RadarOnline

After Talk closed, Maer Roshan, a New York media veteran who had worked there, founded Radar, a general-interest magazine that satirized public figures and covered politics, entertainment and media; Roshan said the Spy-style approach was “only one strand of our DNA.” The first issue had a 50% sell-through rate, and the magazine was produced from a single room by a small staff.⁠[1]

The early Radar lacked an established financial backer, and Roshan said he was in talks with “a wide range of institutional partners.”⁠[1]

In May 2005 a better-financed new issue of Radar was about to reach newsstands; the official fact sheet called it the “premiere issue,” but it was in fact the third issue of the magazine Roshan had been trying to start for three years.⁠[2]

This version of Radar, co-owned by New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman and Jeffrey Epstein, ran for three issues starting in spring 2005, the last being “The Scary Issue.” The two publishers said the advertising climate “no longer makes it feasible to continue publishing”; about 50 employees were told of the closure, and Roshan said he was talking with new investors. Its advertising rates were based on a circulation of 150,000.⁠[3]

In 2008 Radar received a National Magazine Award (Ellies) nomination in the General Excellence category for circulation of 100,000 to 250,000. Roshan said: “I’m thrilled.”⁠[4]

On October 24, 2008, as the print Radar folded, American Media Inc. (AMI) bought RadarOnline.com, partnering with Integrity Multimedia Company in a joint venture, Radar Online LLC. David Perel, executive vice president of AMI News, left that post to become managing editor of RadarOnline.⁠[5]

Dylan Howard returned to AMI in 2013 and became editor in chief of RadarOnline, a post he held for six years; he was later named editor of the National Enquirer.⁠[6]

On April 20, 2017, James Robertson, a senior editor at Radar Online, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FBI for all documents relating to its investigation and prosecution of financier Jeffrey Epstein. Having received no response, Radar Online LLC and Robertson sued the FBI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 25, 2017.⁠[7]

In May 2017 the fitness personality Richard Simmons sued the National Enquirer, Radar Online and their publisher American Media, alleging that they had falsely published that he was transitioning and had acted with “calculated malice.”⁠[8]

In August 2017 Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Keosian tentatively ruled that he would dismiss Simmons’ defamation suit against the National Enquirer and Radar Online; Simmons denied the reports.⁠[9]

In September 2017 Keosian dismissed the libel and invasion-of-privacy suit on free-speech grounds, holding that “misidentification of a person as transgender is not actionable defamation absent special damages.”⁠[10]

The defendants sought $220,000 in attorneys’ fees, and the judge later ordered Simmons to pay nearly $130,000; Simmons appealed the dismissal.⁠[8]

On October 26, 2017, AMI announced that Howard had been elevated to chief content officer of the AMI Celebrity Group, with editorial oversight of Us Weekly and OK! AMI then managed 12 digital sites including RadarOnline.com, and said its digital properties reached about 65 million unique visitors a month.⁠[11]

Howard’s contract with AMI expired on March 31, 2020, without renewal. After company-wide layoffs at AMI, Radar Online went dark in April, its last post appearing on April 20; its Twitter account continued to post only links to old photo galleries. An AMI representative had earlier said the site was not shutting down.⁠[12]

On March 25, 2021, Manhattan-based Empire Media Group (EMG) announced it had acquired the rights to brands including RadarOnline.com and OKmagazine.com, saying this restored control of the brand to Howard; Howard became EMG’s chairman and chief executive, and Ryan Naumann, formerly of TMZTMZTMZ is an American entertainment and celebrity news outlet founded in 2005 by Harvey Levin and Jim Paratore, known for the TMZ.com website and its television programs; it published reports including Mel Gibson’s arrest, Michael Jackson’s death, and the Ray Rice elevator video, and has also corrected erroneous reports several times. In 2021, FOX Entertainment acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia.Open the full entry and The Blast, became editor in chief of RadarOnline.com.⁠[13]

EMG said RadarOnline.com was separately owned by Radar Media Group LLC and that it had hired 40 staff since its inception.⁠[13]

On June 25, 2024, Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York granted the FBI’s motion for summary judgment and denied the plaintiffs’ cross-motion, finding that the FBI could withhold records on the Epstein investigation and prosecution under FOIA Exemption 7(A); the FBI stated that it had conducted a segregability review of 11,571 responsive pages.⁠[14]

On January 28, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral argument in the case (No. 24-1964). The government said a substantial release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act “is likely to happen in the near term” and could moot Radar’s request, and asked for a remand; the panel appeared inclined to send the case back to the district court.⁠[15]

Radar asked the appeals court to vacate the lower court’s “categorical, blanket” exemption.⁠[16]

RadarOnline: Official website: https://radaronline.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[13]