Was word of the demise of Penthouse’s print edition premature?
There seems to be real discord inside the parent company Friend Finder Networks on what to do with Penthouse.
Kelly Holland, veteran of the porn movie and adult publishing business, is currently head of the subsidiary within Friend Finder that publishes Penthouse. She told USA Today on Thursday that the reports earlier this week that the print edition was being abandoned were “misinterpreted” by the media. “We are truly committed to the magazine,” Holland said to USA Today. “There’s gravitas about the print page that you can’t replace.”
That seemed to contradict Chief Financial Officer Ezra Shashoua, who had said earlier in the week that Penthouse would continue to publish print only while it was making a transition to digital. But he did offer that there was no specific date set to stop publishing a print version.
Word began circulating shortly after the original announcement of the digtal move that Holland was trying to raise money to buy it from FriendFinder — news that was reported by Media Ink. While Holland is listed as the managing director of Penthouse Enterprises, a part of Friend Finder, she also runs her own erotic film production company called Chick Media.
Shashoua said 20 people were laid off as the company closed the New York office of Penthouse last week, but he said nobody was laid off in the Los Angeles office, where Holland is based.
As confusion seemed to reign on the corporate plans for Penthouse, neither Holland nor Shashoua returned calls or emails seeking comment on Thursday. It looks for the moment that Penthouse in the short term will still be available in print. But for how much longer is anybody’s guess.