Jimmy Jellinek Out as Editor of Maxim

In a move that had been rumored for months, Maxim editor Jimmy Jellinek, the so-called "First Lad" of magazine publishing, has been laid off, New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer confirms.

Former executive editor Jim Kaminsky replaces him, with the new title of editorial director. Jellinek's firing comes less than two weeks after the $240 million sale of Dennis Publishing to Kent Brownridge, a former Wenner Media executive, was finalized, and the second major editorial layoff in as many weeks. (Last week, after Brownridge and his newly-formed Alpha Media Group decided to fold Maxim's laddie underling Stuff into Maxim, the company cut ties with Stuff publisher John Lumpkin.)

The aggressive reshuffling at Dennis is understandable. Though both magazines were performing marginally better in terms of advertising, Stuff was hemorrhaging at the newsstand, down 33.9 percent in single copy sales, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX figures.

Maxim, with a circulation of 2.5 million, remained flat. Kaminsky, a former editor of Men's Journal, has close tiesto Brownridge, having worked for him during Brownridge's tenure at Wenner. Kaminsky was Maxim's executive editor from 1999-2002.

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