Sometimes a simple “I quit” won’t do. Sometimes a full-on nuclear strike aimed at your (now) former employer is the order of the day.
Longtime People writer Sara Hammel didn’t just resign from her post, she exited in spectacular fashion and spilled enough tea to bankrupt Tetley. Page Six published an edited version of the letter she sent to editorial director Jess Cagle and other editors at the magazine. It doesn’t take long for Hammel to point out her reason for leaving: “It’s not me, it’s you.”
Hammel wrote that after “a wildly dysfunctional 14 years” the magazine has changed dramatically. She expressed frustration with what’s she had to deal with courtesy of “entitled stars and their batsh*t crazy publicist” during her run with the mag.
In between, there were memorable encounters galore, including making the gorgeous and empathic Mariska Hargitay ugly-cry (turns out she cries at like every charity-related event, phew), enduring an Oscar winner’s public bullying over an intimate dinner, facing a personal crisis at Tom Cruise’s wedding in Rome, getting basically, kind of spat on by a snotty J. Lo (okay, it was like a very wet pffttt in my general direction, really obnoxious), having fun with endless lower-key celebs like Rosario Dawson and Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Douglas, observing just how stiff and awkward George Clooney is around kids, insulting Sheryl Crow’s baby, and getting groped/harrassed by an A-list [omitted] performer in New York and Paris (that’s not to be flip—it was violating as hell. I’m still pissed I didn’t jab him in the balls with my pen).
We’re disappointed she didn’t get to jab that A-List dink in the balls, but we suppose there’s always time for future pen-based justice. She also leans into her issues with the culture at People, citing “eight rounds of layoffs where talented colleagues were bitch-slapped into oblivion.” So, uh, yeah, this isn’t exactly a friendly departure. Hammel also wrote about her exasperation in feeling ignored by the publication after 14 years of service.
I will say, what happens after that is that my debut teen mystery, the one I spent my adult life making into a reality, but which, despite the schlock regularly featured in its pages and online, People decided to ignore—more to the point, they ignored me entirely—even after I toiled away for them for 14 years. They wouldn’t even give me a digital post that I wrote, sourced, and agreed to remove the name of my book from (LOL). That book is called The Underdogs.
Page Six contacted People for their thoughts on Hammel’s letter, but weren’t able to shake anything loose from the mag’s rep. “We don’t comment on personnel matters,” said a spokesperson. They might not comment on personnel matters, but we’re happy to. Our comment: Holy sh*t!
(via The Cut)
