Gossip With Cindy Adams: Society, Scandal And News Story

New York born Cindy Adams is undoubtedly the queen of that city’s gossip scene and now her own story is being shown in a four-part Showtime series that began yesterday.

Titled, why, of course, Gossip, this “historical look at Adams’s singular life and work and a deep dive into how news is made; it follows her from her early years as a New York City beauty queen through her marriage to comedian Joey Adams and her life as a writer and confidante to the rich, famous, and infamous,” Town & Country reports.

Featuring the story of a woman lauded as “fearless” and “unafraid to ask any question or say anything she wants to say,” the series delves into what makes Adams’ columns for the New York Post – which she has penned since 1979 – “must reads” for so many.

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Revered but also feared as someone who “could have you killed” and described as somebody to whom “you have to pay your respects, it’s not optional,” Adams has delved into many arenas over the years. Her loyalty to controversial friends – amongst them Hillary Clinton, Leona Helmsley, Imelda Marcos, Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump – is a clear guiding force and of her Judge Judy Sheindlin remarked:

“[Cindy Adams is] a woman who loves with the same intensity as she hates. If you are within her circle of love, you can sleep easy knowing that she will do everything in her power to keep you safe. If you get on Cindy’s bad side, however, you better keep one eye open.”

Cindy Adams in her own words

“I have never lost an enemy.”

“You take me with all of my faults… If I had any!”

“Success has made failures of many men.”

“America loves an underdog.”

“New Yorkers are strong. Though makes it sounds like we’re not approachable and we’re rotten people, but we’re strong.”

“There are so many funny things that people say in New York. I mean, where else could anybody live? Sure, there are hassles. But that’s what it is, it’s New York. Where you wanna live – Arizona? Arkansas? I would kill myself.”

“Those of us who are not stupid, we learn, and I learned.”

“Here’s the thing: A lot of people know things, and they want to tell it.”

“Hugh Grant… Could we have a Loo Grant?”

“Shove Generation X.”

“People who don’t curse should never even mouth that four-letter word ‘houseguest.’”

“If you don’t like it, go screw yourself.”

“Only in New York, kids, only in New York.”

Of the series, director-producer Jenny Carchman told ‘Variety’: “Everybody gossips, right? Everybody loves to do it. It feels good. It’s information that you have, and it gives you power. The point of this series is how to use that power with the information. It would be great if we appeal to a (really broad) audience and they watch it and learn about the history of the ‘New York Post’ and Donald Trump. But either way, the series is trying to take that word “gossip” and unpack it. Like, what is it actually? And I think where we come to is that the word is enormous power… [Cindy] liked the film. Listen, she’s unapologetic. She’s absolutely clear about her feelings and about her relationships. These are her friends. She is very loyal to her friends. They’ve done nothing wrong to her. She doesn’t feel the need to apologize for them or for their behavior. In fact, she was able to further her career by having access to these people. I think she feels like she’s telling it, like it is – from their point of view. She’s a reporter from their point of view.”