In September Rosie O’Donnell abandoned her branding of the former McCall’s (now Rosie) Magazine by quitting her position with publisher Gruner & Jahr USA charging the company undermined her editorial control. At a news conference in New York, sporting a new hairdo, former talk show Queen Rosie O’Donnell stated: “I’m sorry to have to tell my readers and my staff that my involvement in the magazine is ending, but my integrity and name are at stake and that price is too high”.
O’Donnell accused Gruner & Jahr CEO Daniel B. Brewster of undermining her authority and editorial control at the magazine carrying her name. While she vacationed in Florida, O’Donnell informed reporters that Brewster arranged for a senior staff meeting in her personal office and says: “I am told he said I was no longer in control of Rosie the magazine and that the staff should no longer take directions from me”. The company plans to continue publishing Rosie until the December issue.
O’Donnell’s very public announcement of her leaving the magazine resulted in a subsequent exchange of verbal artillery from both parties involved. In an interview with Cindy Spengler, Gruner & Jahr’s chief marketing officer, the marketing exec accused O’Donnell of abandoning her brand and audience: “It is truly shocking and disappointing that Rosie O’Donnell would walk away from her obligations to her staff, her business partner and her magazine audience. In doing so, she destroys the value of the business we created and violates the conditions of our binding contract”. While O’Donnell expressed disappoint with respect to her staff at Rosie, she also said in an interview that she wants no part of branding a product that does not represent her interests: “I cannot have my name on a magazine if I cannot be assured that it will represent my vision and ideas”.
The entire saga began in a much earlier scen
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