Details on how the Jesse James’ mistress story broke and why Michelle “Bombshell” McGee failed to really cash in

(HMG) – Everyone that works for a while in the gossip industry knows there’s a scale of reliability in terms of news sources.  While People Magazine mostly get’s things right all the time, other publications are less reliable.  For example when ‘The National Enquirer’ broke the story that the late Patrick Swayze had cancer and the Tiger Woods stories, I reported them with the usual disclaimers at first until there was more evidence they got it right.  That was also somewhat the case when ‘In Touch Magazine’ initially broke the Jesse James’ mistress Michelle “Bombshell” McGee story, though they had an interview with the harlot, which made it immediately newsworthy.

As a story in Gawker written by Doree Shafrir, points out it was a major coup for In Touch, “likely it’s biggest seller ever, at around 1.4 million copies—in contrast to the magazine’s average newsstand sales of 800,000.”  The magazines less reliable reputation may have worked in their favor because as Doree points out the other publications were hesitant to source the story because both James’ and Bullock’s reps initially denied the report. Finally when Bullock pulled out of The Blind Side London premiere the story started to be taken seriously.

The Gawker story also touches on the politics of gossip, which I am a big follower of.  Some very popular magazines seem reluctant to publish stories that might hurt their connections with stars in the future or just seem like bad timing.  One gossip outlet editor speculated that McGee “shopped the story to all the outlets, but since Sandra had just won the Oscars, the big ones were reluctant to bite because it felt like inappropriate timing.”   Former Page Six writer Paula Froelich notes that People wouldn’t be interested in McGee’s story and will still get their own exclusive story: “because they’re going to hold out for Sandra’s story. When she wants to talk, she’ll go to them.”

My favorite part of how this whole thing unfolded is that Michelle “Bombshell” McGee gave her story away for a minimal amount  of money, because of the timing mentioned above and by giving the exclusive to In Touch.  While it’s been reported McGee got $30,000 for her story, other sources peg the figure at closer to $10,000. “They got it because they have a reporter who is in with the tattoo shops,” said a source familiar with the negotiations. “Dumb-dumb Michelle could have gotten a million for those pics. Instead she sold them for $10,000.”  Not exactly poetic justice but that might be something that haunts her, since breaking up Jesse’s marriage and breaking Sandra Bullock’s heart doesn’t seem to faze her.