Ep. 13 — Gossip God Marc Malkin on the Art of Breaking Celeb News

Entertainment journalist, gossip columnist, and red carpet kingpin, Marc Malkin, is a master of breaking celeb news. As managing editor and film correspondent of E! News, Marc's signature bowtie and byline were a staple at the network for over a decade.

I like to think I discovered Marc--although I didn't. We first met  in the 90s, when I paid him $25 for gossip items for my then boss, Sally Lee. Later, I somehow convinced him to commute to New Jersey to book covers and write features for Twist magazine. From there his career skyrocketed with high-profile jobs at the New York Daily News, Us Weekly, and New York Magazine. Although he became a successful on-air personality, Marc's true love has always been writing. 

On the lastest episode of Write About Now, I sit down with Marc to talk about how he went from a Lifestyes of the Rich and Famous-watching, poor kid in Howard Beach to a Vanity Fair party-going gossip God. Here are 5 interesting takeways....

1. He came out in college his freshman year and went on to work for a few gay newspapers. He almost died covering the St. Paddy's Day parade in Boston, when thugs with 2x4s chased him and the gay marchers he was covering.
2. He learned a lot about interviewing by transcribing the interviews of his first boss at Premier magazine, the great writer Peter Biskind.
3. He once snuck a tape recorder into the Oscar’s Vanity Fair party and hid it in his pocket while he interviewed Tom Cruise
4. When he first started  writing gossip for The New York Daily News, he vowed there were two things he would never cover: When someone is sick and when someone is in recovery for addiction.
5. In the gossip racket, engagements, divorces, and adoptions are huge news. Marc broke the story of Lily Tomlin’s engagement and Sharon Stone's adoption .