A tipster tells us the atmosphere is tense at the Vibe offices—"they may not have enough money to print the March issue" because of a lack of ads. [UPDATE: Vibe statement below]:

Executives from the Wicks Group (Private Equity Owners) came to the office on Friday and met with CEO Steve Aaron and Publisher Edgar Hernandez. Things around the office are very tense.

The tipster says that more meetings are scheduled for this afternoon. And they say that the only ads Vibe has booked for the March issue are "Army, Carson Soft Sheen & Jamster"—not even a fifth of the usual number of ads.

If you have any more details or would like to confirm or deny, email us.

UPDATE: Well, they just sent out a press release about their March cover. Keyshia Cole! Interpret that as you will.

UPDATE 2: Vibe's PR firm sent this statement from Edgar Hernandez, Publisher of Vibe Media Group:

"Any reports that VIBE is having problems printing the upcoming March issue are untrue. In fact, VIBE is releasing its annual "Style" issue featuring Grammy nominated singer Keyshia Cole with two different covers which will hit newsstands everywhere on February 17th. We will also be issuing a press release within the next two weeks with news about VIBE's continued growth and expansion which includes new staff hires and promotions."