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Sallie Hofmeister reports in today's Times that Mindy Herman, CEO of E! Networks, could be dumped as soon as today (with a $20 million severance package), "accused of abusing her power and behaving in decidedly undignified ways, including brawling in the parking lot of a Hollywood burlesque club." In fact, she writes, Herman could be the subject of her own "E! True Hollywood Story." [* Update: Indeed, Herman resigned on Thursday. Hofmeister reports in Friday's paper that Herman's statement explains, "this is a logical time for me to transition to the next phase of my career." ]
Excerpts from the first story:
Herman's potential undoing resulted in part from two anonymous letters sent to Disney and Comcast last fall, prompting an investigation and a subsequent audit...One of the letters, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, had a pleading tone. "It is desperation time here at E!" it said. "I pray that you will not turn a deaf ear." The letter described two lavish baby showers it claimed that Herman threw for herself last fall at company expense. One, held at E!'s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard, was "the single most expensive company party ever," according to the letter.
There's also some good dirt on the departure of popular E! host Steve Kmetko.
Two years ago, according to E! sources, Herman's representatives intercepted a Grammy gift bag that had been sent to the channel for reporters Kmetko and Jules Asner, who had done a news segment on the baskets. The booty, worth several thousand dollars, included a Tumi suitcase, an Apple iPod, a weekend at an Ian Schrager hotel as well as a membership and 10 massages at the SportsClub LA in Westwood...Lash Fary of Distinctive Assets, which prepared the basket, said he vaguely recalled sending replacement goodies when the gift was not received by the anchors.Kmetko was fired by Herman in 2002...According to E! sources, the firing occurred after Herman was flooded with e-mails praising Kmetko. Suspicious, Herman asked Kmetko whether he orchestrated the onslaught, and he denied it. Still not satisfied, Herman ordered the company's computer experts to sift through his e-mail, where she found an exchange between Kmetko and a webmaster who ran an Internet site for Kmetko fans, encouraging the e-mail campaign.
Kmetko, who had been worried that his contract would not be renewed, was fired two days before the Emmy awards, where he was scheduled to work the red carpet. He later told one E! executive that Herman admonished him: "You never lie to the queen of E!"