In Hollywood, there’s drama in front of the camera’s behind the cameras and even drama with the people covering who’s using those cameras. Nikki Finke, the opinionated founder of Deadline Hollywood is without a job if you believe one report, but Deadline is calling that report ‘libelous.’
Late Sunday, The Wrap’s editor Sharon Waxman reported that Jay Penske, whose Penske Media Corp. (PMC) now owns both Deadline and Variety, had fired the combative Finke as they had repeatedly clashed. Waxman wrote that Finke and Penske have never had a great relationship since he bought the blog in 2009, but it came to a head when he bought Variety.
Then, Deadline’s Mike Fleming wrote a personal note on the site, reporting that he saw an email from Penske to Waxman that read, “Sharon, your story isn’t true and all of the ‘facts’ that you mention are completely erroneous.”
PMC sent an official statement that called Waxman’s story “libelous, false, and defamatory story.”
“This is a complete fabrication, with not an ounce of truth to it,” the statement continues. “Just to be clear, Nikki Finke has a multi-year contract with the Company, and it is the Company’s absolute intention to continue its obligations under the agreement.”
According to The Los Angeles Times’ sources close to Finke, her contract ends this month and she has the ability to leave Deadline at that point. The reason why she and Penske haven’t gotten along is attributed to the fact that she hoped to have a major role in Variety, but that never happened.
Finke’s work at Deadline has been limited to the weekly box office reports and did write one for this weekend. She was known for writing pieces that took direct aim at Hollywood bigwigs and rival papers.