More HX-related drama. Genre's EIC Chris Ciompi got sacked today and will be replaced by former Men's Fitness editor Neal Boulton.

So, what's the HX connection? Window Media owns both fag rags and, from what we hear, plans on moving the monthly into the weekly's 17th street digs. From a reader - who, no, doesn't work at either Genre or HX, for whom our handsome editor once toiled:

Genre is declaring bankruptcy so they don't have to pay the back rent they owe for their offices and are moving into HX - perhaps the reason four HX staffers were fired.

Now we know what "restructuring" means.

The same source also had some less-than-kind words for Window honcho David Unger:

David Unger is next to impossible to work with. He squanders every bit of good will that has ever been put forth to Genre with his abrasive and condescending attitude. A very rich man who isn’t very smart or likable.

We'd comment on that, but we're afraid Unger will roll over us in his Rolls Royce.

HX will be undergoing some changes in the next few weeks.

Two different sources tell us CEO Matthew Bank and publisher Gary Lacinski spent yesterday swinging their ax at the sales staff, taking out four employees. One reader writes:

The reason for the cut is that HX is moving in a new direction (whatever that means) and is restructuring the team. Apparently Matthew is hiring a director of marketing. Could it be that they needed to lose four employees to make up for one new one?

Sure, that's a possibility.

It seems more likely, however, that Bank's trying to save some dough to fight Manuel Alex Saez's $1.25 million libel lawsuit. But maybe that's just us being cynical.

Free fag rag HX may have to start charging soon.

A Manhattan judge has ruled that "mere model and dancer" Manuel Alex Saez can proceed with a $1.25 million lawsuit against the New York-based weekly.

A dancer for Splash bar, Saez agreed to appear in an advert for the sweat-soaked hot spot. He did not, however, agree to a new name and career - HX referred to him as "Big City video porn star Alex". The magazine also promised readers "He'll definitely get your sprinklers working." Talk about a Splash!

Saez says the ad caused him "emotional and mental suffering and distress, and sleeplessness and aggravation". The magazine and its lawyers failed to convince the judge otherwise. And, what's more, they admitted to not checking up on Saez's porn stats - or lack thereof. Although, to be fair, it's an honest mistake. Have you been to Splash?

HX seem unfazed by the scandal. Lawyer Alan Effron told The Post he's sure further consideration will show the "magazine acted responsibly". Good for you, Effron, now you just have to prove it. Or keep fighting until a judge throws the suit out, which would probably be easier.

Things have been mighty quiet over at HX, one of New York's two free weekly fag rags. As we told you earlier this year, the magazine's doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to keeping staffers.

Founder Matthew Bank and publisher Gary Lacinski sacked scores of employees earlier this year, but have been working to maintain their numbers. It seems, however, that staffers simply can't hang. From a reader:

The past two weeks, HX magazine has had quite a number of resignations - the creative director, listings editor, classified account executive and Matthew Bank's personal assistant position. The reason for the resignations have been varied, but it might have something to do with the graveyard hours (5-6am) and the strenuous work overload that Bank has been foisting on the minimal staff after last year's round of layoffs. (You can point interested readers to apply at Craigslist. They're accepting HX applications over there.)

Last week was so bad that Bank recommended turning off the air conditioner just so he could save money.

Accepting applications over Craigslist, huh? That's certainly a step up from their old method: writing help wanted signs above glory holes.

• We're not sure what's funnier - the fact that a bird took a shit on President Bush or that ABC News actually used the word "poop".

• HX Media's Boston rag, In Newsweekly., found itself in the papers this week when associate publisher Bill Berggren's criminal past came back to haunt him. It seems Berggren has been arrested for a number of incidents and some questioned his role as leader for Boston's Pride Committee. Rather than cause a stink, Berggren stepped down voluntarily. And Berggren ain't the only one on Innews' stepping down. From Boston's Weekly Dig:

In the last few weeks, their masthead has gotten a lot lighter in its loafers—editor James Lopata has left the building, as have distributor Thomas Kilduff and associate editor Alexander Sliwinski… We hear grumbling in the streets, too, that their freelancers haven’t been paid in eons.

The blurb goes on to suggest euthanasia. Ouch.

