While hip youngsters of the 1920s may have jitterbugged to a song called “Hollywood Rag,” the celebrity gossip Web site with the same name most likely subscribes to another meaning of “rag”: a tabloid newspaper. Hollywood Rag is unashamedly tabloid-style, with gossip, candid shots of the stars and the type of snide observations that have become synonymous with tabloid journalism.
Hollywood Rag doesn’t pretend to be anything that it’s not — “The National Enquirer” is listed as one of the site’s favorites — so users can revel in the world of wardrobe malfunctions and baby bumps without pretension. The site also has a heavy emphasis on sexy shots of current female stars, whether it’s Kim Kardashian in a skintight flag girl jumpsuit or revealing shots of Nicole Scherzinger’s cleavage.
One of the angles that sets Hollywood Rag apart from some of the other gossip blogs is fashion news. The site frequently covers runway shows and fashion weeks with photo galleries featuring the hottest, sexiest or most unusual fashion ensembles of the current show.
As the graffiti-style header suggests, the demographic for Hollywood Rag is young and hip, so the site keeps them happy with embedded YouTube videos of the latest celebrity clips. Alicia Keys’ onstage fall, Christina Aguilera’s “Oprah” performance and a behind-the-scenes video of a sexy Lindsay Lohan photo shoot are all archived on the Web site.
Fans of Hollywood Rag make frequent use of the site’s forum, a message board dedicated exclusively to dishing the dirt on TV, movie and music celebrities. The site also maintains a separate (though not necessarily frequently updated) MySpace page with more than 1,000 friends.
User reviews from Hollywood Rag lovers have described the gossip site as “Dirty fun: celebrity filth with plenty of random links that keep you clicking until it’s been five hours and you realize you haven’t eaten …” Naysayers decry the lack of sophisticated commentary and ubiquitous ads, though both are fairly common for celebrity-based blogs.
Hollywood Rag was launched in 2005 and credits no single individual with writing or Web site management. The site has a simple contact form for e-mailing the anonymous site creators and carries a statement that all information is copyrighted to Hollywoodrag.com.
