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‘Hits’ Magazine Will Give You Great Coverage for Just $150,000 a Year

I’m no Pollyanna when it comes to the trade press. But I’ve never seen a quid pro quo as explicit as this proposed contract sent to a major talent agency.

Hollywood sign
Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
Matthew Belloni
October 11, 2021

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It’s open season for open secrets in the media industry. The New York Times’ Ben Smith took down Carlos Watson’s Ozy Media by simply illuminating (albeit in jaw-dropping fashion, complete with its C.F.O. allegedly impersonating a YouTube executive) the sham puffery of a media outlet without an actual audience—a fact that most people in the media already assumed about Ozy. Then on Friday, The Daily Beast revealed The Wrap boss Sharon Waxman to be an insane bully, who presides over a toxic sweatshop that “degrades” employees. Again, something most of us in Hollywood media knew years ago.