• You know what would help the African continent's millions of AIDS patients? Doctors. Too bad there's a shortage.

• Jenny Bailey can now call herself the United Kingdom's first trannie mayor, thus crushing our life long dreams…

• South African hooker outs celebrities, media refuses to pass names along.

• Mitt Romney doesn't hate gays:

I oppose discrimination against gay people. I am not anti-gay. I know there are some Republicans, or some people in the country who are looking for someone who is anti-gay and that’s not me.

Wait, isn't trying to stomp gay marriage discriminatory?

We're surprised HX Media has any employees left to fire. They just canned long-time expo producer, Steven Levenberg and gave four other employees the pink slip at the beginning of the year.

Now we hear that Matthew Bank has yet again sacked three more underlings: online editor Martyn Dunn, advertising director Brandon Schultz and graphic designer Christian Jensen. For those of you keeping count, that's eight this year. So, what the hell's going on over there? We don't know, but it can't be good.

What is good, however, is this week's interview between assistant editor Mark Peikert and Wilson Cruz, in which Cruz gabs about his role opposite Debbie Deborah Gibson in the new movie, Coffee Date. We won't give away what went down, but we will congratulate Peikert for having the best interview opener ever:

HX: I have to apologize because I’m sick and will be hacking in your ear.
Wilson Cruz: Babe, we’re gonna be hacking together, because I’m getting over a cold, too.

What a perfect addition to the rag's Valentine's issue - which, incidentally, also has a gift guide from another contributor, Jono.

(Note: We erroneously credited Ryan Doyle with the Cruz interview. It was actually Mark Peikert who hacked it up. Sorry, Mark. We love you.)

Less than a month since axing the majority of their sale's staff, HX Media's at it again, this time trimming down their Expo Division.

In case you're not in the gay media mix, the Expo Division used to be Consolidated Management Associates - a name that got scrapped once HX Media merged with gay publishing giant, Window Media. Regardless of title, the division has spent the last nine years organizing the freaktastic Gay Life Expo and the pervtastic Gay Erotic Expo.

What's more notable about this case is the fact that HX Founder Matthew Bank fired a man named Steven Levenberg: a nice Jewish boy who's spent the last nine years toiling for Matthew Bank and his bank account.

CONTINUED »

Big news in Gayville! How big? Well, so big that HX Magazine apparently had to stop their presses to include the story in Friday's issue. (Although, we were under the impression that Next Magazine - which actually owns the printer - went to press first and that HX typically didn't finish printing until mid-morning Friday, but whatever…)

Those of you who live in New York, have been to New York or know that New York exists have probably heard of a place called Roxy: a legendary, legendarily sweaty club where homos dance shirtless, snort openly and snog like maniacs.

If you know that, you may also know that the former warehouse space has been on the chopping block for the past few weeks. Due to "forces behind our control" (read: tax evasion), the boys were packing their poppers and glitter in preparation for what would no doubt be a tearful, farewell.

According to HX, however, some mysterious - and appropriately rollerskate clad - angels have come to the rescue:

Roxy manager Jason McCarthy phoned to inform us that the day had in fact - at least at press time - been saved, thanks to a group of wealthy investors who love Roxy’s rollerskating (including one famous designer who rarely misses the Wednesday night party).

Let us rejoice! We still have a place where a mere $40 allows us all the drugged-out, slutty homo-hoppers we want! Not only that, but we'll no doubt get some STDs for free! God, we love New York…

We haven't been to Roxy in years, so we've got no clue as to who this disco loving designer may be - if anyone out there wants to venture a guess, we're all ears. We're assuming it's not Karl Lagerfeld.

We're not sure how the character from that clip feels about sports, but we're sure more than a few of you out there have a thing for athleticism - or, at least, athletes. Good thing HX Magazine's (insert adjective here) features editor, Brandon Voss, just sent us this link about a sporty fundraiser tonight. To save you guys the trouble, here's the deal:
The New York Gay Football League's hosting the second annual bachelor auction tonight at NYC's Splash. Proceeds will help the raise money for Ali Forney Center's big brother program between the sportsters and the Center's youth. The most philanthropic fags will win a bit of time-out with their favorite players.
HX Homo-Journo Mark Peikert elaborates:

…[T]he date packages run the gamut from tickets to a Rangers game to a taping of Martha Stewart’s show. For the shyer philanthropic types attending, there will also be plenty of raffle prizes, including a $500 Kenneth Cole gift certificate, Nokia cell phones, massages, Guggenheim memberships and Verve chocolate gift baskets.

