Richard Johnson

The Serbian sweetheart of 2007 has lost his New York support.

That bad blood between Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick that we discussed? It bubbled all over center court last night. After Djokovic's hard-earned four set victory over Andy Roddick last night, he shot back in a post-match on-court interview at Roddick for implying that he was faking his injuries.

"Well obviously, you know, Andy was saying I have 16 injuries after last match, so obviously I don't, right?," said Djokovic in the interview. 

The boos began, but Novak, amazingly, did not stop there.

"Like it or not, it's like that," he said.  read more »

Lawrence B. Salander, the embattled Manhattan art dealer whose gallery was ordered locked by a State Supreme Court justice last month, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to The New York Times.  read more »

Yesterday’s news that Us Weekly blogger Noelle Hancock (a former Observer staffer) is jumping ship to the soon-to-relaunch PageSix.com got us thinking about what the Post’s plans are for the new Web site. (We understand that the Post—through photo editor Dave Boyle; not Page Six editor Richard Johnson—has made offers to at least five Us staffers, though Ms. Hancock is the only one to jump ship thus far.) Gawker reported that the site is trying to staff up, especially on the West Coast, where TMZ currently has a stranglehold on the minutiae of what goes down every night at Les Deux.

However! A quick glance at the Nielsen/NetRatings stats for the past three months shows that the only celebrity site that’s shown growth is People.com, which had 6.5 million unique U.S. visitors in September, up by more than 1.5 million since July. TMZ’s growth appears to have stagnated in the same time period, though that site’s traffic still dwarves People’s: In July, TMZ recorded nearly 10.3 million visitors, which dipped to 9.4 million in August and jumped back up to July levels in September. By contrast, UsMagazine.com’s traffic has stagnated at around the 1 million mark since July, and Perez Hilton’s uniques have gone from 2.4 million in July to 2.2 million in September.

Taken together, the numbers point to what can only be a worrying trend for celebrity news and gossip sites: there is, perhaps, some audience fatigue. TMZ recently laid off one of its New York-based staffers, who was writing for the Web site; this staffer was told that the site was restructuring. Of course, TMZ also has its own successful venture in TMZ TV, for which Web site managing editor Harvey Levin serves as executive producer. Mr. Levin created the tabloid TV show Celebrity Justice in 2002, and some have speculated that since the show was canceled in 2005, Mr. Levin has been plotting his triumphant return to tabloid TV—an outlet that is ultimately much more lucrative than a Web site. Still, a TMZ spokeswoman told us that both the TV show and the Web site will continue moving “full-steam ahead” for the foreseeable future.  read more »

The delicate hoof is no longer in vogue. But how should the new breed of stomping giantesses be shod?  read more »

Jossip editor Corynne Steindler is leaving the celebrity and media site behind, to become a full-time reporter at the New York Post's Page Six. She will begin in early October.

Steindler said: "Jossip's been an amazing experience, but the opportunity to report for Page Six is something I just couldn't pass up."

Others were less reluctant to pass up a similar opportunity earlier this year. When Page Six editor Richard Johnson set out to replace his freelancers with a full-timer after the Jared Paul Stern scandal, more than a half-dozen prospective candidates declined to pursue the opportunity. Eventually Johnson hired Bill Hoffman from within the Post, to join Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson on the gossip staff.

In August, Wilson accepted a position at Maxim, leaving a new vacancy among the Sixers. This week, Steindler met with Johnson and editor-in-chief Col Allen and was offered the position.

So how will Steindler--who started blogging at Jossip in December 2005-- adjust from riffing on the morning's news to reporting into the wee hours for the Post? "I don't want it to be looked at as a huge leap to what I'm doing now," Steindler said. "It's just more high profile, and more corporate. But other than that, I'll be doing the same work--just for Richard."

-Michael Calderone

Early on the morning of March 25, 1997, Page Six honcho Richard Johnson was arrested for a DUI. The item was reported by Lorne Manly (now a media writer at the New York Times) in the Off the Record column of the New York Observer.

"It got tons of reaction," said Mr. Manly yesterday of the 1997 item--but the item wasn't picked up in other venues. "I think no one else reported on the incident at the time," emailed Mr. Manly's then-editor, Jim Windolf, yesterday.  read more »

The item has not been available on the internet until now, and this prior arrest has largely been forgotten.

