Star (magazine)
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''Star'' is an American
celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
tabloid magazine A gossip magazine, also referred to as a tabloid magazine, is a magazine that features scandalous stories about the personal lives of celebrities and other well-known individuals. In North America, this genre of magazine flourished in the 1950s an ...
founded in 1974. The magazine is owned by
American Media Inc. A360 Media, LLC (branded a360media), formerly American Media, Inc. (AMI), is an American publisher of magazines, supermarket tabloids, and books based in New York City. Originally affiliated with only the ''National Enquirer'', the media company ...
and overseen by AMI's Chief Content Officer,
Dylan Howard Dylan Howard (born 19 January 1982) is an entertainment journalist and media executive. He is best known for his work as editor-in-chief of the ''National Enquirer'' tabloid between 2014 and 2020, a period in which he oversaw a number of scanda ...
.


History

''Star'' was founded by
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
in 1974 as competition to the tabloid ''
National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
'' with its headquarters in New York City. In the late 1980s it moved its offices to Tarrytown, NY and in 1990 Murdoch sold the magazine to the ''Enquirer''s parent company
American Media, Inc. A360 Media, LLC (branded a360media), formerly American Media, Inc. (AMI), is an American publisher of magazines, supermarket tabloids, and books based in New York City. Originally affiliated with only the ''National Enquirer'', the media company ...
(Murdoch now owns the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', which, although it has more of a regional, news-centered focus, still has significant celebrity coverage.) Originally an unstapled, inexpensive,
supermarket tabloid Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known a ...
printed on
newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
, ''Star'' was hugely successful but remained in the shadow of its longer-established stablemate. Along with the ''Enquirer'' its circulation declined with the advent of celebrity-driven television shows such as ''
Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...
'' and ''
Hard Copy ''Hard Copy'' is an American tabloid television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. ''Hard Copy'' was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence. The original hosts of ''Hard Copy'' ...
''. In 1999, AMI was bought by investors fronted by David Pecker, who personally pledged that ''Star'' would never relocate to Florida, the home state of all the country's other tabloids. However, it took Pecker less than a year to renege on his promise and ''Star'' was moved into AMI's headquarters in
Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
, sharing the building with the ''Enquirer'' and AMI's other recently acquired titles '' The Globe'', ''
National Examiner The ''National Examiner'' is a supermarket tabloid from America. It was formerly owned by American Media, Inc. (AMI). AMI's chief content officer, Dylan Howard, oversaw the publication. The ''Examiner'' has the fewest pages, which was the leas ...
'', and ''
Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
''. Editor Phil Bunton was replaced before the move when he angered Pecker by telling the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'': "It's going to be open warfare. How we're going to all work together I don't know. It's like having the
Bosnians Bosnians (Bosnian language: / ; / , / ) are people identified with the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina or with the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term ''Bosnians'' refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless ...
,
Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
, the
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
all together in the same area." Virtually all ''Star''s staff of experienced tabloid journalists refused to make the move south. Four years later, Pecker appointed former ''
Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' editor
Bonnie Fuller Bonnie Fuller (born Bonnie Hurowitz; September 8, 1956) is a Canadian media executive who is the owner and editor-in-chief of Hollywood Life. Fuller previously worked as editor-in-chief for publications such as '' YM'', ''Cosmopolitan'', '' Glamou ...
to oversee the paper and, at her demand, he moved it back to New York in the summer of 2003. At the beginning of 2004, ''Star'' gained new life by switching to a more traditional magazine format, with a higher grade of paper and, denying its tabloid roots, put itself into competition with a new breed of entertainment magazine typified by
Time Inc. Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
's ''
People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'', Fuller's former publication, Wenner Media's ''
Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'', and the German-owned magazine publisher Bauer's ''
In Touch Weekly ''In Touch Weekly'' is an American celebrity gossip magazine. The magazine is focused on celebrity news, fashion, beauty, relationships and lifestyle, and is geared towards a younger readership, billing itself as "fast and fun", along with making ...
''. However, its page layout remains tabloid-derived, with sections including "Worst of the Week", which points out the most amusing celebrity fashion disasters of the previous week, "Stars Without Makeup" section which compares photos of stars with and without makeup, and "Knifestyles of the Rich and Famous" section, which illustrates suspected incidences of
plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...
with before-and-after photos. As of 2015, ''Star'' sells for
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
4.99 per issue with reduced rate subscriptions varying from 26 to 52 issues.


Controversies

''Star'' received attention in 1991 in for running a story about
KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
drummer
Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...
, claiming that he had become homeless and was a habitual drunkard and was living on the streets of
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, California. In fact, Criss was healthy and happily married at the time. ''Star'' had instead interviewed and photographed a homeless man who had passed himself as Criss for years. The real Peter Criss was mourning his mother at the time and was distressed to learn that his friends and associates believed he had fallen on hard times. In 2011, the actress Katie Holmes sued ''Star'' magazine for libel after the tabloid published a story about her that suggested she abused drugs. The original lawsuit was for $50 million, but the case was settled before going into court for an undisclosed amount of money. The publisher took matters into print again publicly apologizing to Holmes and disclosing that a substantial donation was going to be done under her name to a charity of her choice. It was said by ''Star'' magazine's chief editor that brand loyalty is the most important focus for their industry. This being said, people are only intrigued by the "juiciest dirt", leaving the cover page to be where the most gossip, dirt, and biggest celebrity news is to be shown, leaving the audience wanting more. ''Star'' has been accused of publicizing any news that is presented to them, regardless of whether or not it is true. This left
Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
stating that "if you cooperate with one of the magazines, their competitors become vengeful and attack clients. There is no upside to working with them…. Their tactic is to make up stories that are so damaging", which is why she no longer holds interest in talking to reporters, specifically from ''Star'' magazine.


References


External links


StarMagazine.com
{{American Media Celebrity magazines published in the United States Weekly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1974 Supermarket tabloids Magazines published in New York City