Whitlock vs. Playboy: The Star Columnist Comes Out Swinging, and the Magazine Responds

By ERIC BARTON

It seemed strange this morning to read Jason Whitlock complain in this column about how the editors of Playboy screwed up a story he’d written for the magazine by writing a headline that he didn’t like. The Kansas City Star‘s sports columnist claimed that the headline — “Jason Whitlock, The Black KKK” — didn’t reflect the freelance story he’d written for Playboy.

What seemed odd was to be reading his complaint in the Star. Why would the paper’s editors allow one of their writers to use his column to complain about the editing of a piece he wrote on the side? It’s like complaining to your boss at your day job about that prick you work for at night.

I left voice mails for the Star‘s Holly Lawton, sports editor, and Mike Fannin, managing editor for sports and features. I didn’t immediately hear back, but if I do, I’ll post the response here.

Napolitano  

I also called the public relations department at Playboy, and they sent my request to Playboy Editorial Director Chris Napolitano, the person Whitlock blames in his column for the bad headline. Napolitano just sent me this e-mail response, which claims Whitlock had known about the title for months and didn’t complain about it until after it had gone to press.

“Playboy has an impeccable history in dealing with civil rights issues. We didn’t have any ulterior motives when deciding on a headline for Mr. Whitlock’s excellent story. Even though we used the working title ‘The Black KKK’ in our assignment letter to Whitlock on February 7, I was not made aware of his displeasure until a month after we had gone to press.

(For the record, Whitlock misquotes the subhead to the story. It actually reads, ‘Thug life is killing black America. It’s time to do something about it.’) From the beginning, our idea was not to stir divisiveness but to stir debate. I still believe the title, presentation and planned publicity campaign are appropriate and accurately reflect the points in the article expressed in its introductory paragraph and throughout. I feel that most people who read his brilliant cultural commentary will regard it as a powerful indictment of the root causes of violence and despair devastating our cities and suburbs.”

After getting the e-mail, I called Whitlock for a response to the statement. Whitlock says he returned my call because nobody else had gotten a response from Playboy, and he wanted to hear what editors there said. Whitlock says the assignment letter in question got to him after he had filed his piece, and he says he didn’t know how the magazine was going to be promoting his article until April 23, when he received a pitch letter being sent to media outlets. “That’s when I was like, ‘Holy shit,'” he says.

As for the claim that he knew about the headline for a month before the article went to press, Whitlock says: “They’re so full of shit.”

After our short conversation, Whitlock added: “I realize I’m talking to The Pitch, so I know my words are going to get twisted. You have enough?”

Yes, I believe I do.