Blogger-Penned <i>This Is Why Your Fat</i> Launches With Two Events

Richard Blakeley and Nick McGlynn - Image via Random Night Out Last night, media bar Destination (co-owned by Dan Maccarone of Hard Candy Shell, which has redesigned major media sites from Gawker to Eater) hosted a book release party for This Is Why You're Fat, a meme-to-book deal in the six figures co-written by Gawker videographer Richard Blakeley and Buzzfeed's Jessica Amason. The event was co-hosted by Obliterati, a monthly media party started by Nick McGlynn of Random Night Out after Blakeley discontinued his Media Meshing soirees last year. Earlier in the day, Amason hosted a book release celebration of her own, asking dedicated foodies to travel between six food trucks around the city, order a special This Is Why You're Fat-inspired culinary creation and post pictures of themselves eating it to Twitter. The event, dubbed the "Eat N Tweet Challenge," kicked off at 11 a.m., and by the time we made our way to the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream at 5th Ave and 23rd St. at 1 p.m., McGlynn had already claimed victory. His prize? A private party for 25 friends, catered by the food truck of his choice. However, later in the evening, Amason did not attend her co-author's launch party due to a restraining order filed against Blakeley following an alleged assault. Blakeley, who was arrested last month, is due in court next week. But the controversy didn't seem to put a damper on the celebrations last night. Promotions for the book, which was written by Blakeley and Amason while they were dating earlier this year, have been upbeat despite any possible bad blood between the two authors. When asked if this was the "official" launch party for the book, Blakeley shrugged and replied, "I don't really know," while continuing to sign copies. Update: Jessica Amason gave Fishbowl a statement that "The Eat n Tweet challenge was the official launch event for the book supported by the publisher...the other (Obliterati event) was not." And after winning Amason's contest earlier in the day, McGlynn went on to play master of ceremonies at Destination, pulling business cards out of a hat for free copies of the book. Although This Is Why You're Fat has been getting plenty of great promotional press, there has been little written about the dispute between Blakeley and Amason since original reports surfaced last month. Gawker, which normally covers this sort of uncomfortable situation with gusto, has been noticeably silent since its original post about the arrest. But Blakeley's employment at the blog make it a touchy situation."

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Blogger-Penned This Is Why Your Fat Launches With Two Events

Drew Grant

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Drew Grant