The Line Between Gossip Reporting

This is a blind item. They are gossip columns that hide the identities of the people discussed on the post, as well as the author being anonymous. Instead, they leave clues for readers to untangle; the subject is simply it’s occupation and rank (i.e. B-list actor, A-list musician, etc) followed by the gossip of a certain celebrity. These posts become a conversation thread where people discuss potential names that match the riddle. Blogs such as Crazy Days and Nights and Laney Gossip started in the early 2000s, and the game of figuring the celebrity out attracted readers that were hungry for fresh gossip. But here’s the thing. You can solve the riddle, but there is no proof that what was posted is true, so in the end, it’s just a game; it is not a reliable source.

According to the American Press Institute, journalism “is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities.” However, tabloid journalism tends to be left out of that category, being considered “soft news,” since the stories being told might hold only the “entertainment interest” of readers.

The question is whether journalism and gossip coexist in the same seriousness of the profession. The drawback of tabloids is that their content is considered gossip; rumors that they try proving with “sources” that are rarely mentioned. With social media being part of people’s lives in many ways nowadays, the ease of accessing information about a certain celebrity allows for rumors to be started about the same. Tabloids still have a substantial part in the spread of false information, but fans and ordinary people are beginning to have an impact in the escalation of the gossip, and even without concrete evidence, some conclude that the lie is at least partially true.

Enty is the creator of Crazy Days and Nights and in November of 2006, started posting the insides he’d get as an entertainment lawyer. Having that knowledge puts him in danger of getting lawsuits if discovered, therefore creating a pseudonym name was his first step to anonymity. That way, no publicist or celebrity can track his real identity, refraining them from suing him. Enty has explained in interviews that he does a little bit of research before “revealing” the celebrity suggested in the blind item — he would only post big reveals or serious blinds from sources that he is directly connected with and trusts. Would looking for proof be considered part of reporting, since blind items are usually answered and “confirmed” by people that were around the situation — the “sources” tabloids love to use?

His blog is more accessibly organized, and what attracts readers is Crazy Days and Nights is one of the only blind item websites to actually reveal the answer to the riddle. The blind items are separated by the year posted, with subdivisions categorized by weeks. As of June 14th, there are over 2930 blinds posted with about over 150 of them being “resolved”. The item mentioned earlier is of Zoe Kravitz and Channing Tatum that was posted earlier this year. To be revealed, Enty needed some type of proof to be more reliable. Until proven, fans and readers have the option to ignore the gossip or believe them, which can elevate the spread of the rumor online.

Enty is also credited with exposing Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Matt Lauer before “traditional media” exposed their wrongdoings. For example, Lauer’s blind from April 2014 says “This television talk show host likes to show the world that he has the perfect marriage and life but he rarely sleeps at home at night any longer and has quietly been hooking up with a woman who used to be an employee on the show and now seems to do nothing but wait for our talk show host to visit.” Reports about his misconduct started to appear in the media in 2017 and ever since his career has gone downhill. Because blind items websites are a niche in the tabloid world and usually have no concrete proof, they are not taken seriously, but it is a good starting point for reporters.

While Enty rightfully exposed those men, he has said that he would never out a celebrity, and he will not talk about people’s children. Those are out of his focus because those information should only be shared with consent, which the media hasn’t always respected.

Blind items could be ignored, but with increasing competitiveness for fresh gossip in the media and the interest of fans, it is almost impossible nowadays. Readers tend to believe that a source is reliable after discovering that they have shared legitimate gossip before. Celebrities and their publicists decide whether the leaked information was serious enough to publish a statement, or if maintaining silence is the way to deal with it. Usually, they are more concerned about who leaked the information rather than controlling the gossip.

History

Before the Internet era, blind items already existed as a form of blackmail. In the 1800s, a man named William d’Alton Mann published a weekly magazine called Town Topics, which became the location of various threats. For example, he would post a section about how the mayor’s wife was seen being intimate with another man. A copy of the article would be printed and Mann would go to the wife with this piece of information with hopes of blackmailing her into paying a certain amount to have it removed from the print edition. That way, one blind item at a time, Mann terrorized the city and it became something mainly used in the entertainment industry.

Social Media

Tiktok has brought light back to blind items, where even Enty has entered the social media scene with exclusive blinds not found on his blog. With the username “entylawyer”, the blogger shares blinds and stories about specific celebrities that have been shared on his website. Enty, however, is not the only account sharing rumors on the platform.

A similar idea is used by Deuxmoi on Instagram. Also run anonymously, the url itself was created by an anonymous woman and her friend in 2013 to create a lifestyle and fashion website where they would interview fashionistas and give shopping tips, but they switched to using it only as a blind page during quarantine in 2020. Tipsters — those who share the rumors — claim to be insiders of the industry: assistants, friends, publicists, nannies, flight attendants, and even drivers. Similarly to the blogs from the mid-2000s and early-2010s, the

DMs and emails the account receives are shared anonymously. Its popularity helped the account to be more precise; they knew about Beyonce’s British Vogue cover in December 2020 two weeks in advance of its release, and they also speculated about Emily Ratajowski’s pregnancy weeks before it was made public.

The popularity of the account and its young audience helped Deuxmoi to come up with catchphrases and codenames. For example, “Chris Noth Trigger Warning” is used when sharing a celebrity’s picture without their permission, and “VPD (Very Pretty D*ck)” is often used by those who claim to have been intimate with a star. Certain celebrities that come up often on Deuxmoi also have nicknames: “Headphone Dino Bones” refers to Leonardo DiCaprio, codename created after blinds of him having sex with headphones and claims that he collects dinosaur bones were shared on the account, and “Save the Turtle” is Adrien Grenier (from Entourage and The Devil Wears Prada) who, according to some other blinds also has some “VPD”.

Deuxmoi — or the “curators of pop culture” like they call themselves on Instagram — has made it clear that what they share has not been independently verified, and that they merely share gossip. The 1.4 million followers are enthusiastic, allowing Deuxmoi to have its own merchandise with a collection of sweatshirts with quotes like “anon plz.” referring to the email format they receive. The feed itself is mostly memes, and Instagram stories are where blinds are shared.

Both Deuxmoi and Crazy Days and Nights have never been sued. That is because they never claim something to be true without any proof, and because most speculations are anonymous. By claiming to simply share rumors and stay away from reporting, they are safe to work with blind items without getting in trouble. Blinds are, however, a good start for reporters and journalists to get deep into rumors and find the truth behind them. By doing so, gossip and journalism can co-exist in the same world. However, it is on the readers to separate the value reporters have from that of bloggers who simply share what they hear without any proof. And it is also up to us to decide whether we want to believe in a rumor or not — fans will decide whether what they are reading seems plausible or otherwise.

This is how rumors start, and how gossip gets out of hand. Blind Items are simply glamourized gossip. They are like school rumors, where one person distorts information and when it circles back, the information is different. This misinformation can cause celebrities to look bad, but in good instances, these rumors can kick off an intense investigation that can lead to a serious source — think Weinstein. A fun game of riddle has been the place where insiders of the entertainment industry share their knowledge without getting sued, and if we closely pay attention and explore these blinds, we might pick up something that has not yet been discovered by traditional media.