Dlisted began life in 2005 as a gossip blog called the D-List, the name referring to minor celebrities who have slipped so far from the coveted A-List that they’ve sunk to the D-level. The site became Dlisted after there were legal issues with the Kathy Griffin-hosted reality show “My Life on the D-List.”
“Be very afraid,” warns the Dlisted tagline, which lets readers know upfront that the celebrity gossip blog is not for the faint of heart. Written singlehandedly (and somewhat anonymously) by Michael K, the site doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to criticism.
Celebrities’ looks are a particular target for Michael K. Below a photograph of Spencer Pratt, he notes that the actor looks “like something Nick Nolte coughed up after tossing Radio Man’s salad.” Of another celebrity photo, he lambasts, “You know those makeup masks that Jane Jetson always used to put on in the morning? Well, Kim Kardashian always looks like she has one on.”
Even more typical tirades aren’t printable outside of Dlisted, which makes liberal use of profanity as well as disparaging terms for women that would enrage the intelligentsia. Dlisted is one man’s point of view, and that point of view is decidedly irreverent.
Fans of the webmaster’s insult humor are appreciative. The Seattle Times wrote: “Michael K, the snarkmaster of Dlisted.com, is the kind of guy you wish you’d known in high school. The guy who’d sit at the back of the bus and cut those do-gooders on the student council down to size. The one who always knew who was seeing whom and who got kicked to the curb.”
Updating as many as 20 times a day, Dlisted has grown from a pet project to a highly trafficked blog with hundreds of thousands of daily views from those who find celebrity behavior as ridiculous as Michael K does. In his own words, he describes the epiphany: “When I first started, there were people that I didn’t talk bad about, like Victoria Beckham — I loved her. But then I was like, this is stupid and she is stupid, too! Most celebrities to me are ridiculous!”
