Hockey player Sean Avery, who made a name for himself by personally pleading with Anna Wintour for a Vogue internship, and then taking his shirt of in Men’s Vogue to write about it, looks like he might be trading teams. Yes, he’ll still be inventing rules for the New York Rangers, but what’s this about his schmoozing up to Marie Claire?
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Follow us on this one, would ya?
Joanna Coles edits a magazine called Marie Claire.
Coles put a one Tina Fey, star of NBC’s 30 Rock, on the cover of her May issue.
Fey starred in the movie Baby Mama, which is what the May cover was promoting.
Scenes from Baby Mama were filmed outside the building at 210 Riverside Drive, at 93rd Street.
Coles lives at 210 Riverside Drive. (Before you get huffy about us violating her privacy, her home address is already available to anyone, thanks to election donation records.)
An $649,000 apartment listing from Halstead for a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom co-op at 210 Riverside Drive (Apartment #5D) happens to mention that the building “served as the backdrop for You’ve Got Mail, Baby Mama, and other recent films.”
The realtor attached to the listing, Halstead’s Victoria Matus, is also said to be Coles own real estate broker. (Hearst spokeswoman Jessica Pollack says “Joanna has no relationship and has never used Victoria Matus as her broker.”)
A coincidental confluence of events? Or a carefully executed marketing ploy where everybody benefits?
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What could be more nauseating than having to trek through an entire column written by Liz Smith? Watching her play videographer. At Michael’s. Bothering celebrities. [WOWOWOW]
Breaking news, from the Hearstlink wires! Suzanne Sykes has just been named the new creative director of Marie Claire! This earth-shattering development was revealed earlier today in a stunning mid-day announcement by editor-in-chief Joanna Coles.
But what, you might ask, are Sykes’ qualifications?
Answer: She was previously the art director of Grazia, which you’ve never heard of because it’s from the U.K., and prior to that, she was the art director at M magazine, which you’ve also never heard of because it sucks for the very same reason.
Nevertheless, Coles seems thrilled to have her on board, describing herself as “elated to have lured [Sykes] to the States to work on Marie Claire.” Sadly, Coles does not explain exactly how Sykes was persuaded to emigrate here, although we presume it has something to do with Joanna’s feminine wiles.
Or possibly an incentive plan that does not, in any way, revolve around company stock.
The full intra-office (inter-office?) memo, after the jump!
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Things are no longer stagnant over at Marie Claire.
Apparently, some of EIC Joanna Coles’ top staffers are jumping ship, and leaving Marie Claire for greener pastures. Coles is reportedly losing her beauty director to Shape magazine, and her senior editor to, ahem, Tango magazine.
(Related: Two other Marie Claire employees—who wished to remain anonymous—are allegedly in the process of negotiating multi-year contracts with Lambada magazine and Dry Hump Monthly)
Aw, look on the bright side, Joanna. We’re sure this has nothing to do with the magazine’s faltering sales, and absolutely everything to do with Cleo Gyde’s Technicolor Dreamskirt.
With everyone atwitter over the sordid ranking of Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles at Fashion Week – second row, behind Brandon Holley – we did some poking around to see why designers were placing a magazine’s top editor in the nosebleeds. And then we came across the above photos.
Who’s that? She’s Cleo Glyde, Marie Claire‘s new “style director,” as of Jan. 22, coming this way from Vogue Australia.
The photo on the left was shot on April 30, 2003. The photo on the right was shot on June 1, 2005.
Moral of the story? Any magazine that puts a woman who wears the same horrid cocktail napkin multiple times in public over the course of several years in its employ should be pleased as Kool-Aid to even have a seat at Fashion Week.
Update: A Hearst mouthpiece writes in to insist “Joanna Coles sat in the front row for every show she attended,” including Vera Wang. Maybe she was just leaning back in her front row chair when she was spotted in the second row.
From our inbox of despair, arriving late yesterday:
joanna coles having a glenn close tv pilot shot in her apartment tomorrow.
