| URL | DListed |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Be very afraid. |
| Type of site | Celebrity gossip |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Owner | Michael K |
| Launched | January 23, 2005 |
| Alexa rank | 2,680 |
| Current status | Active |
Dlisted is a celebrity gossip blog written by Michael K. The site originally started on January 23, 2005 as the D-List, but changed its name to Dlisted due to copyright issues with Kathy Griffin's: My Life on the D-List, a Bravo reality series following comedian Kathy Griffin.
Michael K, a 30-year-old New Yorker, started blogging semi-anonymously, leaving out his last name because he held a full-time job at an Internet company and would perform much of his blogging from the office. Due to the success of the website, he was able to make enough money through advertising that he quit his job and began working on the site full-time.[1] The blog had more than a million hits a day in 2007.[1]
In an October 2008 interview with SheWired.com, Michael spoke about the creation of Dlisted. "I worked at a job for M, which is like a Manhunt type thing. I wrote the letters and stuff and I kind of just started writing there on my down time. At lunch when I had nothing to do I would write about stuff. I didn’t think it would become anything. It was just stupid fun and then, it was about six months to a year later when I realized there were people reading it and that's when I had to decide where I was going to go with it."[2]
In the same interview with SheWired.com, Michael K was asked to name the reason for the blog's success. He said, "I don't know. I never promoted it. I never advertised. That was never my goal. I think it was that my friends would read it and they'd send it to their friends. I used to post personal pictures and stuff because I saw it as both a personal blog and a blog about just things that I like. So that's when I decided I wasn't going to make it personal. I was just going to cover this and focus on that." [2]
While Michael K posts general celebrity gossip, Dlisted is known for covering the exploits of particular celebrities in detail, including Britney Spears (AKA Brit Brit or Our Lady of Cheetos), Madonna (AKA Vadge), Angelina Jolie (AKA Saint Angie), Lady Gaga (AKA Lady Caca), UK "glamour model" Jordan, media personality and model Phoebe Price (AKA Chicken Cutlets), former Playboy model Shauna Sand (AKA The Empress of Lucite), and Cynthia Nixon's girlfriend, Christine Marinoni, whom Michael K calls "Rojo Caliente." Dlisted also includes regular features, including "Hot Slut of the Day" (which culminates in a vote for "Hot Slut of the Year") and a "Caption This" contest.[2] Michael K's distinctive style and humor have been described as "snarky" and "unforgiving,"[3] which fit the blog's tagline: "Be Very Afraid."
Michael K is of Mexican, Chinese, English, and Danish descent [4] and is openly gay.