’s credited with breaking stories like Angelina Jolie giving birth to Shiloh in Namibia, and someone who’s been described to us as “talented” and “unassuming,” returns to In Touch to grab Dillahunty’s old post.