This Writer's Out Of Times (NYT scraps article after learning male-prostitute author is imaginary)

NY Post ^ | November 14, 2005

[dead]

ALLEGED literary hoodwinker J.T. Leroy has been banned by the New York Times in the wake of reports that the supposed 24-year-old former truck stop prostitute-turned-novelist may not actually exist. The Gray Lady — still reeling from the damage to its crediblity caused by ex-employees Jayson Blair and Judy Miller — decided to scrap a piece by Leroy for the Times magazine.

Women's Wear Daily reports the Times agreed to pay Leroy $2,700, plus expenses, for a story about the cultural influence of the HBO series "Deadwood" — specifically the fact that Vera Wang's spring collection was inspired by the series, as well as the increased tourism travel to Deadwood, S.D.

But then came stories in New York magazine and the Washington Post suggesting Leroy may actually be a fictional persona created by a woman named Laura Albert. The Post piece went so far as to tweak the Times for employing such a character, given its recent problems. Times editors then decided to launch their own probe.

"They asked for my passport, my Social Security card," Leroy tells WWD. He declined to hand them over. "I've always played with identity and gender. I understand what [the Times] is saying, but they entered into working with me knowing that . . . just because the Washington Post came after them, why should I be forced to prove who I am? They knew exactly what they were getting when the dealt with me."

[freedomlover]

Imaginary sources, imaginary news. Woo pee doo what a surprise

[wideawake]

In another blow to the US labor movement, the NYT is now outsourcing its falsehood-manufacturing operations to freelancers.

[day10]

There is something inherently wrong about mentioning "truck stop prostitutes" and "Deadwood" in the same article.

[Freedom_Fighter_2001]

The old grey wh0re she ain't what she used to be *boom*
ain't what she used to be *crash*
ain't what she used to be *bang*
The old grey wh0re she ain't what she used to be
The old grey wh0re is dead.

[bkepley]

Well there's still the Michael Jackson in the toilet story to go with.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Add in faked circulation figures and whadda ya got ?
Zero Cred !

[billhilly]

still reeling from the damage to its crediblity caused by ex-employees Jayson Blair and Judy Miller —

Oh, give us a break. The damage to the NYT is of its own doing. It can't go on blaming individuals for what the institution has consistently done to itself, with its self aggrandizement and arrogance.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Fred Garvin isn't real?

[Paladin2]

Maybe Pinch's moose is a truck stop prostitute and deserves an interview.

The National Inquirer is still rising in esteem by comparison.

[GregoTX]

I prefer the term "Man Whore".

[nuconvert]

"a story about the cultural influence of the HBO series "Deadwood" — specifically the fact that Vera Wang's spring collection was inspired by the series, as well as the increased tourism travel to Deadwood, S.D."

WHO CARES??

[nuconvert]

LoL. Yup that's it!

[Always Right]

This passed the standard 'fake but accurate'. What is the problem???

[Argus]

I knew this guy was a hoax when I read a big puff piece on him in the LA Times a couple of months ago. I even clipped and saved the piece because I was laughing so hard, and I knew that eventually the truth would come out. So it would seem.

[RichInOC]

"Please don't tell Mother I work for the New York Times...she still thinks I'm a truck-stop hustler."

[Semper Paratus]

A gay drugstore cowboy. How derivative.

Is he real name 'Buck'?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

On the Planet of the Mapes, maybe.

[khnyny]

"The old grey wh0re she ain't what she used to be *boom*
ain't what she used to be *crash*
ain't what she used to be *bang*
The old grey wh0re she ain't what she used to be
The old grey wh0re is dead."

LOL. Deserved repeating.