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....
- 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.
- He learned a lot about interviewing by transcribing the interviews of his first boss at Premier magazine, the great writer Peter Biskind.
- He once snuck a tape recorder into the Oscar’s Vanity Fair party and hid it in his pocket while he interviewed Tom Cruise
- 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.
- 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 .