| DRUDGE REPORT 2002® 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
 XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX FRI JAN 18 2002 16:02:37 ET XXXXX
 
 EXCLUSIVE:  TINA'S TALK HALTS PUBLICATION; PLUG PULLED ON MONTHLY
 
 MIRAMAX/HEARST has pulled the plug on TALK magazine -- effective immediately, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
 
 The current issue on newsstands will be the last, say top sources.   The magazine's staff will be told of the dramatic development during a 5 pm [ET] meeting.
 
 The decision to fold the monthly was made in recent days, with TALK president Tina Brown described as "highly disappointed" by the action.
 
 TALK/MIRAMAX will continue its successful book division, with upcoming works by Rudy Giuliani  and Madeline Albright, sources say.
 
 The magazine launched with a splash in the Summer of '99 with an all-star party at the Statue of Liberty attended by Madonna, Kissinger,  Rushdie,  Bacall, Demi,  Hurley and others.
 
 Brown quickly caused a  fuss-commotion with her inaugural issue when First Lady Hillary Clinton confessed how the president had trouble remaining faithful to her because he was �scarred by  abuse� when he was barely four.
 
 But the magazine quickly began bleeding money;  in the end, losing upwards of $50 million.
 
 The Ad Crunch of '01 and a post-September 11 media slowdown proved to be too much a burden for the upstart.
 
 "The parties, the premieres, the expense accounts were brutal on the bottom line," says an insider.
 
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 Filed By Matt Drudge
 Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
 http://www.drudgereportArchives.com  for updates
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