How did Nikki Finke die? Deadline Founder cause of death Revealed

Nikki Finke, a veteran entertainment writer who started Deadline in 2006 and made it become a significant player among Hollywood trades, passed away on Sunday morning in Boca Raton, Florida. She was 68. Let’s see what happened, How did she die, and Nikki Finke cause of death in detail.

How did Nikki Finke die?

Nikki Finke, the founder of Deadline, has passed away at the age of 68, according to the most recent Tweet from One Take News. The whole @DEADLINE team and her loved ones are sending their condolences. The news was confirmed by Deadline, the publication she founded.

Nikki Finke, the founder of Deadline, has passed away at the age of 68.

Our condolences go out to her loved ones and the entire @DEADLINE team.https://t.co/AAes0eLrJv

— One Take News (@OneTakeNews) October 9, 2022

Scroll down for Nikki Finke cause of death.

Early writings of Finke 

The 24/7 online version of her long-running print column “Deadline Hollywood” for LA Weekly, launched by the notoriously secretive Finke, She published first-person stories of what she observed in the entertainment industry and showed no remorse when criticizing the industry’s greatest names. She became a hero to many assistants and below-the-lines people thanks to her frequently biting, sarcastic writings that called out wrongdoing and wrongdoers as she saw fit, but she irked many people in the C-suites who were used to nothing less than praise.

But they generally answered their phones when she called.

Finke’s no-holds-barred attitude

Many of showbiz’s major players were angered by Finke’s no-holds-barred attitude, while others were fascinated. When significant exclusives were confirmed by comms teams or publicists, Finke would update her narrative with her trademark “TOLDJA” and credit the new information.

Her “live-snarking” of Hollywood award events including the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes was one of Finke’s most well-known — or infamous — tasks. She added disclaimers like “Come for the cynicism… stay for the subversion” and “Not for the easily offended or absurdly naive” to several of those live blogs. No executive, celebrity, producer, or subject was beyond limits back then — or in any other Deadline post.

“At her finest, Nikki Finke personified the spirit of journalism and was never hesitant to speak the truth in a blunt manner with a mystifying edge. Jay Penkse, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Penske Media Corporation, which bought Finke’s blog in 2009, described Finke as “brazen and genuine.” “Nikki was never easy, but she will always be one of the most remarkable persons in my life,” the speaker said.

Founding Deadline

Finke, a native of Long Island, New York, held positions with some of the most powerful and influential media organizations before Deadline, including those as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press in Moscow and London, a Newsweek correspondent in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment and features.

Nikki Finke worked for the New York Observer and New York Magazine as the West Coast Editor and a Hollywood writer. Additionally, she was a Southern California public radio broadcaster for a program on the entertainment business.

In 2002, she started working for LA Weekly as a “Deadline Hollywood” journalist, where she covered the politics, business, and culture of the media and entertainment sector. Finke bought the domain name for $14 and began Deadline Hollywood Daily in March 2006 as a quicker means to report breaking entertainment news than her weekly newspaper column.

Finke was referred to as a “must-read” by Dow Jones’ MarketWatch, Los Angeles magazine, “important reading for those who follow the business,” and New York Observer as the “Media Mensch of the Year.”

Because of Finke’s extensive coverage of and several insiders scoops on the 2007–2008 writers’ strike, Deadline and, by extension, she, was indelibly etched into the media consciousness of Hollywood.

Finke joined the publication’s Editor-in-Chief and General Manager after Penske’s PMC (then known as Mail.com Media Corporation) acquired Deadline Hollywood in 2009. Later, Deadline would establish itself as a reliable source for industry insider insight and breaking news. All three of the biggest trade journals in Hollywood—Deadline, Variety, and THR—were eventually under PMC’s control.

On Forbes’ list of the 79 most powerful women in the world in 2010, Finke was rated 79th.

The same year, HBO commissioned Tilda, a pilot starring Diane Keaton as a reclusive Hollywood blogger like Finke. Finke was not involved with the concept, writing, or development of the project. It was co-created by Bill Condon, who also co-wrote the pilot’s story and directed it. Elliot Page and Jason Patric also starred in it. Alongside Alan Paol, Alexa Junge, and John Hoffman, he also served as executive producer. HBO eventually passed on the pilot in early 2011, after a rough production and post-production cycle marked by creative disagreements.

Finke departed Deadline in 2013 after occasionally clashing with PMC founder and chairman Penske.

Founding Hollywood Dementia

Finke created HollywoodDementia.com in 2015 as a website devoted to made-up Hollywood stories (read an excerpt here). With HBO, she engaged in a first-look production agreement for content from the website.

She served as a judge for the Mirror Awards, which honor superior reporting in the media business, from 2011 to 21. The awards were given by the S.I. Newhouse School for Public Communication at Syracuse University.

Nikki Finke cause of death

Following a “prolonged illness,” Finke passed away early on Sunday in Boca Raton, Florida, a family representative informed The Hollywood Reporter.

However, the source doesn’t say what illness or chronic condition Nikki had. Online reports claim that she had a healthy lifestyle.

Back in 2011, TheWrap mentioned she was a diabetic patient, The News as follows

Nikki Finke criticized Lynne Segall in 2011 when she left for THR.

On June 14, Nikki Finke attacked her former coworker Lynne Segall, claiming that Segall was trying to get Finke to lessen her criticism of NBC Universal and Jeff Zucker as well as make her diabetes worse.

Medico topics have been trying to reach out to the family and relatives for comment on the incident. So far no responses have been received. We will update the page once enough information is available. More information on Nikki Finke cause of death will be added soon.

Terry Finke Dreyfus, her sister, her brother-in-law James Dreyfus, and her nieces Sarah Greenhill and Diana Leighton survive her.

Private memorial services will be held.

Tributes paid to Nikki Finke

Richard Horgan (Print-digital-radio journalist) tweeted,

One of the odder non-Hollywood things about Nikki Finke is that she continued using several variations of her married name in real life, despite getting divorced way back in 1982. It was on the deeds of her Boca Raton condos.

Jen Yamato (LA Times Film reporter) tweeted, 

She earned her thorny reputation. But Nikki Finke also changed my career and my life when she hired me (over the phone!) at a time when other trades still felt institutionally walled off to outsiders. Will never forget her; will always be grateful.

David Iserson (online writer) tweeted,

Can’t seem to find it on the website but once Nikki Finke got my first and last name almost completely wrong in an article. The last name was close but the first name she went with was “Bob.”

Steven Weintraub (Editor-in-chief, of Collider) tweeted,

I’ll never forget the time Nikki Finke called to YELL at me about Collider’s embed code not working for a video we posted. I told her how to get it to work. Was my first interaction with her. Saying that Nikki was a BEAST in Hollywood and entertainment reporting. RIP.

Joe Flint (WSJ media reporter) tweeted

I’ve been yelled at by Nikki Finke. I’ve been charmed by Nikki Finke. I’ve loathed her and respected her. I always clicked on Deadline with a sense of dread fearing what scoop she’d have next. She was never boring. RIP Nikki Finke.

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