DRUDGE REPORT 2002®
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX FRI JAN 18 2002 16:02:37 ET XXXXX
EXCLUSIVE: TINA'S TALK HALTS PUBLICATION; PLUG PULLED ON MONTHLY
MIRAMAX/HEARST has pulled the plug on TALK magazine -- effective immediately, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The current issue on newsstands will be the last, say top sources. The magazine's staff will be told of the dramatic development during a 5 pm [ET] meeting.
The decision to fold the monthly was made in recent days, with TALK president Tina Brown described as "highly disappointed" by the action.
TALK/MIRAMAX will continue its successful book division, with upcoming works by Rudy Giuliani and Madeline Albright, sources say.
The magazine launched with a splash in the Summer of '99 with an all-star party at the Statue of Liberty attended by Madonna, Kissinger, Rushdie, Bacall, Demi, Hurley and others.
Brown quickly caused a fuss-commotion with her inaugural issue when First Lady Hillary Clinton confessed how the president had trouble remaining faithful to her because he was �scarred by abuse� when he was barely four.
But the magazine quickly began bleeding money; in the end, losing upwards of $50 million.
The Ad Crunch of '01 and a post-September 11 media slowdown proved to be too much a burden for the upstart.
"The parties, the premieres, the expense accounts were brutal on the bottom line," says an insider.
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Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereportArchives.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2002
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