Earlier today, Gawker ran a story on upstate Republican congressman Chris Lee in which he sent some photos of himself—one shirtless—to a woman he met on Craigslist. In the e-mails he also told her he was a divorced 39-year-old lobbyist (he's married and 46). Honestly, we didn't think too much of it because in the age of Elliot Spitzer and John Edwards (not to mention European politicians like Silvio Berlusconi) a married pol seeking extracurricular lovin' is about as surprising as a hangover after a heavy night of drinking. But apparently Lee isn't as jaded as we are. His resignation notice, effective immediately, is already up on his website. more ›

The fallout from this weekend's Gawker hack keeps coming. But are things going to get more "Gawkward" (oh, New York Post)? If the hackers have as much data as some suspect, they might soon! more ›

After admitting that they were hacked yesterday, Gawker Media sites are now running an alert at the top of their sites about the breach of their 1+ million commenters' usernames and passwords with a link to how commenters can change their passwords, adding, "We understand how important trust is on the internet, and we're deeply sorry for and embarrassed about this breach of security—and of trust." The purported hackers, who also took over Gawker's content management system, said, "You would think a site that likes to mock people, such as Gawker, would have better security and actually have a clue what they are doing. But as we’ve proven, those who think they are beyond our reach aren’t as safe as they would like to think!" more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Gawker Media's commenting database has been hacked and various Gawker sites are asking commenters to change passwords, adding, "We're deeply embarrassed by this breach. We should not be in the position of relying on the goodwill of the hackers who identified the weakness in our systems. And, yes, the irony is not lost on us." Below, screengrabs of the hack on Gawker, which has been removed from the site. more ›

In the grudge match between Harper Collins and Gawker, it seems that the mystical power of Mama Grizzly #1 has won out (though it's not omnipotent). The blog raised the ire of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin when it published scanned pages from her new book (claiming it was fair use), then removed them by court order, and, now, has agreed to not re-post them. The book publisher said in a statement, "HarperCollins is gratified that it was able to resolve the dispute in this way. HarperCollins does welcome public commentary on its books so long as any book content is utilized in a manner that is consistent with the law." more ›

After Gawker was forced to remove excerpts of Sarah Palin's new book (in stores tomorrow), legal bloggers are looking at the blog's argument that posting over a dozen scanned pages of the books was fair use. The former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor complained about the leak (questioning the legality), and publisher Harpers Collins sued Gawker, eventually getting a judge to order the site to take them down. Politico's Ben Smith rounded up a few legal bloggers' thoughts...and they seem to back Palin:

Writes Eric Johnson: "[M]y initial, very strong, reaction is no, it’s not fair use. There is actually a U.S. Supreme Court opinion remarkably close on the facts. In Harper & Row Publishers v. Nation Enterprises, 471 U.S. 539 (1985), the high court held that Nation magazine’s unauthorized advance publication of excerpts of Gerald Ford’s soon-to-be-released A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford, did not qualify as fair use." more ›

Gawker had to refudiate its position of publishing excerpts from Sarah Palin's upcoming book after a court issued an injunction, forcing the gossip blog to take down the post (here's the "Page not found"). Still, as MediaDecoder points out, there's still Google Cache. more ›

Earlier this week, Gawker published excerpts of Sarah Palin's upcoming book, America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag. Well, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate was not happy about it, Tweeting, "The publishing world is LEAKING out-of-context excerpts of my book w/out my permission? Isn't that illegal?" to which Gawker responded with links to Wikipedia's fair use entry and Stanford's copyright and fair use information. Still, News. Corp-owned publisher Harper Collins has sued Gawker on behalf its bestselling Mama Grizzly, asking that the website be banned from "further copyright infringement." more ›

We've all dreamed of becoming pen pals with future bikini-waxer Carl Paladino, but one man claims to have lived the dream. Zach Nikonovich-Kahn forwarded Gawker a series of angry email exchanges he claims to have had with the Republican gubernatorial candidate. Will this be the Paladino scandal-of-the-week? more ›

Tao Lin's promotional spam-mongering tactics have not made Gawker a fan of the author; last year the website addressed Lin, saying, "I know you're reading this. I just want you to know that because of your ill-conceived self-marketing strategy, you have 100% guaranteed that I will never read your damned book. You're maybe perhaps the single most irritating person we've ever had to deal with." They added that his stunts are "retarded" and "deceptive." more ›

