Transfer over The Satan Wears Prada — there’s a brand new responsible pleasure on the town, and Hollywood is already buzzing. Rob Shuter, the celeb columnist, podcast star and VH1 Gossip Tablehost recognized for his signature “naughty however good” aptitude, has written his first novel — It Began with a Whisper — a razor-sharp look contained in the glamorous, backstabbing world of fame, friendship, and media.
And whereas Rob insists it’s fiction, insiders say the guessing recreation has already begun.
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Q: Rob, congratulations! Hollywood appears obsessed along with your debut. How does it really feel to have everybody speaking?
Rob: Actually, it’s surreal. I’ve spent my whole profession writing concerning the tales — not being the story. I at all times stated gossip may very well be sort, that it didn’t must destroy folks to entertain them. So, to now have this stage of buzz round one thing I created from scratch — it’s thrilling and terrifying on the similar time. Everybody’s attempting to get their arms on the guide and work out who’s who, which is each flattering and just a little hilarious.
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Q: For readers who haven’t heard but — what’s It Began with a Whisper all about?
Rob: It’s about 4 bold insiders who get the prospect of a lifetime: launching a brand-new morning gossip present. It’s their dream job — glitz, glamour, and entry to the most important stars on the earth. However they rapidly study probably the most harmful secrets and techniques aren’t concerning the celebrities they cowl — they’re about one another. Behind the laughter and on-air banter are fragile egos, buried betrayals, and a determined want to remain related in an business constructed on whispers.
It’s a love letter to the enterprise I do know so effectively — but additionally a cautionary story. As a result of on the earth of gossip, the reality at all times comes with a value.
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Q: The comparisons to The Satan Wears Prada are all over the place. How do you’re feeling about that?
Rob: It’s the best praise. I labored for Naomi Campbell as I do know Prada uncovered the style world’s glittering underbelly — and I needed to do the identical for celeb journalism. Individuals see the purple carpets and the grins, however behind these shiny covers are sleepless nights, cellphone calls from frantic publicists, and inconceivable moral decisions. It’s glamorous, sure, nevertheless it’s additionally brutal. And but, for individuals who survive it, there’s an intoxicating magnificence in it too.
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Q: Be sincere — are any of the characters primarily based on actual folks?
Rob (laughing): Everybody’s asking that! Let’s simply say I’ve met sufficient divas, geniuses, secret-keepers and nightmares to fill a number of novels. Each character is a cocktail — a splash of reality, a twist of fantasy, and a touch of want success. However in the event you assume you acknowledge your self… possibly you do! That’s a part of the enjoyable.
The business is buzzing and it’s making them nervous. However fiction provides you the liberty to inform emotional truths with out pointing fingers. A number of huge names have been calling my writer to pay money for an advance copy.
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Q: Why now? You will have a rare profession in media as probably the most powerfulcolumnists on the earth— what made this the suitable time to write down your first novel?
Rob: I feel I lastly had one thing to say. I’ve been on each facet of this enterprise — publicist, columnist, podcaster speak present host, visitor — and I’ve seen what fame does to folks. I’ve seen the loneliness behind the lenses. Through the pandemic, when the world slowed down, I spotted I needed to inform a narrative concerning the human price of chasing success.
It’s humorous, it’s quick, it’s filled with gossip — however beneath all of it, it’s about friendship and forgiveness. About what occurs when the lights exit and also you’re left with your self.
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Q: The publishing world is asking this “dangerously actual.” Are you frightened about anybody’s response?
Rob: (Smiles) Just a little. However gossip has at all times been about revealing truths folks don’t wish to admit. The guide doesn’t assault anybody — it simply holds up a mirror. Some folks received’t like what they see. However that’s what makes it scrumptious.
One Actual Housewife texted me, “I can’t wait to learn it — however I’m scared.” That’s once I knew I’d carried out my job.
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Q: What do you hope readers take away from It Began with a Whisper?
Rob: I hope they chortle, in the beginning. However I additionally hope they see that behind each headline is a human being. This guide isn’t nearly gossip — it’s about ambition, identification, and the tales we inform to outlive.
And possibly — simply possibly — it’ll make readers assume twice earlier than judging somebody from a single headline.
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Q: Remaining query — can we anticipate It Began with a Whisper to be on the display?
Rob: (Grinning) Let’s simply say there have already been calls. Hollywood loves a superb whisper — particularly when it may be about them.
It Began with a Whisper by Rob Shuter is on the market for pre-order now. Early readers name it “a scrumptious cocktail of ambition, betrayal, and the excessive value of fame.” And as one insider put it: “The complete business is questioning who’s in it — and they need to be.”