Deadline Hollywood is saying Editor in Chief and founder Nikki Finke has not been fired.
Earlier, The Wrap's Sharon Waxman reported after numerous clashes with boss Jay Penske, CEO of Penske Media, he told Hollywood executives he would fire Finke who started the Hollywood blog in 2006.
Deadline has since published its own response to the story. Surprisingly, the message is not from Finke herself, but rather long-time colleague Mike Fleming Jr.
With it, he shared the internal memo that was passed along in response to The Wrap's story:
Dear PMC Team,
As you may be aware, Sharon Waxman at TheWrap has just run a libelous, false, and defamatory story on her blog, in which she claims amongst other things that I had fired Nikki Finke.
This is a complete fabrication, with not an ounce of truth to it. Just to be clear, Nikki Finke has a multi-year contract with the Company, and it is the Company’s absolute intention to continue its obligations under the agreement.
It is sad when a rival business feels the need to fabricate stories to create traffic and notoriety. Due to the defamatory and disparaging nature of some of the completely inaccurate statements made by Waxman, PMC has turned this matter over to our attorneys. Contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Lauren Gullion
Head of Communications
PMC
Or as The Hollywood Reporter editor Chirs Krewson translates:
Fleming's post, reworded: "The Wrap sucks. I love Deadline. Internal issues are being worked out. Stuff happens. We're suing."
— Chris Krewson (@ckrewson) June 3, 2013
For the record, Nikki Finke's "multi-year contract" with the company comes to an end next year.
SEE ALSO: Nikki Finke Has Been Fired From Deadline Hollywood >