Last month Dumbo Books announced a new release by writer Richard Grayson called Who Will Kiss the Pig? Sex Stories for Teens; the announcement got some attention after their Craigslist ad was published. You see, they were looking for cool-looking hipsters to write blurbs for the book, and now they've finally sent out a PDF copy to those who inquired. What took so long? "We have been waiting for Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling [on internet child pornography] to ascertain whether we could still go ahead with publication of the book." Luckily, after consulting with their attorney they got the green light! more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Broadway and 231st St. in the Bronx, an aircraft alert at JFK at Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 57th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan.
• Entries for the NYC Half-Marathon will start being accepted at 11:59pm on May 29th. Details.
• And the Design Trust for Public Space is accepting submissions for its Grand Army Plaza redesign competition.
• An Internal Affairs Bureau Lt. has been reassigned to a surveillance booth in a housing project after his friend allegedly raped a young woman in the apartment of the cop's girlfriend as she begged him to stop.
• The body of Rabbi Zev Segal, missing since yesterday morning, was found in his car, which apparently slid into the Hackensack River in NJ.
• The memorial for promoter-gossip Baird Jones is being held at Plumm, a venue he wasn't a huge fan of.
• A Gawker employee was shackled and thrown into the Tombs after drinking a beer-in-a-bag in the subway system.
• The carjacker of Mayor Bloomberg's personal car, which was in the possession of one of his aides, faces 15 years in the slammer for the crime.
• A lovely castle-like house in Flushing, Queens - turrets and Tudor details!
• Former Gov. George Pataki underwent emergency surgery this morning to relieve an intestinal blockage (he's had problems with this before!).
• And former Project Runway contestants Jeffrey Sebelia, Santino Rice and Kit Pistol watched Project Runway finale in LA amidst their young, adoring fans.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person trapped under an automobile at 9th Ave. and 55th St. in Brooklyn, a missing delivery man at De Kruif Pl. and Dreiser Loop in the Bronx, and a scaffolding incident on 7th Ave. and 25th St. in Manhattan.
• NYC's Dept. of Health wants pharmacists to be allowed to administer flu shots, citing the death toll of the disease and underutilization of vaccination supplies.
• A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a sanitation truck early this morning at 50th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan. A few hours later, a male pedestrian crossing the street at 23rd and 7th Ave. in Manhattan was struck and killed by a U.S. Postal truck.
• Publication synergy at News Corp. as Gawker notes downtown vendors selling The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post together for just $1.
• Plans for a City Jail in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx have been nixed.
• The rap artist known as Snoop Dogg will be performing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on March 13 as part of a VH1 special. Greenpointers has the 420 411 on how to win tickets.
• The Town of Huntington on Long Island has banned vendors from selling 'silly string' within 1,500 feet of a parade route; but people can bring their own if they want. Firefighters complain that the novelty substance damages the paint on their vehicles.
• And "Danny Boy" is too depressing for Foley's Pub in Midtown, which is banning the song for the entire month of March.

It's weird when a Reuters story seems like something on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update:

Kenyan elders may impose a fine on U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, payable in livestock, after a photo of her rival Barack Obama in robes dragged their people into the race for the White House.

Less than two weeks after the writers' strike has come to an end, and sixteen weeks after the show went dark, Saturday Night Live makes its return this weekend. Everyone is checking in with the troupe to see what they missed most, and it's no surprise that it's been the chance to chime in on the primaries (Lorne Michaels called his show's absent voice, "dispiriting"); the NY Times notes the missed opportunities (ahem, Mitt Romney). more ›

Yesterday Gawker posted about a little-known LES space that, if you know the secret handshake, will open its doors to you. Once inside you'll find a reception room, a capacious old theater space... even fishtanks. The night Gawker stumbled in they found a band playing, and in booze-induced wonderment, took a short video clip. The clip was included in the post yesterday but now both have disappeared, becoming as mysterious as this secret club itself! more ›

A.J.: I think the word needs to get out there.Like it or not, it's out there, thanks to Daulerio’s thorough reportage, in which he quotes a chief of clinical gastroenterology at the University of Wisconsin, who explains that “escolar is laden with an overwhelming amount of wax esters.” So unless your partner has a serious Cleveland Steamer fetish you want to spice up for Valentine’s Day, consider yourself warned to stay the hell away from the stuff. more ›

