The Penske Media Corporation announced on Tuesday that The Hollywood Reporter co-editor-in-chief Nekesa Mumbi Moody is exiting the outlet, to be replaced by Shirley Halperin, who most recently was editor of Los Angeles Magazine. Moody had been at THR for 4 1/2 years, and had previously spent 22 years at The Associated Press.
Employees of The Hollywood Reporter were informed of the move at a Tuesday morning meeting and Moody later posted this message on social media:
It has been the ride of a lifetime to be editor of The Hollywood Reporter and work with the amazing reporters, editors, artists, photo staff and more there. Today that ride ends but I am incredibly proud of the work I did and the impact of it!
Before Halperin was at Los Angeles Magazine, she was the executive editor for music at Variety and the music editor at Billboard. As co-editor-in-chief at THR, she will serve alongside Maer Roshan.
Moody's exit is just the latest in a string of high-profile exits from the outlet, most of them involuntary. There have been reports over the last few months that the relationship between Moody and co-editor-in-chief Maer Roshan has been strained due to editorial changes at the outlet. And according to sources I spoke with this afternoon at THR and the parent company, this move is seen by some at the outlet as yet another indication The Hollywood Reporter will continue its evolution towards being a more celebrity and general entertainment-centric publication.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that they replaced someone who had strong news instincts with someone who spent much of her career covering the music beat," one THR employee said in a message to me today.
And for what it's worth, the prepared statement released by PMC head Jay Penske certainly suggests those instincts might be correct:
“Shirley brings deep experience in entertainment journalism to this role, and is one of the industry’s finest. We are excited to welcome her back and know her contributions will be key to THR’s growth and evolution.”
I've reached out to Penske Media asking for a comment, but I've been told in the past the company doesn't publicly comment on "personnel changes."
The company is also not likely to respond to some other questions I have about a rumored revenue dip at The Hollywood Reporter.
I have been told by several people familiar with the metrics at the outlet that while revenue from events and sponsorships has held relatively steady over 2024, advertising revenue has slumped significantly. Which would match the situation most news outlets have experienced this year.
PMC is a private company and doesn't report revenue numbers much less break outlet the performance of individual titles. But the perception of the industry as well as many current and former employees is that the longtime Hollywood trade outlet has weakened significantly over the past 18 months.
If you have information on The Hollywood Reporter or any other Penske Media Corporation outlet, you can contact me confidentially at
