War of words breaks out as New York Times is accused of ripping off The Hollywood Reporter

Top editors at The Hollywood Reporter were fuming this week after The New York Times published an investigation by reporter Debra Kamin into the proliferation of secret anonymous smear websites in Hollywood without crediting or mentioning the nearly dozen stories that the industry trade publication had previously published on the exact same topic. 

The Times story, titled “How to Destroy a Reputation in Hollywood, as Told in 5 Women’s Lawsuits,” maps a constellation of anonymous websites designed to manipulate public opinion by assailing the reputations of various women involved in high-profile legal disputes over the past several years. 

The piece, which ran over 3,000 words, was an elaborate production featuring what appeared to be multiple photo shoots of the alleged victims, packaged together in the multimedia storytelling style typically reserved for the Times’ most high-profile stories. The only problem was that the majority of what Kamin included in her story had already been reported by THR senior writer Gary Baum who has written exhaustively on the topic of smear websites in Hollywood for over a year. 

“THR’s Gary Baum spent nine months working on this series, which unearthed most of the material that later resurfaced in the Times,” said THR’s editor-in-chief Maer Roshan in a statement. “Given the attention his stories received, it’s disappointing that the paper of record’s 3,000-word opus on the scandal omitted the outlet that broke it.” 

There are no hard rules on when a writer or publication should credit another for published work that serves as reference material, but it is customary and a widely acknowledged professional courtesy (Full disclosure: I previously worked at THR. I also worked at The New York Times’ Rome Bureau.)

“Debra Kamin’s article was an original piece of journalism that she reported independently over months, interviewing more than 60 people and reviewing court documents, chat transcripts and hundreds of websites and social media profiles,” a Times spokesperson said in a statement.