Gossip columnists tell what happens when celebrity publicists say ‘no comment’

When the gossip mags are tracking down a rumor about a celebrity, how do they know when they’ve struck gold?

When they call the celebrity’s publicist, and the publicist says “no comment.”

O’Dwyer’s Public Relations News, which covered a panel of celebrity gossip columnists at Dillon’s Lounge in New York recently, quotes Jo Piazza, a columnist for the Daily News. She said she always tries to get the other side of story, and will call a celebrity’s publicist and ask to confirm or deny a rumor. It protects the writers legally and makes the difference between whether the story has legs, or dies. 

“People think we just play off gossip hunches … we usually have to know who the source is. We need to gauge how the publicist responds to it. If they say ‘no comment’, then it’s definitely true.”

Just one more reason to never say “no comment.”

Columnists from the Village Voice, Star Magazine and New York Magazine’s “The Intelligencer” had to say about which celebs get media coverage and why. And know the alternatives to saying “no comment.”