TV pilot? Would that be the Glenn Close TV Project we’ve heard so much nothing about? Where Maire Claire EIC Coles uses her uncanny resemblance to Close to score a cameo?
Behind-the-scenes at fashion magazines is, like, so current! Remember that Devil Wears Prada book, and then the movie, and then Ugly Betty, and then Vogue‘s Anna Wintour agreeing to an A&E documentary? Totally awesome and nouveau, no? Even Joanna Coles’ Marie Claire is getting in on this, capitalizing on the barely-there attention span of its dwindling readership “to produce a series of minidocumentaries on life at the magazine, available as video podcasts beginning Tuesday at marieclaire.com.” (Which means footage of Joanna will be available before Cathie Black removes her. Groovy!) Video podcasts are all the rage, especially with Vogue and W joining the technology panty parade.
Future episodes will introduce staffers as they go about their work, including, Ms. Coles noted, a scene in which the manager of the fashion closet throws a stiletto. She said it is not as scary as it sounds.
OMG awesomeness! It’s like Star‘s reality show One Park Avenue that never got made, mixed in with Star‘s blogazine that was an utter disaster. Except with video. Which is, like, a guaranteed way to get readers interested in an assistant beauty editor who wears sneakers to work and slips on the Louboutins in the elevator ride up to the office. Rad!
When we ran this item seeking to explain why Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles was suffering so much bad press, we received a prompt note from Hearst’s PR department insisting we remove the item, since it was wildly inaccurate. Naturally, we declined. And asked to be invited to Hearst’s next soiree.
Now Nat Ives pops in at AdAge today with a report on how Marie Claire‘s brass are handling all the bad press. What bad press?, you ask. The bad press where Joanna is consistently doubted as a leader of the magazine, targeted for trying to publish a “smart” women’s title, and overall unimpressiveness. While we’re perfectly willing to accept some of the blame, Radar gets dumped on as being the source of an article that’s being passed around to MC advertisers as a warning against buying ad pages from a woman who knows not what she’s doing.
But, claims MC publisher Susan Plagemann, the “poison pen letter” has had the reverse effect!
“This undermining mailing has had such a positive effect on my business, and has had the complete reverse effect that the person or persons behind it wanted it to,” Ms. Plagemann added. “It motivated people to call me in droves in full support.”
Glad the troops could offer an ego massage but ad pages this period versus last year are, uh, down. Get back to work, Susan.
We love us some Joanna Coles. Really, truly do. Smart lady, outgoing, dare we say genuine? But it’s no secret the Marie Claire editor is underwhelming Cathie Black & Co. at Hearst, what with her circulation disappointments month after month. Some are blaming the way Joanna revamped the magazine to smarten it up and get rid of the frilly beauty and slave-to-fashion items that were MC‘s bread and butter under Lesley Jane Seymour.
But us? We’re going to place nearly all the blame on MC‘s lagging on the fact that each of Coles’ covers include the creepiest eyes ever to peer out at us from the newsstand. It’s not that they’re making us see dead people; it’s that we’re used to seeing Maggie, Sarah, Ashley, and Jennifer as women who wouldn’t stick a serrated knife in our spinal column.
• Jessica Biel is Derek Jeter’s new beard.
• The Devil Wears Prada TV producers shadowing Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles might need to find a new personality to follow.
• Michael Jackson indeed showed at the World Music Awards, but he didn’t fail not to disappoint. Meanwhile, his rider demands put sister Janet’s to shame.
• People magazine names George Clooney the sexiest man alive. Isaiah Washington has one more reason to laugh at Patrick Dempsey.
• Rachael Ray faces her first sex scandal, adds EVOO.
• Sacha Baron Cohen sits for an interview that doesn’t involve the words “sexy time” or “vagine.”
