Nikki Finke Dead At 68
In terms of early internet bloggers covering entertainment in the mid 2000’s, there was no one better (and no one more loved/hated) than Nikki Finke. I worshiped her. Her live blogs of the Golden Globes and Oscars were legendary. Her scoops, which often began with her trademark, “TOLDJA!”, rattled Hollywood. Her writing was compelling and so much fun to read, even if I had no idea on whom or what she was reporting. She was, of course, more than a “blogger,” and before she sold her Deadline Hollywood to a media conglomerate she often butted heads with—if not went to all-out war with, before finally leaving the industry and retiring in Florida—she made Hollywood execs tremble in fear with every story she published. I used to tweet to her all the time (as seen above) when she was battling with the new owners of her website, hoping she’d reply. She never did. Her lengthy obit is here, and here’s an excerpt:
At her height, Finke was feared by most, loathed by some and impossible to ignore. She was unapologetic about how savage her copy could be. In 2006, she told MarketWatch, “If there’s an open wound, I’m going to pour salt in it.” In 2007, she told Elle, “All moguls are morons.” In 2009, she told the New York Times, “I’m not mean, I just write mean,” the Los Angeles Times, “Sometimes, the truth hurts,” and the New Yorker, “I can’t help it! It’s like meanness pours out of my fingers!”
Those latter interviews came on the heels of Finke selling Deadline Hollywood Daily for a reported low seven-figure sum in June 2009 to Mail.com Media Corporation — later Penske Media Corporation, which acquired Variety in 2012. Rechristened Deadline, the site, still managed by Finke, took on more employees, starting with veteran entertainment reporters Mike Fleming (covering film) and Nellie Andreeva (covering TV). What had been an uninhibited expression of Finke’s distinctive voice began to operate much more like a traditional trade outlet.
Finke’s final post on Deadline was in 2016, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the site. “It gives me great pleasure to see that, while Deadline is very different from what I created, it’s thriving as an integral part of the entertainment establishment,” she wrote.
Back in 2006, when DHD had just launched, Finke mentioned that she’d love to be buried in the Pierce Brothers cemetery in Westwood, the final resting place for Hollywood luminaries like Marilyn Monroe, Merv Griffin and Rodney Dangerfield.
“On my tombstone,” Finke said, “it could say: ‘She told the truth about Hollywood.’”
[Variety]
ADDED:
A moving and personal obituary here from her Deadline colleague Pete Hammond, one of the few people to meet Nikki in person.
