April 13, 2008: CNN’s RELIABLE SOURCES
Up next, she doesn’t really report or write, except on her very personal blog. But Julia Allison keeps getting profiled by big-deal publications and may get her own reality show. Why do some people keep trashing her?
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KURTZ: Somewhere at this very moment Julia Allison is being gossiped about. And boy has she given the tongue waggers plenty of material.
“Star” magazine’s editor-at-large has a very personal blog. She has been profiled lately by “The New York Times,” the “L.A. Times,” and Media Bistro. And she’s pitching a reality show about, what else, her life.
She has a role model in mind, the woman played by Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City.”
Here’s how Media Bistro put it this week: “In a year, Allison has gone from an unidentifiable extra at media parties whose cleavage was more recognizable than her name, to a bona fide emblem of scorn within the chattering classes. That final step is the surest sign that she has made it.”
And joining us now from New York is the increasingly famous Julia Allison.
JULIA ALLISON, “STAR MAGAZINE”: Thanks.
KURTZ: Let me ask you first about this Media Bistro piece. It says that while you have the title of being Star’s editor-at-large, you don’t write or edit stories. That you’re hired to look good on TV.
So you are playing a journalist?
ALLISON: Well, no. I mean, originally I did begin out as a columnist for “AM New York.” And I wrote articles in “Cosmopolitan” and for “Men’s Health.” At various different — I mean, I’ve done a lot of journalism.
What I do for “Star” is mainly I’m a talking head. I’m the face of “Star” magazine. And there are a lot of journalists who do things similar to this.
KURTZ: OK.
Now, you have this blog. You post all kinds of pictures of yourself wearing all kinds of outfits. You talk about who you’ve been dating, who you broke up with. You had a joint blog with one of your boyfriends that kind of fell apart when things turned nasty between you.
Why parade your private life before the public this way?
ALLISON: Well, you know, that’s a really good question. First of all, I’d like to say, I don’t put everything out there. I do select…
KURTZ: Really? I couldn’t tell.
ALLISON: Yes, I do select — no, it’s actually a misconception. I do select very carefully about what I put out.
But it’s also — it started out as a portfolio for my columns that I was writing and it turned into something. It’s part diary, part scrapbook, part memoir.
And I think that if Nora Ephron had had blogging technology 25 years ago, perhaps she wouldn’t have necessarily written “Heartburn.” She might have had a joint blog with Carl Bernstein.
KURTZ: Now, just last month you put up a post that says, “I can’t do this anymore, it’s ruining my life.” So were you have a momentary meltdown?
ALLISON: Yes, I did have a momentary meltdown. You know, I think any time you put stuff out there on the Web, you have to remember there is no context for people who don’t know me. They don’t necessarily understand that a lot of times I’m joking, a lot of times I’m sarcastic. That doesn’t always translate well.
And I think that it’s really surprised me to see the difference ways that people misconstrue me and misconstrue my motivations. You know, I’m just a writer, ultimately. And I want to express myself. And part of the way I express myself is through my blog.
KURTZ: Well, because you’re not just a writer. You’re actually in the process of pitching a reality show that would star you. So, you seem to have a certain, how shall I say, lust for the limelight.
ALLISON: You know, I’m rambunctious. And I can’t — I can’t contain it.
I’m lucky that I’m at the intersection of new media and technology, and I have a forum for expression that didn’t exist prior to blogging, prior to the Internet. And it’s really been — it’s been a lot of fun.
But you know what? The Internet tends to be a cesspool of negativity as well. And there are some haters out there.
KURTZ: And since you mentioned that, there are — you seem to have more than the usual share of detractors. I mean, some people say you’re an attention addict. You’ve been called the Paris Hilton of the media world. And “Radar” magazine says you are the third most hated person on the Internet.
I don’t know how that statistic was arrived at, but doesn’t that kind of criticism and mockery, doesn’t it — don’t you find it depressing?
ALLISON: Actually, I found that really amusing. I ranked above the Marine who threw the puppy off the cliff. That’s quite an accomplishment.
I mean, you know, I said to “Radar” — I said, “Thank you very much for hating me more than Rachael Ray, more than Tony Kornheiser.” I mean, how is that possible? I was impressed with that, yes. My parents were very proud.
KURTZ: But you seem to have the attitude of, I don’t really care whether people are praising me or denouncing me as long as they’re talking about me.
ALLISON: You know, no. I don’t believe that all press is good press. But I do believe that I don’t have a heck of a lot of control over it anymore.
People are going to say what they’re going to say. And if they read my blog, they’ll see that, I mean, I’m not really a jerk. I’m not mean. I’d never say anything negative about someone.
And so ultimately, if people want to — if people want to be jerks to me, then fine. Go for it. You know, if you don’t have anything else going on in your life, go for it.
KURTZ: But you provide so much material that you’ve asked — you actually kind of advertised for a man to take you to the Super Bowl. And you wrote, “I won’t make out with you, but I’m willing to discuss wearing a cheerleader outfit.”
ALLISON: See, Howie, this is where something is lost in translation. I mean, clearly, I’m joking, right? Clearly. I think that’s obvious.
I think most of the times when I’m doing sort of pranks on the Internet, stunts, it’s obvious that I’m kidding around. But some people do take it seriously.
KURTZ: But you have written about men who have taken you on long, expensive and exotic trips.
ALLISON: Yes. I mean, I’m trying to think of a specific example that you’re thinking of. I mean, you know, I do go on trips. I think a lot of people do. But…
KURTZ: All right.
Now, is it true that you kind of sat down when you came to Manhattan with a two-year plan to become a cult figure?
ALLISON: A cult figure. You know, I shared that with the writer of this Media Bistro piece because I thought it was hysterical. Because obviously it’s tongue-in-cheek. I mean, but I guess I succeeded. I mean, maybe I should have taken the book “The Secret” a little less seriously.
KURTZ: All right. I’ve got about 20 seconds for you here.
Is there some danger that you’ll become rather overexposed and famous for being famous, and people will eventually move on to the next flash in the pan?
ALLISON: Oh, you know what? The Internet is a tankful of jumping sharks. And I fit right in there.
KURTZ: That’s a good note to end it on. All right. Julia Allison, thanks for extending your media exposure here with us this morning.
ALLISON: Thanks, Howie.
KURTZ: We appreciate it.
