The Thompsonator

I'm sure that, aside from her understandable irritation at the circumstance, my old pal Anne Thompson is at least a little chuffed to see her layoff from Variety cited as pretty much akin to the opening of the seventh seal in the Book of Revelations or some such thing, by no less an authority as Carpetbagger David Carr. This is "the kind of layoff that signals that something in the middle is breaking, that something besides retrenchment is underway," Carr trembles. And, again, as much as I respect the man, I have to note that it must be awfully cozy over on his floor at the Times, because pretty much everybody I know, Anne included, has been well aware for quite some time that whatever the fuck it is that's going on, it's never been anything quite so benign as a, um, "retrenchment."

I was actually speaking to Anne yesterday, before the news of the fallen axe, and I don't think I'm betraying any confidences when I say I got a sense from her that there was some writing going up on the wall some time soon. I don't think, in the long run, being relieved of her Variety duties is going to be much more than a minor inconvenience for her. That is, the loss is more Variety's than Thompson's. She absolutely belonged there, and brought a huge amount of experience and contacts to the table. I don't get their logic. She shoulda been able to stick around there as long as that Army Archerd guy.