Yesterday’s protest outside the headquarters on 46th Street amounted to roughly 100 masked gadflies cracking wise and chanting anti-Scientology slogans like “Tax the Cult”. Besides objecting to Scientology’s tax-exempt status, the protesters also blame the church for the death of adherent Lisa McPherson in 1995, their alleged use of child labor, and their “fair game” policy of aggressively silencing critics. Yesterday would have been McPherson’s 49th birthday. more ›

On Friday, Gawker speculated that The Brooklyn Paper was in trouble after a tipster told them freelancers haven't been paid since last summer (a late freelancing check...unprecedented!) and perhaps more relevant, if true, that editor Gersh Kuntzman told staffers the "independent, family owned, locally-run" since 1978 paper is "undergoing some turmoil." We asked Kuntzman about the rumor, and here's what he had to say:

"The Gawker story is a complete fabrication. The Brooklyn Paper, which just won 'Newspaper of the Year' from a major national trade group, is certainly not going out of business. Brooklyn needs us too much right now, what with local papers being snapped up by billionaire moguls who have no interest in local news except maximizing classified ad sales. Has Rupert Murdoch even BEEN to Brooklyn? His reporters don't know the territory, either."

Attention Gawker commenters: Nick Denton needs you to pick up his dry cleaning. Though it sounds too good to be true, it seems that eager young Gawker interns are working their way up the new media ladder on the strength of their smug observations, sarcastic bon mots and impassioned diatribes on all things trivial. Will the "first!" be the first to be hired? more ›

"White guy" Streeter Seidell created a White Folks’ Guide to the NYC Subway System, though he admits he should have left in Columbia. Our stop was omitted, was yours? View larger image here. [via Gawker] more ›

After a turbulent couple of months at Gawker, the New York Times Style section is checking the media website’s pulse and wondering, with equal parts hope and desperation, if Gawker has finally jumped the “snark”. The Times’s uptick in Gawker stalking mirrors their aggressive game of catch-up with “teh internets” by increasingly emphasizing blogs on their website, and the article finds the Gray Lady digging a nice, cozy grave for Gawker owner and editor Nick Denton, pictured, to curl up and die down in, thereby releasing his zillions of page views to the cosmic trough. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, an injured corrections officer at Rikers Island in the Bronx, and a gas leak on East 68th St. in Manhattan.
• Chris Booker, the NY radio DJ boyfriend of Philly news personality Alycia Lane who allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer after calling her a dyke, says that she's being singled out because "[she's] a babe." Or it's because she allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer in the face after calling her a dyke.
• The Observer directs the politically inclined to Iowa Caucus-watching parties around town.

New Year's Eve wasn't all confetti, LED-lit crystal balls and...diapers; despite the impression Dick Clark gives to the world at large, there's always just as much excess, overcrowding and diminished expectations to be found outside of Times Square on Amateur Night. more ›

Two years ago Snapple flooded Union Square with a bad attempt at a very large popsicle. Given it was the summer, the pop melted and chaos ensued. Right now there seems to be more panic in the Square, but the thermometer (and guys in hazmat suits) tells us it's not another Snapple snafu. more ›

An explosion occurred at the Midtown building that houses News corporation businesses including Fox News and the NY Post. Fox 5 reports that a man was burned in the chemical explosion and 700 people have been evacuated. However, "the explosion has not interrupted the cable news channel's broadcast." more ›

It’s said that when Dick Cheney was tasked with vetting potential Veeps for the Bush campaign, he carefully considered all the applicants before recommending the best man for the job: himself. Perhaps tearing a page from Vader’s playbook, Dark Lord Balthazar – AKA Gawker Media Czar Nick Denton – has found the ideal replacement to helm his flagship website in the wake of managing editor Choire Sicha’s resignation: an eager young go-getter from sector 7G named... Nick Denton! (We interviewed Sicha in the midst of all that drama.) more ›

In some good news, the bigwigs at Viacom have heard the angry cries of their permanent freelancing employees, and today announced they were ready to concede. Just over one week ago the company Scrooged over a large portion of their workforce when they announced permalancers insurance benefits and their 401K plans would soon be a ghost of Christmas Past. Demanding equal treatment with full time employees (which the permalancers basically are), the group took... more ›

MTV network freelancers took their beef to the streets yesterday in protest of changes to their benefits plan; about two hundred of the workers spent the afternoon picketing outside the Times Square headquarters of MTV's parent company Viacom. According to Gawker, an initial chant of “What the fuck?!” was revised into the catchier “We care about our 401(k)s!” after a reportedly winsome young rabble-rouser climbed atop a garbage can and helped brainstorm new chant... more ›