So, if you're in New York, have a thing for fit men and want to do some good, head on over to Splash (50 W 17th St) in Chelsea and work up a sweat for a cause. (Oh, please, what else are you going to do tonight? Read?)

Sure, we've given HX Media some shit in the past, but we still have mad respect for the ever-growing gay entertainment company that brings us the nightlife fag-rag, HX Magazine and the Gay Erotic Expo.

That said, we're totally psyched about their first annual Gay Life Film Festival being held in NYC on November 17-19th. And, judging from his piece in this week's HX, so it young homo-journo, Mark Peikert.

In said piece, Peikert picks his favorite picks from the upcoming festival, including the film adaptation of the wildly-popular play, The History Boys, the WWII drama, A Love to Hide and Charles Busch's dramedy, A Very Serious Person.

Head on over to Gay Life Film Festival for a complete run-down of the cinematic celebration's offerings.

Speaking of things that aren't really news…

We hate taking pleasure in other people's personal failings (okay, that's a lie, but whatever…), but we can help but laugh at news that ticket sales for Kevin Federline's tour have been so dismal that two shows have already been cancelled.

That bellwhether of journalistic integrity, Star Magazine, reports:

With the release date of Kevin Federline’s debut CD “Playing With Fire” just a day away — on-sale date is Oct. 31 — comes word that TWO of his tour dates have been cancelled, and another date is reportedly in jeopardy of being cancelled.

Kevin’s Nov. 9 gig at House of Blues in Cleveland has been cancelled…Plus, Kevin’s Nov. 10 gig at the House of Blues in Atlantic City has been cancelled…

[Further] The New York Post reports that Kevin’s Nov. 4 gig at NYC’s Webster Hall is in jeopardy of being yanked. The Post reports, “Our spies at Webster Hall say that so few $20 tickets have been sold…that ‘we may just cancel it.’”

Notice they've mistaken Cleveland for Cincinnati? At least they're in the same state…

Poor K-Fed, does this mean he'll have to go back to being a celebrity sponge?

(As a side-note: Wesbter Hall was once the venue of choice for HX Media's Gay Erotic Expo. You know, the expo at which Owen Hawk and his crew won't be apppearing…)

Nothing like a good trilogy, huh?

It may surprise you to know that we read every single comment that comes our way. Rarely, however, do we respond to the lovely (and, of course, not so lovely) musings left behind.

We can't resist posting a note left by the one and only Owen Hawk.

With regard to our last Michael Lucas/HX Magazine-related post, the handsome porn star writes:

I don't think our company is all that little anymore, but thanks for the sympathy. You left out one detail: Matthew Bank gladly accepted 10,000 dollars worth of advertising from Dark Alley this summer, for our major release The Show. Despite this, they still kicked us out of their expo. But, you know, whatever. This was good reporting!

Straight from the (hung like a) horse's mouth.

Thanks for writing, Owen. We feel like super stars knowing that you're out there reading our daily babbles. And double gold star for the flagrant plug of The Show. Shameless self-promotion always gets our attention.

(Also, on the same post, there's a rather catty comment from someone named Reichen. Could it be the Reichen? We don't know, but we'd like to think so…)

Previously:
Michael Lucas Publishing Scandal Revealed!
Michael Lucas Publishing Scandal II: This Time It's Personal

Speaking of yesterday, you may recall our post on New York Magazine's article on the so-called porn king, Michael Lucas.

You may also recall that we narrowed in on the Lucas Entertainment/Dark Alley feud and HX Magazine's alliance with Mr. L.

