US Weekly blacks out Hilton coverage
Paris Hilton walks out of the Angeles County Sheriff Department's Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif., Tuesday June 26, 2007.[AP]
LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton gets out of jail on Tuesday and she won't be on the cover of US Weekly on Friday?
How, short of the Apocalypse, is this possible?
"When it came down to it, the staff and I felt what I believe a lot of people in America are feeling. Which is just enormous Paris fatigue," US Weekly Editor Janice Min told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
As a result, Hilton not only won't be on the cover, there won't even be a mention of her in the magazine.
"I don't think," Min joked, "we even mention the city of Paris."
That was no easy task, she said, adding US Weekly editors had to comb carefully through every beauty story and every fashion item to make sure there wasn't an offhand mention of the hotel heiress somewhere.
The Associated Press put in place a similar Hilton moratorium for a week earlier this year, just to see what would happen.
As it turned out, the celebutante didn't do much that was of interest to anyone that week. Certainly she didn't get out of jail and get chased across town by a pack of Hilton-hungry photographers.
Still, Min expects her magazine will do just fine without her. Hilton, she said, has become such a mainstream media staple "that in many ways her time with US Weekly has moved on."
So look instead for an US Weekly cover photo Friday of Tom Cruise's baby and, inside the magazine, a dozen pages of other Hollywood babies.
Which raises the question, what would US Weekly do if Paris Hilton had a baby?
"That will elevate her, probably, back onto the cover," Min said with a laugh.
