After reporting on the newest hire at New York Post gossip column Page Six last week, The Wrap and Gawker noticed yesterday that longtime contributor Bill Hoffman has been taken off the column’s masthead (at left).

Hoffman joined Page Six in June 2006 from the Post‘s city desk, filling the spot vacated by Jared Paul Stern after Stern became involved in a scandal with billionaire Ron Burkle.

At the time, Stern told FishbowlNY: “Bill’s a nice guy. And he’s been writing about stupid celebrities and sparring with publicists for years.”

As for why Hoffman decided to leave his post after more than three years, one insider told Gawker, “Hoffman, who’s in his 50s, may have just outgrown caring about the celebrity detritus that made up his beat on P6.”

Last week news broke that Life & Style Weekly editor Emily Smith had been tapped to replace Paula Froelich as Page Six’s deputy editor.

Earlier: Emily Smith Leaves Life & Style For Page Six