Peter Thiel spoke to the National Press Club in Washington, DC, about his role in Gawker Media’s bankruptcy. Thiel blamed Gawker for their editorial choices, calling the website a “singularly sociopathic bully.” He also noted that Hulk Hogan would not have been able to pursue his case against Gawker without Thiel’s financial backing: “If you’re a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to our legal system. It costs too much.”
Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president who resigned after it was revealed that she had been lying about her race, has released the title and cover of her upcoming memoir. In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World will be released next March.
Marlon James, author of the 2015 Man Booker-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings, opens his Minneapolis loft to the New York Times Style section. James points to his TV-less living room as his favorite in the apartment, “filled with art, books, photographs, records and plants.” James says the clutter is intentional, and that sparsely decorated rooms make him uncomfortable: “It’s like going into a house with no books. I find it profoundly upsetting.”
Rupi Kaur, the poet whose self-published collection milk and honey sold over a million copies, has signed a two-book deal with Andrews McMeel Publishing. Her currently untitled poetry book will be available next fall.
Vanity Fair reports that the anticipated bidding war over Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly has yet to materialize. Although the network has reportedly offered $20 million to Kelly, other TV news networks aren’t interested in spending that kind of cash. “I don’t believe anyone is pursuing her other than Fox at this point,” an unnamed ABC employee said.
The Boston Globe will be partnering with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation to hire a ten-month classical music critic for the paper. Zoë Madonna, winner of the 2014 Rubin Prize in Music Criticism, will be taking over the position.
