Hollywood, as anyone might tell you, is not Wall Street. The folks who run the entertainment business can be a colourful lot, wearing their hair in ponytails, taking high-level meetings dressed in blue jeans and white sneakers. Briefcases are often gym bags stuffed with movie scripts.
Mr Peter Bart (69) does not wear a ponytail. But he does wear a bombastic personality. In fact, many say he is a throwback to the 1940s studio days, the days when a man such as powerful MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, could control hundreds of lives - for good or bad - with a simple phone call.
Mr Bart wields power. For nearly four decades he has reigned in Hollywood, first as a reporter for the New York Times, then as a studio head who played a major role in the making of movies such as The Godfather and Rosemary's Baby.
For the past 12 years, Mr Bart has been the editor of Daily Variety, a 96-year-old glossy publication with a deceptively modest circulation of 36,000, and an estimated readership of about 70,000.
But do not be deceived: Daily Variety is the bible of the entertainment industry, a trade paper that is the first thing in the hands each morning of everybody who is anybody in the business, and to everyone else who aspires to be somebody in the business.
Peter Bart can make you or break you, a trait that he does not hesitate to remind people about.
In print he has called the co-founder of Miramax Films "a slob", and he refers to actor Warren Beatty as "the priapic prince".
In its August issue, Los Angeles Magazine decided to take on Mr Bart.
Respected writer Amy Wallace wrote an exhaustive 14-page story that began with the opening sentence: "Peter Bart is on the phone and he's threatening to sue."
In the story, the results of her many in-person interviews with Mr Bart and an outside investigation, Ms Wallace reports that Mr Bart routinely uses racist, sexist, and anti-gay language.
She also accuses him of selling a movie script, an ethical conflict that is forbidden to those covering the movie business. Mr Bart denies it.
Further, the story alleges that Mr Bart routinely changes facts in his reporters' stories and allows his friends in the industry to change stories before publication.
On August 17th, the publishers of Daily Variety suspended Mr Bart pending an investigation.
It was a story that rocked the town. Would the King be dethroned?
Cahners, the publisher, conducted an investigation.
Meanwhile, Mr Bart's many friends in the press and in the industry lobbied hard to save him. It worked.
This week, Cahners announced that Mr Bart would be suspended for 21 days without pay, and then reinstated as editor.
His pay for that period will be donated to an organisation "dedicated to the promotion of diversity", said Mr Tad Smith, president of the media division of Cahners.
He also said the investigation "did not substantiate allegations that Mr Bart sold a movie script while editor-in-chief of the newspaper", which would have violated the paper's policy.
"However," Mr Smith said, "the company did find that Mr Bart's actions created the appearance of a conflict of interest." He directed Variety to strengthen and publish its editorial policies.
In a prepared statement, Mr Bart said he agreed with the company's decision.
"I was quoted making several statements to a Los Angeles magazine reporter that do not reflect my personal beliefs and values nor the way that I run the newsroom," he said. "Nevertheless, I am deeply sorry and regret that they offended anyone. It will not happen again."
As part of his return, he also agreed not make further comments of any nature to the press.
But what of the offensive language? Well, in the developing tradition of sending misbehaving journalists off to workshops, Mr Bart will have to attend "diversity training".
Nobody was willing to define exactly what "diversity training" is.
Will Mr Bart be locked in a small room with African-Americans, gays, and women? If so, it might look an awful lot like his own newsroom. His long-time and fiercely-devoted assistant is a black woman.
-