Nikki Finke has been variously called the new Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons or Walter Winchell. In today’s NYT front-pager David Carr went with Winchell, terming the obsessive showbiz blogger “a well-traveled newspaper reporter who has found her moment as a digital-age Walter Winchell.”
Having recently read Neal Gabler’s Winchell bio, I tend to agree with his choice. She has real drive as a journalist — and a keen nose for news — but is not afraid to punish her foes. Small wonder she gives showbiz power players the willies.
As Carr notes: “Among movie executives, the stories of Ms. Finke’s aggressiveness are legion, but they remain mostly unspoken because people fear being the target of one of her withering takedowns.” Finke confirms the reason for those fears to Carr, noting one recent subject of scorn made the mistake of not talking to her enough. “He should have protected himself,” she said, using familiar showbiz media parlance.
Indeed, anyone who’s covered showbiz the past few years could supply their own examples of her exec evisceration. Dealing with Nikki, as she is known through Hollywood, is not for the faint of heart.
As Carr tweeted on his way out of town Friday morning: “Just glad it’s over.”
Earlier: The new Hedda Hopper? Walter Winchell? Which is it?
