THE BIBLE'S BAG-GATE

When it comes to fashion, Janice Min knows what’s on the minds of the Bible’s readers. This week, they launched an “investigation” into whether the “sheer skirt over leotard” trend started with Madonna.

All of that fashion coverage means one thing: Just as CDs and swag used to fill the offices of music pubs, fashion writers and editors have racks of clothes and accessories arriving day after day. But when Merle Ginsberg, The Hollywood Reporter’s star fashion reporter, received a Marc Jacobs bag from the designer, it was one satchel too many for Min.

Ginsberg was shown the door in April over the gift of a $750 handbag that followed the publication of a story about Jacobs, Keith Kelly reported in The New York Post.

“These gifts did not occur on any regular basis for me or anyone else — and as I said, many THR editors got free trips, hotel rooms, dinners, eyewear. Not sure why people would single me out,” Ginsberg said in an email to Kelly.

How will this affect the Bible’s coverage of cashmere socks in the EDM world? Stay tuned.