In the italicized intro to the July/August Playboy interview with Fox News and radio host Sean Hannity, contributing editor David Hochman ends with his thoughts on the question everyone wants answered:

“The ultimate question everyone has about Hannity,” Hochman says, “is, Does he really believe what he says, or is it all just an act? After spending hours with the guy [at Fox New York headquarters] and really getting into his head, I can say with utmost confidence, what you see with Hannity is what you get.”

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In a Rolling Stone profile, written by Stephen Rodrick, Serena Williams had some absolutely awful things to say about the 16-year-old rape victim from Steubenville, Ohio. Williams is now trying to backtrack, but Rodrick is standing by his story. If you haven’t read the Williams quotes already, get a load of this:

Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you: Don’t take drinks from other people. She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously, I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.

Yeah.

The backlash to those comments was rightfully swift and brutal, so of course, Williams has issued a non-apology apology. Williams doesn’t admit to actually doing anything wrong. Instead, she says Rodrick made the quote up:

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GQ’s latest issue features Drake as its cover dude. Knowing that former actress, current oddball Amanda Bynes has at times called Drake ugly, GQ decided to let Bynes know that her man was gracing the cover, so they tweeted the following:

Hey @AmandaBynes, we made this cover just for you: http://t.co/C8Z3MxoKq4 pic.twitter.com/JdmHqqpbL1

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) June 18, 2013

Bynes noticed, and thanked them:

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Vice has always been good at stirring up controversy, and a new photo spread shows the magazine is still at the top of its game. The piece, titled “Last Words,” shows women portraying literary icons who committed suicide. Each model poses in the way in which the writer took their life. For Iris Chang, the model holds a gun pointed toward her face; for Sylvia Plath, the model is depicted staring at an open oven. You get the idea.

Last Words is gross because it glamorizes suicide. There’s nothing sexy, fashionable, or edgy, about people killing themselves. Hell, the least Vice could’ve done was list some of the writers’ work. But nah, why do anything to distract from the goal of trolling people?

Vice has — once again — managed to attract attention by publishing low brow material. Let’s not act surprised, or for that matter, upset. Let’s just acknowledge the fact that Vice is consistent.

Update (2:16 pm):
Vice has removed Last Words from its website. In its place is the following statement:

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Editors at Sister 2 Sister are looking for journos with fresh, vivacious language, so if you’re looking to cover the biggest stars in music, film and TV for this pub, skip the fancy language. “Our stories are really more like conversations than interviews,” explained senior editor Ericka Boston.

The magazine prides itself on educating African-American women 18-49 in all aspects of their lives. Recent articles included a fitness story on the benefit of working out in pairs (along with a quiz to identify what type of exercise partner you are), a guide to achieving perfect spring curls and steps for preparing Afro-French cuisine.

Heads-up, freelancers. Sister 2 Sister accepts submissions in a variety of sections, both in print and online. For pitching etiquette and editors’ contact info, read How To Pitch: Sister 2 Sister.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Last week, Port, a magazine published in Britain, kicked up some controversy by putting six white male editors on the cover for its “golden age of print” story. Generally, people were upset because there are — shockingly enough — a lot of editors who aren’t white dudes.

The New Republic explored Port’s cover by trying to pinpoint why women’s magazines aren’t taken seriously, and it’s well worth your time. But what we wanted to highlight was the statement made by Joanna Coles, Cosmo’s editor, about the mantastic Port cover. Coles said that the whole thing seemed to be little more than some good old fashioned ass kissing:

When British editors or writers do stories like this they are punting for a job in New York. The fact the Port editor didn’t put James Bennet on there from TheAtlantic makes me think he definitely wants to work in New York and not D.C.

That’s good stuff.

Update (2:18 pm):
Uh, Cosmo’s Twitter isn’t helping women’s magazines’ case:

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It’s not a good time to launch a print magazine. In fact, it hasn’t been for a few years. However, the folks at Bauer Publishing aren’t trying to hear that, see? The company has plans to launch not just one, but three, new glossies this fall.

According to The New York Post, the new titles will be Closer, Girl’s World and Celebrations. Closer is described by its editor, Annabel Vered, as “a hybrid of a celebrity weekly and women’s service magazine,” because there’s nothing like that in circulation already. Marisa Sandora is editing Girl’s World, which will publish seven times a year and is aimed at girls, ages six to 10. Celebrations might have the best chance of success, as it’ll be spun out of Woman’s World, which has been doing well on newsstands.

Despite it not being the best climate to sell magazines, no one at Bauer is showing any signs of nervousness. Ian Scott, president of ad sales, told the Post, “We know how to bring out new products and we know how to find new readers.” Well then there you have it! Nothing to worry about.

Gwyneth Paltrow is making things difficult for Vanity Fair. The New York Post is reporting that the actress is telling anyone that knows her not to cooperate with the magazine, which is working on a cover story about her. Apparently Paltrow didn’t think recent Vanity Fair celebrity puff pieces were puffy enough, so she doesn’t want any part of the article.

Despite Paltrow’s opposition, Vanity Fair remains undaunted. “The magazine said it was going to proceed with the story without her, so her team has been asking people not to talk at all,” a source explained to the Post.

We don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Celebrity profiles are always favorable. And besides, if she’s worried that this article is going to make people say “You know, this Paltrow lady sure seems entitled, out-of-touch and egotistical,” it might be a little late for that.

BlackBook magazine is going back home. According to the New York Observer, Vibe Holdings has sold the magazine back to Evanly Schindler, who found the publication all the way back in 1996.

The magazine’s other owner is Jon Bond, who currently serves as “chief tomorroist” (yes, we’re serious) for Tomorro LLC, a marketing company. Despite that cool title, Bond is more well known as the founder of Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners.

The sale involved several other investors, including Steve Zacks, Aaron Hicklin and Bill Powers (former BlackBook editors), Jamie Driver, Mogility Capital and Picture Farm Productions.

Financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed.

This week’s Bloomberg Businessweek features two covers. We’re partial to the Costco one, but both are pretty good.

Feel free to fight your friends over which one is better.