Confidential Magazine

Confidential Magazine was a tabloid magazine published from 1952-1978. Some have labelled it a 'scandal' magazine.

Vanity Fair described Confidential as a 'gossip machine' that "redefined celebrity journalism." Novelist Tom Wolfe referred to Confidential as “the most scandalous scandal magazine in the history of the world.”

The magazine was notable for investigative journalism about public figures in politics and Hollywood. Publisher Robert Harrison brought on former Communist Howard Rushmore to help cover and expose Communist agents in the government. In time, Harrison also found readers enjoyed reading the real-life stories of famous celebrities.

The primary sources for the magazine about Hollywood were Ronnie Quillan, Francesca de Scaffa, and private investigator Fred Otash.

USPS Refuses to Distribute

In August 1955, the Postmaster General refused to distribute the magazine on the grounds of obscenity. This caused the magazine to adapt its business model to be produced and printed with regional printshops, and then distributed directly to newsstands, bypassing the mails altogether. Even though the magazine was regularly derided for being disinformation, the magazine was scrupulous about fact-checking and having attorneys review its stories prior to publication.

Developing Lawfare Defense

The publication developed an ingenious method for preventing harassment lawfare libel lawsuits. The magazine would print a story, but purposefully tone down the story so that it would be less salacious. In this way, if the offended party were to sue, they would face the negative consequence of the full story becoming public knowledge.

Key Exposes

Confidential was the first national outlet to report:

• Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio's marriage was ending, August 1953
• FDR Secretary of State Sumner Welles was actually fired in 1943 for soliciting male railway workers, not what was originally reported, March 1956
• Liberace was homosexual and preying on young men around him, July 1957
• Segregationist Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had been trained at a Communist Labor school in his teens, Commonwealth College in Mena, Arkansas, February 1959
• Actor Errol Flynn had a two-way mirror on a ceiling installed so that he could watch his guests sleep and make love. Flynn filed a multi-million dollar libel lawsuit against the magazine for publishing this story. Later, after Flynn had died, his widow admitted the story was true when she sold the home.

Hollywood Fights Back with Propaganda & Lawsuits

Hollywood fought back against Confidential with an anti-Confidential propaganda film, Slander (1956). In the movie, the Publisher is killed by his own mother. Hollywood again featured a clone of Confidential in 1997's "L.A. Confidential" where the name of the publication is featured as "Hush Hush."

Mike Wallace interviewed Confidential's Private Investigator Fred Otash in 1957.

A libel suit against Confidential Magazine brought by actress Dorothy Dandridge, related to claims in the May 1957 issue of the magazine as part of an article called "What Dorothy Dandridge did in the Woods", was settled for $10,000 in early June 1957.

California Criminal Libel Trial

In 1957, the publication was charged in California with criminal libel. This came in the wake of the magazine's most notorious period, from 1954-1958. The suit for criminal libel was filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney and the then-California Attorney General Pat Brown, who then ran for and became Governor of California. The testimony featured former editor Howard Rushmore testifying against his former employer.

The case ended in a mistrial, with the jury deadlocked 7-5 for conviction. There were allegations that jurors were being bribed.

Instead of being retried, Publisher Harrison declared that Confidential would no longer do exposes. The government then relented and declined to refile the charges against Confidential.

Changes in Ownership

Robert Harrison founded the magazine in 1952, and then sold his interest in the magazine in 1958. It was sold to a company, and then sold again later to Newsline Publications, Inc. through the 1970s and its demise. The ownership of its intellectual property rights is unknown.

Slow Decline

By 1958, Harrison sold his interest in the magazine. The magazine would go through a slow decline and ultimately close in 1978.

In the late 60's through the 1970's, the magazine's editor was Tracy Cabot (d.2020), who later became an author and worked for the National Enquirer.

Legacy

Confidential pioneered a new kind of journalism that was punchy and direct to the reader. The articles and content within were designed for the masses, and during its peak period, was striking directly at the powerful and the power structure. Confidential combined pop culture reporting with incisive revelation of facts against powerful politicians that made it sell magazines, but also incurred the wrath of the unified elites. Creating a feedback loop on the notoriety, it was only a matter of time before the publication was brought down either by defamation, regulation, litigation, harassment, lawfare, or the like.

Books

• Barbas, Samantha (2018). Confidential Confidential: The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine.
• Bernstein, Samuel (2006). Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever. Walford Press.
• Scott, Henry E. (2010). Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine". Pantheon

See Also

• List of Confidential Issues