Coffee with Michael K
by Marcel Dagenais

Just a day or two after spring equinox I headed into the L.E.S. to meet up with Michael K, writer and creator of the celebrity blogsite Dlisted. It was last minute, but lucky for me he was nice enough to grab a coffee and have a chat.

I didn't really know what to expect: when I think of celebrity bloggers, my first thought is that annoying dude with the pink site that has a voice and face of a pig. I picture the people writing for such sites to be weird celebrity obsessed fame whores. But I was happy to see Michael K is just a dude from LA who finds the whole celebrity world as ridiculous and embarrassing as we all do.

Here's what he has to say about everything from Britney Spears to our Lord and Savior.

WC: How long have you been in New York?

MK: I've been here since July of 2001. Yeah, I always knew I wanted to live in New York. So I just made it happen.

WC: When did you start Dlisted?

MK: About four years ago-- it's been a long time. I was working at a job and I was reading a lot of blogs and I kinda just started doing it. You know, it's just one of those things where I had some time and I just kind of wrote and here I am today still writing.

WC: Were you into any other blogs at the time?

MK: Not really. I just felt like I dunno, there were so many, that I'd start to write on my own for whatever reason and people just started reading it.

WC: Your blog entries are fucking hilarious. I love reading what you have to say about celebrities and things in general.

MK: Thanks.

WC: So it's just you working on it?

MK: Yeah just me, nobody else. I've thought about having more people write, but right now it's just me.

WC: How many hours do you blog a week?

MK: I'd say 60... I work on the schedule of people working in offices -- they're who reads it -- so I'm up around eight most of the time.

WC: Do you work late?

MK: Yeah, it depends. Sometimes I have to pry myself away from the computer because when you're staring at a screen all day and you don't move it's draining. So probably 'till around eight. But it's different every day.

WC: Do you have secret sources that tip you off about things going on in the celebrity world?

MK: No. I used to do that, but that's how you get sued. Because you don't know, I don't have anybody to go figure out if that source is real, so it's all public stuff. it's commentary.

WC: In a way you get to play God with who you write about and what you say about them. Do you have anything in mind that you want to write about before you start each day?

MK: Usually right before I go to bed, I'll see what's out there and get some ideas for stuff. That way when I get up I have an idea of where i'm going to go, but then it's like whatever happens happens. You know, whatever pictures pop up, whatever story comes out. It depends where you want to go with it. Then you have 30 minutes to an hour at the most to get it out.

WC: What's your favorite celebrity to talk shit about?

MK: Right now I like Amy Winehouse, before it was Britney. She was like a staple. It was so fucking easy, I never had to think about it. It was, sit down and boom: there's Britney. It's always a celebrity that's kind of endearing in a wreck, mess kinda way.

WC: So who would you actually want to kick it with?

MK: Nobody. That's just insane. That's when everything changes. I like that I'm sitting at my own table, and they are at theirs. If I was to start hanging out with them, I think that's when my blog would die. That separation is what keeps it real. If i was to start hanging out with the people I write about, it would change the dynamics in a negative way and be awkward. You know?

WC: Do you consider yourself a religious person?

MK: No. I was raised Catholic. My mom is from El Salvador so they're super crazy Catholic. I had to go to catechism as a kid, but I really don't remember the last time I've been. I guess a funeral, or a wedding.

WC: Can you be bribed?

MK: No. I don't think anyone would try that. I don't think they care. When people first started reading, the blog publicists would invite me to parties and I would go. But then there was always something they wanted: me to talk about an event and blah blah blah. I just couldn't do it anymore. if I'm trying to sell something with my writing it's just fake.

Check out Dlisted here.