Bart says his news is dull

Variety's longtime editor-in-chief tells the NY Observer that his new job as vice president and editorial director is "not a very sexy story," which might be news to Hollywood's chattering classes. Several bloggers insist that Bart was pushed upstairs into a non-job job (something about not getting along with the publisher), to which he ably spins his side of things: "It's just so irrelevant. It makes it sound like I'm this 35-year-old kid who lost a power struggle. And I'm 76-years-old and there is no power struggle."

Mr. Bart told The Observer he initiated his own title change and the hand-off of editorial duties to [Tim] Gray several weeks ago. (Something he also told The New York Times' Brooks Barnes and Michael Cieply on April 6.) Giving up day-to-day operations would be something of a relief after 20 years, he claimed: "I don't have to worry about [the paper] on Sunday night, as I did last night, changing headlines," Mr. Bart said, laughing. As for his critics' claims that he was "pushed up and out," Mr. Bart wanted them to know, "I still have my office and I still come in everyday. I'll still have opinion about breaking news." "I still write a weekly column," Mr. Bart said. "I write a blog, there are a lot of interesting plans for the future."