Journalist Nikki Finke has been the “Deadline Hollywood” columnist for LA Weekly since June 2002, and the owner/writer of DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com, covering the business, politics and culture of the infotainment industry. She won first place in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' 2006 AltWeekly Awards for media criticism/reporting.

Blog Entries by Nikki Finke

ABC Regularly Airs Anti-Gay Storylines; Hypocrisy Of Grey's Anatomy Scandal

Posted June 10, 2007 | 04:37 PM (EST)


Of course, Isaiah Washington acted like a horse's ass. But it's amazing to me that he has been fired from Grey's Anatomy by its producers at ABC Television Studios when the network itself doesn't have clean hands on the issue of storylines about homosexuality. I'll go ahead and make the...

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NBC Shake-Up: Kevin Reilly Officially Out; Ben Silverman Offered Bigger Job; Marc Graboff Upped

Posted May 27, 2007 | 10:49 PM (EST)


I have more information since my Friday posting which roiled NBC execs at 30 Rock and in Burbank. The latest is NBC Entertainment Prez Kevin Reilly has been fired. Yes, it's finally over for him. And everything's been resolved regarding that new contract Jeff Zucker gave him back in...

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NBC Shake-UP! Ben Silverman Replacing Kevin Reilly? Katherine Pope Asking Exit?

Posted May 26, 2007 | 12:53 PM (EST)


Urgent news from 30 Rock is that a big NBC shake-up is underway in the entertainment division, I'm told, after the network again finishes the season in 4th place behind CBS, ABC and Fox. I can report that NBC has definitely offered Kevin Reilly's job to Ben Silverman (don't be...

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LA Times Publisher's Friend And Tribune Co Ex-Director Don Rumsfeld Was Asked To Guest-Edit After Grazer

Posted March 25, 2007 | 05:18 PM (EST)


Originally posted at Deadline Hollywood Daily.

It's no longer Grazergate; it's now Rumsfeldgate at the Los Angeles Times. I'm told that Donald Rumsfeld was asked to guest-edit the newspaper's "Current" opinion section which appears on Sundays. The ex-Defense Secretary is a long-time personal and professional...

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The Truth Behind Kramer's Meltdown: Comedy Clubs Are Cesspools Of Hatred (Updated)

Posted November 20, 2006 | 06:24 PM (EST)


I'm told that arrangements have been made for Michael Richards to go on Letterman by remote feed, organized with help from Jerry Seinfeld.

In my opinion, the real news behind Seinfeld's Michael Richards spewing "n"-word racial epithets after being heckled during his Friday night stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory...

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ABC's 9/11: Big Mystery! Where's Disney Chairman George Mitchell In This Mess?

Posted September 8, 2006 | 08:29 PM (EST)


There are many inexplicable facets to this huge political controversy over ABC's The Path To 9/11 mini-series. But in my view the most bewildering is the whereabouts of Disney's nonexecutive chairman George Mitchell. He's long been known as the ultimate Compromise Broker, which is what this ruckus needs. But he's...

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Reality TV Goes Wild: 'Big Brother' Threat

Posted September 6, 2006 | 07:34 PM (EST)


My latest LA Weekly column, Savage TV, asks the question: Are the contestants turned into psychos, or are they psychos waiting to happen? Reality TV is turning into Savage TV. First freak shows. Then, over the weekend, freak accidents. Now it's freakin' mayhem. Examined within the context of "Crocodile...

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Who's Crazier: Viacom or Tom Cruise?

Posted August 23, 2006 | 11:22 AM (EST)


If there's suddenly a litmus test for insanity to be administered by the owners of Hollywood movie studios, then start with the executive suites. That's my reaction to the are-you-shitting-me pronouncement by Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone today that his Paramount Pictures is terminating its 14-year relationship with Tom "Crazy"...

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Nina... And Then There Will Be None

Posted July 19, 2006 | 06:58 PM (EST)


Not since Dawn Steel learned she was ousted as president of production while on maternity leave from Paramount has a top woman movie executive found out this brutally she'd been axed in Hollywood. Even years later, when I sat down to interview her, Dawn still acknowledged that moment was like...

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