• Joanna Coles is disappointing her peers at Marie Claire. And while the numbers speak for themselves, we’re hearing there’s some very hardcore agenda setting going on. [WWD]
• FCC reminds you that “fuck” and “shit” are still naughty words. [B&C]
• R&M goes political. Readers turn the page. [R&M]
• It’s the first election night for all our news anchors playing lead. [NYT]
• Dateline‘s “To Catch A Predator” Series claims its first pedophilia suicide. NBC plays dumb. [NYT]
• Tucker Carlson, back on the tie fix? [TVN]
Is Joanna Coles planning an Ivanka Trump cover for an upcoming issue of Marie Claire? We would be a little surprised if she was, but we know she’s planning to include at least a piece on the socialite cum magazine covergirl. And the New York Observer’s legendary writer George Gurley is penning the piece.
Though, we may have to expect some of the sass and brass to missing from the article. Lowdown reports that Gurley was lookin’ a little bit smitten after his chat with the heiress.
… George Gurley, looking dazed and dreamy after lunching at Michael’s yesterday with a Very Important Person. “I’m overwhelmed,” Gurley marveled after he bid his lunch companion farewell. “I’m dazzled.”
And then, as he headed toward the door: “I think I’m going to walk it off.”
Well, either that or he just polished off three bottles of champagne and was starting to glaze over.
Snark Attack! [Lloyd Grove, Lowdown]
• The bed springs finally popped out of Tom Cruise‘s couch of crazy.
• Paris Hilton’s Internet “experience” won her a fab new gig with YouTube.
• Jann Wenner believes in sharing; otherwise known as making celebrities go through the back Us Weekly door to get to Rolling Stone.
• Joanna Coles proves that she really was made for women’s mags. And she has new BFF Maggie Gyllenhaal to prove it.
• Tactless Dennis Publishing picks really great times to give their employees bad news. Well, at least they can’t blame that one on Chris Wilson.
• Wolf Blitzer is a moron, Michael Noer is a douche, and Tucker Carlson likes to be sparkly.
• Budget Travel doesn’t think its appropriate to celebrate the fact that their entire staff is leaving for Travel + Leisure.
• No more Kitty Delicious at Life & Style.
• No more SHOP Etc. or Weekend at Hearst.
British import Joanna Coles is already doing a fine job making Marie Claire a title worth talking about. When it comes to Hearst, we usually dedicate our energy to chronicling Atoosa Rubenstein‘s MySpace friend requests — but suddenly Coles influence has given the staid (though healthy, circulation-wise) Marie Claire an injection of sexy. To be sure, it helps to “jump into” Cathie Black‘s car.
But around the new MC, there is one type of injection that doesn’t seem to have a home: Botox. Joanna told us so herself last night – pointing to the wrinkles in her forehead – amid apple martinis and a live band at a private screening for Sherrybaby at Hearst’s new glass tower. And that sort of thing makes sense, given Joanna’s feelings toward nose jobber Ashlee Simpson and her kin.
Last night’s event, however, was not just a chance for the former More editor to shake hands with other Hearsties while proving she can pull off an all-white ensemble. The editor was also hosting September covergirl Maggie Gyllenhaal (who arrived flanked with soon-to-be baby daddy Peter Sarsgaard) — Joanna’s first issue for the magazine (it helped that she learned how to pronounce Maggie’s last name).
Though reluctant to say much about where she’s moving (she and Peter living in the West Village, though plenty of rumors suggest a move to Park Slope is imminent) and whether brother Jake will be playing Lance Armstrong (and here we though that bit of news was already confirmed be PR types), Maggie did let on that the paparazzi scene in Los Angeles is, to our surprise, much more bareable than it is here in New York. “We were at breakfast yesterday with my brother and all of a sudden these 12 photographers appeared and started taking our picture,” she says. In L.A., the paps leave her alone. Who knew?
But it was during the post-screening Q&A that Maggie let on a more incriminating detail of her movie career. After her success with Secretary, where the director allowed her to control much of her character’s portrayal, she actually thought Hollywood types would solicit her input about the characters she played. Not so, she found out while filming a movie she wouldn’t name (though our guess is Mona Lisa Smile). It was “horrible” and they made her cry.
And crying she did plenty of last night — though only on screen, and only in between exposing her breasts and having sex with every other male character in the film. And that, apparently, is just the type of Hollywood Joanna Coles wants in her magazine. By which we mean, of course, natural breasts.