Michael Gross Blacklisted?! Oh, Hell no!

The Corsair likes Michael Gross, in fact, we consider him an acquaintance/friend, exchanging emails over the years on media and career matters. So when I read Lloyd Grove's account that Michael Gross may be blacklisted because of his incendiary but fair account of Ralph Lauren's life, the red flags went up. Grove writes:

"One New York fashionista is wondering whether the devil wears Polo.

"Writer Michael Gross claims he's been blacklisted by major glossy magazines since his unauthorized book, Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren, which just came out in paperback, first appeared.

"Gross, a former News columnist, said one 'top fashion magazine editor' recently told him that he shouldn't expect to get work from big-name magazines for a long time. 'He said I was radioactive - for 200 million reasons,' the writer added.

"A Ralph Lauren spokeswoman replied that any suggestion the company was putting pressure on magazines not to use Gross was 'completely untrue.'

Well, I certainly hope so, spokeswoman for Ralph Lauren, for your sake and the sake of your employer, because The Corsair is in the mood for some media attention for being loud and I am also in the mood to pick a new punching toy. Things have been slow going, and what better way to spice up the blogosphere than start a war with a comapny messing with my buddy. (puffs out chest) I'm old school like that.