Andrew Breitbart has been Matt Drudge's little helper for more than a decade. But now he's all growed up, and Drudge is back on his own—or is he?

Breitbart is known as "the friendly half of the Drudge Report" for running the site while Drudge is sleeping or flying to Europe or dancing to Junior Vazquez. He took the reins of the site "almost every day," according to the Los Angeles Times, and—because, unlike his boss, he answers his IMs—has served as a vital contact for website and newspaper editors desperate for Drudge links and the resulting traffic.

But he's told people that he's no longer doing regular shifts at the Drudge Report, and hasn't been for nine months or so. Breitbart's been very busy lately launching his conservative blog Big Hollywood and generally fashioning himself into a hip right-wing pundit.

We asked Breitbart to confirm that his arrangement with Drudge is over, and here's what he had to say:


Breitbart's departure raises two interesting questions:

Who are editors going to go to for links now? Breitbart is said to be the force behind the Drudge Report's ongoing bonanza of links to shoddy Politico stories, but it seems like Drudge himself has been continuing that practice in Breitbart's absence. But for the Drudge Report to become, like Drudge himself, an uncommunicative puzzle that links with wreckless abandon must be a terrifying prospect for the people who rely on his traffic.

And can Drudge really do it all by himself? After a decade of relying on Breitbart to fill in, can the 43-year-old keep up the site's pace on his own? Or has he found another young trainee to teach the Ways of Drudge? Let us know.