Even from her sick bed, Hollywood's 'Crazy Nikki' is controversial

Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke has been on medical leave for a week or so. But even so, on Friday she railed that Universal fire its executive, marketing and PR staff for disappointing her about this or that. The post was taken down, by her or someone else — her site has editors now that there's money riding on its success — but not before her critics grabbed it as more fodder for the "Crazy Nikki" story line. Here's what she posted:

I am still on medical leave. And in pain. And understandably cranky. But I asked Universal to forward me early box office numbers today and those overpaid slackers are too self-absorbed to care about the one filmmaker, Illumination Entertainment’s Chris Meledandri, who is singlehandedly rescuing that bomb factory. If Universal doesn’t make a big deal about Hop overperforming today, why should I? (Note to Steve Burke: Fire the studio’s entire executive, marketing, and PR staff. They’re useless…)

David Poland at Movie City News, a confirmed Finke foe, secured the post before it vanished from Finke's Deadline site. "It’s a pretty good illustration of how Nikki operates," Poland writes. "She wants something. She doesn’t get it as soon as she demands it (of people who actually are accountable to someone other than their own egos) and she calls for everyone being fired."

Ex-L.A. Times writer Richard Rushfield picks it up there, calling Finke "Hollywood’s leading internet terrorist, masquerading as a journalist," and asking her employers at Penske Media — "who bankroll this terror campaign" — what it will take for them to decide enough is enough.

The tales around Hollywood of this sort of behavior by the woman widely known as Crazy Nikki are legion. ...The biggest thing I wonder about when I see that paragraph and reflect on all the stories of Nikki screaming to the bosses to fire whomever, is to these bosses who get these calls, can you tell me, were you born such sniveling cowards, or is that something you worked up to in your distinguished careers?

People work for you, they give you their time, they put their reputations in your hands, and some lunatic terrorist insults them and/or smears their names in public and you still deal with this person? Is standing up for the people who stand by you just too ridiculous to contemplate in this day and age?

And what do you think she’s going to do to you? Write a nasty post about you?

Should be noted that Rushfield was the Gawker editor who offered $1,000 in 2009 for a recent picture of the elusive Finke. Far as I know, he never got one.

Retweeted: L.A. Times TV writer Scott Collins alerted his followers to the Rushfield link, saying "Must-read! Quixotic, but a must-read nonetheless."