Ben Widdicombe, the gay Australian journalist who over the past two decades has carved out a niche as one of New York’s most famous gossip columnists, is quick to pass on the Big Apple’s assessment of our most famous media export.
“It’s the impression that Rupert Murdoch picks the prime minister, and that would-be prime ministers need to genuflect to him, which is absolutely terrifying,” says Widdicombe.
Australian born New York columnist, Ben Widdicombe, says gossip culture informs popular culture
No doubt former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, who are busily campaigning for an inquiry into Murdoch’s News Corp, would be in furious agreement. But they’d be sure to clash with Widdicombe’s view about the importance of celebrity gossip in the 21st century.
“Gossip culture informs popular culture,” he says. “Popular culture informs mainstream culture, and in a democracy mainstream culture decides political outcomes.”
Given gossip columns lit the touchpaper that eventually helped to propel Donald Trump to the US presidency, he has a point. “The evil power that a politician like Donald Trump has is that he harnesses people’s absolute worst impulses. And I wish that I could say that Australians are immune to that. But I think unfortunately the wrong guy at the right time can harness that.”
After working for the New York Post, Daily News, TMZ and The New York Times, Widdicombe has been thinking about the impact of celebrity culture on all of us.
“Donald was particularly good at harnessing the power of media and celebrity to get much further than anyone ever imagined he could, but certainly there are proto fascists all over the world … cribbing notes about how it’s done.”
To expound on his ideas, Widdicombe has written a book Gatecrasher: How I Helped the Rich Become Famous and Ruin the World and is reflecting on his career at Silver Pride, a global LGBT+ festival which starts online this Friday (July 30).
Widdicombe sports a preppy look and is intellectually curious, and speaks in an accent you can’t quite place, a legacy of his Australian upbringing. Born in Melbourne in 1970, he grew up a closeted gay in conservative Queensland, where homosexuality was illegal until 1990. “I think being gay was complete gift. I think it helps you understand how to read a room, and to pick up on cues and makes you much more observational.”
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