There Is No Turning Back: September 11, 2001
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Release Date: 10/09/2025
Baby, Can't We Just Remember the Good Times?
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
It's the end of September 2002 and Karl has a red carpet press rebellion for the ages and neo-soul pousers get their appropriate read. From the newsroom floor to 22 countries. This is Season 2: 2002 of "Let's Talk About Hollywood." Written and read by Karl Gibson. đź’– Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! đź’– This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence: Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: My...
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That's Hollywood - I Didn't Make the Rules
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
It’s late September 2002. The Hollywood Hills are fogged in. My promotion at The Hollywood Reporter just landed, but my mind is on Bebbles. A routine doctor visit sends Stone to the hospital for observation. High blood pressure, salt ban, no more Primatene Mist. I cover the Sweet Home Alabama press screening with Nigel. I file copy. I run three loads of laundry. I call Stone’s boss, update his co-workers, learn from a music editor that her client spends 4K a month on hair. I take HR’s payroll apology with a side eye. Meanwhile, Augustus Meep’s publicist wants coverage. A power wife’s...
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One Big Tuxedo-Clad Orgasmatron! Emmys 2002
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Ep. 41: “One Big Tuxedo-Clad Orgasmatron!” — ATS Synopsis Emmy Sunday, September 22, 2002. The Hollywood Reporter newsroom. One of the reporters privately called awards season “one big tuxedo-clad orgasmatron.” That was Emmy Sunday: tuxedos, stress, deadlines, and nobody sleeping. Before that was my birthday at Skybar at The Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Blvd. then the next night was me and Bebbles' housewarming party.. I made two dozen butterscotch muffins, Bebbles made mac and cheese, ribs. Guests included Armand fresh from his ex’s porch, Renata with two boys and a cold,...
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Assistant to the Editor: Promoted at THR
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
September 13-18, 2002. The Hollywood Reporter newsroom. Looking back, the job and salary negotiations were straight forward and direct: my boss called me in, closed the door, and a plan to fill the Assistant to the Editor role was cemented. Clear. Direct. Respect. I took the role: Assistant to the Editor. More than a 1/3 salary jump in 11 months. My co-assistant is the editor for the Calendar of Events page with her much deserved byline. I keep my 52-extension phone console so we all have access to breaking news. “What I don’t know, I need you to H-E-L-P me,” I told my boss. He...
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Leaving It All on the $50 Million Dollar Floor
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
September 10-12, 2002. The Hollywood Reporter newsroom. My supervisor’s leaving. I turned her job down. Twice. Boss asks my salary and the first two numbers lower than my age. He looks astounded. “Your boss needs you both. If you leave, he’s f*cked.” Raises submitted for January 2003. $13.50 an hour. Sales up 23%. It’s the 1-year 9/11 anniversary. Moment of silence in the office park. THR’s issue: no exploitative pictures. Stone’s IT department confiscates his World Trade Center photos for their commemoration. “Why do you need these?” Emmy meeting. “No way in hell I...
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Thank You to My Audience in 30 Countries!
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Thank you to my listeners in 30 countries, so far. It is a true honor to be a part of your day or evening. This is Episode 38 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood : a listener appreciation episode from the newsroom floor to you. Less than 1% of independent podcasts reach 30 countries. This one did. With no ads, no PR, no notes from brands. Just a 2002 newsroom diary that leads to 24 years (and counting) of Hollywood and you. In this episode: My thank you to my listeners both in America and the world! Why I’m here. To share not just my Hollywood journal, but the loss of a spouse, the weight...
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It'll Get Better, Trust Me
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
It's fall 2002 in Hollywood and everything is shifting at once. A new apartment, a new schedule, a boss who keeps telling me it'll get better and a newsroom that never stops. In this episode, I take you inside my Labor Day move-in with my husband Stone, including the moment I grabbed him by the chin and made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, and why that mattered more than he knew. We swim, we laugh, we plan a housewarming with a very strict guest list, and I become a human catamaran. Meanwhile at work, my supervisor is leaving, the Emmys are calling, a Shannen Doherty superfan flew 7,000...
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Hollywood Heatwave '02: Labor Day Fight, 125 Degrees
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Labor Day 2002. New apartment. No A/C. 125 degrees inside. Me and Bebbles Stone, unpacking boxes, making daiquiris, trying to start a life. I was an editorial assistant at The Hollywood Reporter. He was staging our new home, I was cooking, and the heat got into everything. This is Let’s Talk About Hollywood. Career clarity plus real life from the mediasphere, for adults. I’m Karl Gibson and this is a first-hand audio Hollywood memoir from 2001 on. No blind items. No gossip. Just what it costs to build a marriage and a career in the shadows of the A-list. Love is not naive. It is a choice...
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The Disney Layoffs 2026: Regroup, Recalibrate, Ready!
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
This week of April 12, 2026, Disney laid off 1000 employees. My LinkedIn filled with 86,000 impressions in my written response to lazy AI slop about “streaming failure.” Disney+ is a streaming success. But 1000 careers were cut. I see you. You have value. You’re not done and your success will land anew. I’ve been out of work 18 months. That’s not a trauma dump: that’s my receipt. I’m still here. I’m still making things. And if I am, you are. The layoff ended your job. It didn’t end your career. This episode is for Disney employees and any worker in the world who just...
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AKA - Ask Karl Anything
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
In this week’s Ask Karl Anything episode, I answer listener questions about leaving Los Angeles after 29 years, starting over on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and whether making this podcast and sharing candid parts of my life is ever hard. It’s an episode about home, memory, reinvention, career and what it means to speak honestly about your life. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you there! 💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! 💖 This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can...
info_outlineThe world witnesses the events of 9/11 and The Hollywood Reporter's coverage, devoted to the news of the day, sets a standard for Hollywood trade magazines. Negotiations continue over my future role with the magazine and a theater legend's funeral leads to some stark realizations.
The podcast will always be free and runs on audience donations. I'll thank you on the air in an episode! Thank you!
đź’– Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! đź’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:
- Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com
- My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! We are officially 37% of the way to our goal—every dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2
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