Nick Haramis Out as Editor of Interview Magazine
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Interview magazine is out one editor in chief.
Nick Haramis, who in 2017 joined the large glossy started by Andy Warhol, is said to be leaving the title for reasons unknown. Haramis wrote in a post to Instagram that he’s “moving on” from Interview in a month, right after the magazine’s summer issue is wrapped up.
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“I’m doing so with countless memories that I feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to make with such a talented, resilient, ragtag group of humans that I love and respect,” he wrote.
Haramis could not be reached for additional comment, nor could Interview’s publisher, Jason Nikic.
There is speculation that the move has something to do with Interview’s history of financial issues, but Haramis is expected to be going to another job, although it is unclear where he may be heading. Jobs in magazine media are not nearly as prevalent as they once were given the industry has been hit hard by years advertising declines, including amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The resiliency he mentioned in his brief social media post is certainly something he and the rest of Interview’s staff have needed in the last few years. About a year after Haramis joined the magazine as editor, its then-owner Peter Brant abruptly put it into bankruptcy amid growing financial issues.
The choice of proceeding was a Chapter 7 liquidation, not a more typical Chapter 11 reorganization, so the magazine abruptly shut down and Brant left scores of freelancers and other creditors without some $3 million in total payments. The magazine was led by Brant’s eldest daughter Kelly Brant and Nikic, who was chief revenue officer, and had been losing money for some time. Prior to bankruptcy the magazine had a reputation for not paying workers on time and not paying freelancers. It was facing several lawsuits over the issue.
A long list of creditors included long time editorial director Fabien Baron, who just before the bankruptcy filing quit the magazine. He then sued Interview for $600,000 in unpaid wages and work expenses. It is unclear if he was ever paid, but bankruptcy creditors often are not.
Yet Interview said it would “relaunch” about five months after its liquidation filing. Brant, who purchased the title from the Warhol estate in 1987, decided to sell the publishing assets and IP to his daughter Kelly, who set up a new entity for the transfer, Crystal Ball Media, led by herself and Nikic. The sudden bankruptcy, liquidation to reduce asset value and selling back to a family member who had overseen the magazine while it was unable to pay workers made the whole process appear to be a way for the title to simply avoid paying its million of dollars in debts.
But relaunch it did, in September 2018, with a new staff of about 18 people, including Mel Ottenberg as creative director. Haramis stayed on as editor. But even then there were whispers of the magazine being late in paying the freelancers hired to help bring the issue together. Nevertheless, Interview has continued to publish six issues a year and has drawn high-profile celebrity talent for covers.
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