Well, not long after said posting, we received an email from Heather Reznor, Lucas Entertainment's publicity director, insisting that the real scandal isn't the Lucas/HX Magazine alliance. Rather, Heather takes issue with New York Magazine and their editing of William Van Meter's piece. She writes:

Rather than discuss Michael as an ambitious, accomplished, successful gay man, [the editors] turn him into some absurd cartoon of a gay, self tanner and all. It seems the editors just weren't ready to depict Michael as a real human being rather than some cheap gay stereotype.
There's your real scandal, but of course we're all so used to gay people being discussed as absurd, catty, and ridiculous in the press that this editor's bias has been overlooked. They've also shyed away from printing any picture that shows his physical beauty…perhaps they aren't ready for male sexuality at this point in time.

Oh, snap! Heather's a lovely girl and we've worked with her for years, so we definitely appreciate her insight on the matter. To prove how much, we've pasted her entire letter after the jump.

Also, as a side-note, we'd love to see Heather and New York Magazine EIC Adam Moss in a throwdown. No offense Mr. Moss, but we have a feeling Heather would kick your ass.

Earlier: Michael Lucas Publishing Scandal Revealed!

CONTINUED »

Have you guys seen this week's New York Magazine? No? Well, you should really run out and get a copy. Why? Well, there's a fascinating little piece on porn empresario, Michael Lucas.

Yeah, we know, Lucas gets way more press than he deserves, but we really can't resist. First of all, we think we're in love with the writer of said piece, William Van Meter, and his sardonic ways. At one point he writes, "…Though thoroughly bronzed, [Lucas] has a vampiric aversion to the sun to match his Count Chocula voice." Anyone who compares Michael Lucas to an oft-ignored cereal mascot gets a thumbs up in our book.

What really caught our eye, however, is Van Meter's examination of the Owen Hawk-Michael Lucas feud. Of Lucas, Hawk says:

“A great analogy for Michael is Ann Coulter. He’s a person who doesn’t really have anything to contribute artistically, so they compensate with outlandish claims.”

Here, here. Going on, Van Meter explains:

Of course, Hawk, who has appeared in three of Lucas’s movies, is probably not the most impartial judge of his talent as a director. Hawk and his boyfriend, Matthias von Fistenberg (a nom-de-porn homage to Diane Von Furstenberg), are co-owners of a fledgling production company called Dark Alley Media, whose pornographic output tends to be much darker than Lucas Entertainment’s. One of their movies shows Von Fistenberg, a former classical-music producer, sitting down to play at a grand piano before having a jockstrap thrown at his face. They recently sued Lucas for $750,000 for slander, libel, interference with trade, and a host of other legal complaints. Among Dark Alley’s contentions was that Lucas was trying to have their videos removed from local sex shops. “I have a right to do that,” Lucas said at the time. “I can tell anyone, ‘You want my product? Don’t go to them.’ ” In August, the suit was settled out of court (both parties have agreed not to discuss the settlement). Shortly thereafter, Lucas signed on as a major sponsor of September’s Gay Erotic Expo in Los Angeles, the biggest annual industry convention, and Dark Alley’s registration fee for a booth was mysteriously returned.

There. That last sentence - what Van Meter's not saying is that the Gay Erotic Expo is run by HX Media, publishers of HX Magazine, who have long had a running arrangement with Lucas Entertainment.

From what we understand, the payment wasn't "mysteriously returned," but was returned after Matthew Bank, whose Lucas loyalty knows no bounds, refused to do business with Owen and Dark Alley. What's more: we hear that the editor of HX had planned an entire Dark Alley feature, but that Bank demanded he squash it to appease Lucas.

Fuck, we love gay publishing. Especially its nepotistic underbelly…

It sounds like things go a little too wild at the HX Magazine party last night. We were meant to go, but got distracted by the Lily Allen concert at Hiro. While Ms. Allen was great and all, it sounds like things were a little more interesting on the Hudson.

Celebrating their 15th year as New York's first gay weekly, CEO Matthew Bank and Publisher Gary Lacinski chartered a boat for staffers and 250 of their closest friends.

It was smooth sailing, so to speak, until a drunken employee decided to punch HX publicist, Len Evans, in the face. As if that's not enough, as the boat cruised back to shore, said employee went at it with Bank, who fired him on the spot.

While party-goers disembarked back at shore, cops took the now former employee away in handcuffs. Our sources say he's out on bail and has already cleaned out his office.

Something tells us he won't be getting unemployment…