The Frisky

The Frisky
Type of site
Women's entertainment, lifestyle
Available inEnglish
DissolvedJune 2018; 6 years ago (2018-06)
URLthefrisky.com
Launched2008 (2008)
Current statusDefunct

The Frisky was a women's entertainment and lifestyle website, operating from 2008 until 2016.

In 2010, The Frisky had more than 2 million average monthly readers (as measured by comScore) making it one of the leading woman's interest sites in the United States.[1] The Frisky was described as newer women's media, as compared to traditional women's magazines such as Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and the Ladies Home Journal.[2]

In 2011, Buzzmedia (now SpinMedia) acquired The Frisky from their previous owner, Turner Broadcasting System.[1]

In November 2015, The Frisky cancelled adult film star James Deen's sex advice column and removed ads and links to Deen's official website after Deen was accused of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.[3]

In 2016, SpinMedia closed. The Frisky and two other SpinMedia sites, Celebuzz and The Superficial, were sold to CPX Interactive.[4]

In 2018, The Frisky was acquired by Serbian music producer Nebojsa Vujinovic. Vujinovic republished old articles from The Frisky, removing most of the political articles and replacing the names of The Frisky authors with pseudonyms.[5] New articles on The Frisky are paid guest posts used for search-engine optimization, advertising, and political manipulation. Over 20 articles, many of which had been previously published elsewhere, are published daily. The identities of the organizations paying for those articles are not known.[6]

  1. ^ a b "BUZZMEDIA Acquires Top Women's Entertainment & Lifestyle Website The Frisky from Turner Broadcasting". Reuters. 11 February 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Glenn (13 December 2012). "Where big GOP bucks could matter". New York Post. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. ^ Carroll, Rory (November 30, 2015). "Porn industry groups cut ties to star James Deen amid sexual assault claims". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "More SpinMedia sites sold (RIP SpinMedia)". BrooklynVegan. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  5. ^ Loewinger, Micah (February 9, 2024). Meet the Serbian DJ Running an AI Clickbait Business (Radio broadcast). WNYC Studios.
  6. ^ Jones, Dean Sterling (April 11, 2019). "How A Popular Women's Website Became A Pay-To-Play Nightmare". Buzzfeed News.