Radar Online loves to dish about the celebrity scandals that rock Hollywood and has busted its fair share of stories. But the American Media-owned title is not delving into one of its own intrigues — what happened to the new editor-in-chief of Radar Online.
Jose Lambiet — the former Palm Beach Post gossip columnist tapped to be the new Web editor several weeks ago after the incumbent, David Perel, was dispatched to take over for Candace Trunzo, who was ousted at Star — appeared to be AWOL.
Perel was keeping some kind of oversight at RadarOnline, even as he took the reins of Star and tried to reverse the circulation decline that most celebrity titles have been experiencing this year.
An AMI spokeswoman confirmed Lambiet was gone, only weeks after he had been annointed Perel’s successor.
“He resigned to pursue other personal interests,” said the spokeswoman.
Reports reaching Media Ink say that Radar’s budget was slashed by 50 percent and that may have hastened Lambiet’s exit after his short-lived return to AMI.
Perel claims things are going swimmingly now that he is running what appears to be a single-staff operation for both media properties.
“Having spent the past two years running Radar minute-to-minute as it became a site known for breaking news like the Mel Gibson tapes, I bring a different sensibility in my return to print. I put the Radar and Star staffs together, and we were first to find and reveal the name (and publish a photo) of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s housekeeper, the mother of his love child. That generated huge traffic for Radar, excellent publicity for Radar and Star, and we also gathered information that helped give the next issue of Star a circulation lift.”
On Monday, he said Radar and Star “joined forces again and found a woman who sexted with Anthony Weiner, with Radar printing the transcript of their sessions and the details of their liaison, while certain other information was held back for Star.”
Time Out
Oakley Capital, which purchased majority control of Time Out New York for nearly $21 million last week, said it has plans to spin out a dozen Time Out titles in cities across the US through the newly formed Time Out Group.
The company said it paid $20.9 million, including $7.5 million in senior debt and mezzanine financing and $13.4 in equity financing, to buy 67.5 percent of the company. It said the investment team that included founder Tony Elliott, the Louis-Dreyfus family, and the Clark Estate, which derived its wealth from the Singer sewing machine fortune, were staying involved.
But that is not saving the jobs of many in the New York office, where the print edition has been published since 1995.
Many have been told their employment there will come to an end on June 15.
It could not be learned how extensive the layoffs will be. Michael Martin, the editor-in-chief, and Alison Tocci, president, under the old regime, did not return calls. London-based Oakley purchased majority control of the London edition of Time Out from founder Elliott in 2010.
Elliott, who founded the popular British edition, had been experiencing a cash crunch back then due to crushing bank debt caused by his expansion into Chicago and New York. Chicago has already been sold to Joe Mansueto, the founder of Morningstar, who also owns Inc. and Fast Company magazines.
Peter Dubens, director of Oakley Capital Investments Ltd., seemed to suggest a strong digital push. “The next 24 months will see the company build an entirely new, highly scalable digital transaction platform focused on providing its audience with a complete customer experience,” he said.
Reed Phillips, with the investment firm DeSilva & Phillips, which tried to sell the magazine on behalf of Elliott several years ago, noted, “They are trying to put the pieces back together again. My guess is that a lot of the interest is in the digital possibilities.”
Ellies
Maybe now Time Inc. can start winning some National Magazine Awards. Larry Hack ett, the managing editor of People, was reelected as president of the Ameri can Society of Magazine Ed itors, which administers the prestigious awards, known as “Golden Elephants,” which are as revered in the industry as Oscars are in Hollywood.
ASME editors for the past two years have not awarded a single Ellie to a Time Inc.-owned title. This year, Time was not the only big time publisher shut out. Hearst Magazines and Meredith Magazines were also skipped. kkelly@nypost.com