Update,Watch Online Crush Movie (2010) Oct. 1:FanSided released a statement Saturday, the day after this story was published, saying it has fired its editor-in-chief. Our original story follows.
If this is the future of sports media, folks, well — good luck!
Welcome to the strange saga of the former porn star and the fake sports columnist.
Last we checked in on former porn star Mia Khalifa, she was putting a college football player on blast for sliding into her DMs. As good ol' Wikipedia tells us, Khalifa is a "social media personality best known for her brief and successful career as a pornographic actress and adult model in 2014–2015."
She's also a sports fan, and now writes a weekly column in which she delivers a handful of takes for the site FanSided. What's FanSided, you ask? It's an online media startup focused on sports, lifestyle and entertainment topics through a network of smaller sites as well as its FanSided.com home page.
Time, Inc. bought the company last year. In a release touting the acquisition, Time, Inc. CEO Joe Ripp said it was "an investment in a modern content strategy" and praised the "entrepreneurial and agile FanSidedleadership team."
And this is where our story gets truly weird. No, scratch that — this is where it gets pretty weird.
Khalifa recently started arguing on Twitter with a fellow FanSided writer named "Burt Gertson." It all started when "Gertson" wrote a post in which he came to terms with sharing web space with Khalifa. That post mentioned "dick pills," "firing Ping Pong balls out of her crotch" and reference to "a feverish kaleidoscope of sex acts I’d only heard about in drunken passing, from Hindu store clerks eager to kill the wee-morning minutes."
Good times. Anyway, here's a small sampling of the ensuing Twitter discourse between Khalifa and "Gertson," you can find more over at Awful Announcing.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Blah blah blah, et cetera et cetera. There are more tweets and more insults, but that's the gist. What an odd situation!
So Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing, a site that covers sports media, decided to look into it.
Gertson's FanSidedbio features a photo of a shirtless middle-aged man and says he is a "54-year sportswriting veteran" who's "worked for more papers than you have teeth," including theNew York Post.
Gertson's bio also claimed experience at publications called The Murder Creek Crierand The Dirt Junction Bugle,but Bucholtz could find no record of either publication online.
Gertson, it sure seemed, was a fake persona, so Bucholtz emailed FanSided editor-in-chief Jim Cavan to learn more.
According to Bucholtz's reporting, Cavan replied that "Burt Gertson is indeed a real person," one who "runs his own account and writes his own columns."
The site, Cavan said, "obviously didn’t anticipate Burt’s column generating this level of fallout — either internally or in the Twittersphere. However, we’ve handled the matter internally, and both Burt and Mia are eager to move on."
Awful Announcing published their summary of the alleged Khalifa vs. Gertson beef and Bucholtz's subsequent email interview with Cavan, the FanSidededitor-in-chief, insisting Gertson to be real.
Then the New York Post told Bucholtz this: “No one at the Post Sports Department has ever heard of or worked with anyone named Burt Gertson. Appreciate you checking.”
Shortly after that, FanSided admitted in a string of several tweets that Gertson is indeed fake. Here is the chain, which takes a rather pleading tone toward the end.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
There is precedent for a fictional sports columnist working on the web; perhaps Gertson was meant to be a knockoff version of the popular and funny personality known as PFT Commenter.
But fans and readers who pay even the slightest amount of attention are in on the PFT Commenter joke — that's why it's fun. Conversely, FanSided oddly insisted on Gertson being a real person when asked by an actual, inquiring reporter.
But hey, it's a #content jungle out there, folks. Survival requires #innovation, even for Time, Inc. companies. Like we said at the top: Good luck to all involved, ourselves included.
Staff Picks: Mothers, Grandmothers, and Gardens by The Paris ReviewOn Baldness by Mariana OliverProcrastination, Pressure, and Poetry: An Interview with Kendra Allen by Lauren KaneLanguage Once Removed: An Interview with Sara Deniz Akant by Lauren KaneEverything Writes Itself: An Interview with Black Thought by David MaThe Secret Identity of Janis Jerome by Michelle OrangeEibhlín Dubh’s Rage and Anguish and Love by Doireann Ní GhríofaRedux: A Good Reading Night by The Paris ReviewEvery Poem Has Ancestors by Joy HarjoOn Immolation by Aisha Sabatini SloanHistory Is the Throbbing Pulse: An Interview with Doireann Ní Ghríofa by Rhian SasseenWorldbending by Akwaeke EmeziThe Things We Hide: An Interview with Megan Abbott by Rebecca GodfreyA Kind of Packaged Aging Process by Jan MorrisA Kind of Packaged Aging Process by Jan MorrisRedux: Without Wanting to Live Forever by The Paris ReviewAmerica’s Dead Souls by Molly McGheeCooking with Herman Melville by Valerie StiversStaff Picks: Cornets, Collections, and Corn Tempura by The Paris ReviewEvery Poem Has Ancestors by Joy Harjo TikTok's concert clip economy exposes fan culture's Y/N problem On “Oh! Susanna” by Anthony Madrid Best deals of the day Jan. 30: 5th What Is the Political Responsibility of the Artist? by Taylor Plimpton People are selling Disney Splash Mountain water on Ebay. It's the dumbest thing ever. Staff Picks: Interwar, War, and Postwar Twitter/X confirms Nazi content was shown alongside Apple ads. So why is it suing? Book Ideas from the Bottom of the Barrel The Literary Prize for the Refusal of Literary Prizes NYT's The Mini crossword answers for November 21 The best Black Friday deals on Apple AirTags in 2023 The best Black Friday deals on Fire Tablets start at just $39 Best Black Friday Roomba deals at Amazon 2023 Dear Lynda: Diary Snoops and Ill Best deals of the day Feb. 6: SolaWave light wands, Amazon Kindle, Peacock Premium, and more Elon Musk announced support for OpenAI firing Sam Altman. Here’s why. Hale and Hearty by Robin Bellinger Ethical, educational kinksters are out there — but maybe not on your FYP. Epik High's Tablo talks NewJeans, BTS, and the promise of AI 200+ deals from Amazon's Black Friday sale
2.1999s , 10138.984375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch Online Crush Movie (2010)】,Steady Information Network