Kurt Eichenwald Gets Spiked Again
In late March, as hubbub about Kurt Eichenwald's involvement with his main source for his blockbuster New York Times internet kiddie porn expose refused to die down (due in part to his threatening his critics with lawsuits), WWD ran an item saying that Eichenwald's first story for his new employers at Portfolio had been held from the debut issue. According to those accounts, the magazine didn't want Eichenwald's NYT problems overshadowing its first issue, though easily they just might not have room for the piece, as the magazine over-commissions wildly. Now sources inside the magazine confirm that the piece will not be running in the second issue, and they suggest it most likely will not be running at all.
We're also told that Eichenwald is steamed that Portfolio editor-in-chief Joanne Lipman won't let him resell the piece. Her reasoning is that he shouldn't because the magazine is paying him so well for his work. "He's pissed," a source at the magazine said.
It's a tense time at Portfolio in general, report staffers. The next issue, dated September, is ramping up for a late July close.
Eichenwald is still under contract to the magazine, but there's speculation among staffers that the magazine is hoping he'll just leave quietly on his own accord. We imagine the lawyer-happy fella would undoubtedly not respond well to his contract being broken.