Mel Ottenberg Responds to Rumor That Interview Magazine Is Shutting Down

224

Interview Magazine is not shutting down, according to editor Mel Ottenberg. “Interview just signed a lease on a new and bigger office space, next issue is out in a few weeks, things are good,” he told Page Six.

Rumors began circulating recently that the 56-year-old magazine was winding down operations after multiple staff members departed the publication seemingly all at once. “It’s been a long time since anyone left Interview and a few people indeed left recently, and that’s OK. We’ve hired two new people in the last week,” said Ottenberg.

Interview was founded in 1969 by artist Andy Warhol and Village Voice journalist John Wilcock and soon became famous for it’s signature format of having celebrities interview other celebrities. The magazine was bought by Peter and Sandra Brant’s Brant Publications in 1989. The couple then hired Ingrid Sischy as editor in chief, a job she held for almost 20 years. Somewhere along the way, Sandra and Sischy started dating and in 1995, Peter and Sandra divorced with Sandra retaining a 50% stake in Brant Publications and serving as chief executive, president, and publisher of the company until 2008, when she resigned and sold her share back to her ex-husband.

There was concern that the magazine would shut down in 2018 when they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but a few months later Peter saved the publication, relaunching it as a bimonthly concern with six issues a year instead of 12. At that point, Ottenberg was brought on as creative director under editor Nick Haramis. He was promoted to editor himself in 2021 after Haramis’ departure.