Gawker Brings Defamer, and A.J. Daulerio, Back to Cover Hollywood
Gawker will be rebooting its former Hollywood gossip offshoot, Defamer. And guess who's bizz-ack? A.J. Daulerio as editor -- but not for long.
Gawker folded side projects ValleyWag and Defamer when times were tough in 2009 -- "it was back in the dark days and the world was going to hell economically," Gawker Editor-in-Chief John Cook said -- deciding to revisit the corollary sites now that the media climate has improved.
The company revived ValleyWag in April as a one-man show. Now it plans to do the same with Defamer.
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Daulerio, former top editor for Gawker and Deadspin who had been consulting for Buzz Media in New York, will lead the revival from the West Coast for three months. Cook told TheWrap that Daulerio is back to launch the site, and establish a voice and tone until a permanent replacement is found.
The retooled website is already taking applications, and Daulerio says he's looking for clever manifestos about the future of Defamer. His suggested pitch: "Something about undermining the PR stasi, exposing the infantile degeneracy of adderalled junior executives, neo-speakeasy-hopping with an aging Wilmer Valderrama, and a comprehensive oral history of Hollywood toe-slurping."
As for growth plans for Defamer, there really aren't any. Said Cook: "I like the idea of having it be one personality, one voice defining it."
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