Dan Wakeford is out as editor in chief of low-rent celebrity gossip magazine Us Weekly, according to a leaked memo obtained by The Post.
The 50-year-old former People boss announced his departure from the publication in an email to staffers on Friday.
“After much consideration, I have chosen to leave my position as editor-in-chief of Us Weekly to develop my own creative projects in film and books,” he wrote. “My last day will be January 9, 2026.”
But Wakeford hinted that next year his byline could still appear in the publication, which claimed a combined print and digital circulation of 2 million last year, according to data from the Alliance for Audited Media.
“In 2026, I look forward to contributing to Us Weekly on special projects,” he wrote.
Us Weekly insiders told The Post that Wakeford has been “forced out” because he had failed to land headline-grabbing exclusives with top Hollywood stars.
“He promised them big people like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston,” said one source. “But he delivered Sandra Lee and Countess Luann.”
The top story on Us Weekly’s website on Friday evening was an exclusive about how “Love Is Blind” star Alexa Lemieux “fired back” at claims made by her estranged husband, Brennon Lemieux, in a divorce filing.
A separate source also claimed that Wakeford was rarely in the office, choosing instead to work remotely.
“He was not really very hands-on,” the source told The Post. “He was never there.”
The claim echoed an exclusive story by The Post last year when Wakeford had a stint as the editor-in-chief of the ill-fated media start-up, the Messenger.
While he had a whopping $900,000 annual salary, sources told The Post at the time, the site shuttered just nine months after its launch.
“People did not know he was British,” a Messenger staffer said, adding that the first time they heard Wakeford speak was during an emergency meeting shortly before the company was shuttered in late January 2024.
Wakeford got his latest gig in March.
The entertainment mag, which is based in New York City, was founded as Us, a bi-weekly, in 1977 by the New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980.
It has changed hands multiple times since then, becoming part of the McClathy Media Company that owns the Miami Herald in 2024.
The Post has approached a McClatchy spokesperson for comment.
Credit: Source link