Why is everyone in New York trying to get everyone else to go to yoga all the goddam time?

A dozen gossip folk have turned him down. So why can't Richard Johnson hire a new Page Six writer?

What does '08 contender John McCain say behind closed doors? Here's what!

Mets-man Carlos Delgado is suffering in silence—all the way to the bank. But at least he's not wearing Perry Ellis.

The Bloomberg building—and its antipathy to ornament, hyper-modern transparency, and free food everywhere—is the tower of our times.

How many Times staffers might be interested in working in Baghdad? Five.

Couples therapy pros George 'n' Hilly have a three-way, of sorts. Ummm!

That’s Funny, Kids.  read more »

That’s Funny, Kids. That’s Funny  read more »

On the evening of Saturday, March 4, the night before the Oscars, the powerful supermarket billionai  read more »

Where Dreams Come True: Making the scene with Robert Verdi, Amanda Lepore, Janice Dickinson, Miss U.S.A., Miss Universe and porn queen Jenna Jameson, who answers the question, "What residue are you left with as a byproduct of your career?" The Pud-Pounder: Doug Dechert, who's currently working at pimping out Page Sixer Richard Johnson's artist son, celebrated his 49th birthday this weekend. Is he still pissed off about a betrayal by his old teenage lover, Abigail Vona, and her pals like Jay McInerney? Oh hell yes. But how was the party? "I think it's a very nice event; it's a lovely crowd of people, and I wish Doug the best. But I would imagine this would be the same scene at his funeral," said a friend of the birthday boy. Next Fashion Week: September 8, 2006: Fashion week may be over--but so is Hilary Duff. Plus! Anna Wintour admits to fashion mistakes. Ladies' Rankings: Of the 62 hottest it-girls in Manhattan, who won the celebutante contest that is fashion week?

Just asking: What new entry in the crowded and antagonistic celebrity-glossy field is making rivals  read more »

Life in the fishbowl isn’t the thing for Nadine Johnson, the Belgian-born über-publicist and form  read more »

Life in the fishbowl isn’t the thing for Nadine Johnson, the Belgian-born über-publicist  read more »

[Editor's Note: A somewhat murky clarification has been appended to this item on July 20th.]

When The Transom talked to Paula Froelich last week, she was jetting off to somewhere less humid and more glamorous for the weekend. And apparently Page Six boss Richard Johnson was out on mini-vacation. Which would have just left the fun-loving Chris Wilson to mind the Page Six shop for Sunday's edition, which included a nearly delightfully old-school and almost Gotti-esque warning to Jessica Coen of Gawker. [Disclaimer: The Transom was once Ms. Coen's boss.]

What was that one thing that Chris Wilson said that one time to Ms. Coen? "If you want to belittle me, okay, but remember one day I can do the same to you. Be nice okay? Be nice. I know what you guys do. I don't need the aggravation."

And, at last, the gentleman delivers. Sorta.

Although the retribution element is a wee bit scary and just a bit more entertaining, overall it makes The Transom pine for the days of scary former Page Sixer Ian Spiegelman, who famously sent a note to an enemy that included the fantastic phrase "You're a lame and a pussy, Doug." Sadly, it got him fired. But it satisfied.

Perhaps everyone involved should sit down and read Ms. Froelich's new book, It! Nine Secrets of the Rich and Famous That'll Take You To the Top. From page 134: "Always—and always, I mean every single time you leave the house—put your best foot forward and act appropriately." See? Nice, they say, is back, baby.  read more »

But The Transom hopes it won't last.

**UPDATE** Well, The Transom would prefer to have had someone speak on the record. However, having received more than a few off the record emails regarding this item, The Transom will happily concede that it cannot prove its assumption that Mr. Wilson was in fact the author of the Page Six item in question. And although The Transom sees conspiracy everywhere, it is absolutely willing to say that this conspiracy theory may (or may not?) be truly only a theory. —Choire Sicha

1-20-2004Dear Diary,

Fuck you.  read more »

The 92nd Street Y's "Writing New York" reading on Jan. 5 should have been a placid affair.  read more »

That's Funny, Kids.  read more »