Is Nikki Finke About to Abandon Deadline Hollywood?
Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke gave a rare, on-the-record interview to the Wall Street Journal today, hinting that if she can’t regain full control over her influential site, she might choose to strike out on her own. Finke told the Journal’s Ben Fritz that she is willing to walk away from boss Jay Penske and launch NikkiFinke.com on her own.
The 34-year-old Penske purchased Deadline.com back in 2009, keeping Finke on as editor-in-chief. He later added the Variety magazine and website to his portfolio, a move that has only increased tension between the two parties. When Penske dropped the daily version of the magazine earlier this year, Finke publicly questioned his ability to save the “failing trade.” However, Penske has also defended Finke against “libelous” accusations that she had been fired from Deadline after competitor The Wrap published such rumors in June.
“Jay Penske shared my vision of what Deadline could be, [but] now circumstances have changed with the addition of Variety and the issue is whether this shared vision is still intact,” Finke told the Wall Street Journal. “One of the most noble things Jay Penske could ever do would be to give me back Deadline.”
Finke’s contract runs through 2016, but her lawyers have suggested she could exit from it early. She had originally hoped to have a leading role at Variety, but her site has been kept completely separate. “It is very clear that our specialty is breaking news,” she said of Deadline. “I would like to see Variety’s specialty be analysis and commentary.”
She expressed interest in buying Deadline back from Penske, but if she is unable to do that, she said she would consider leaving and launching a new site at NikkiFinke.com–currently redirecting to Deadline Hollywood–that “would fill a different need for the Hollywood community.” She added, “I have confidence that no matter what happens, Jay and I can reach an amicable solution to all of this.”
As for Penske, a spokeswoman for his company said in an statement, “We are very pleased with the overwhelming success of the Variety business since our acquisition, as well as Deadline.com’s continued growth of audience and revenue.”
[h/t WSJ]
[photo via Business Insider]
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