Jeff Sneider
American entertainment journalist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeff Sneider (born 1983 or 1984)[1] is an American entertainment journalist who founded the entertainment newsletter The InSneider. A 2006 graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts, Sneider had previously worked for Ain't It Cool News, Variety, TheWrap, Mashable and Above the Line. Other publications Sneider has written for include MTV Movies Blog, Hollywood Life, Washington Square News and the Colorado Springs Independent. Sneider's public statements and tweets have been the subject of controversy.
Jeff Sneider | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 or 1984 Needham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Tisch School of the Arts |
| Occupation | Entertainment journalist |
Sneider started working at Ain't it Cool under the name "MiraJeff" in 2003, then interned at Variety in 2006. He joined TheWrap before returning to Variety in 2011, though was fired in 2013 after making a tweet about killing himself because he lost a story to a Hollywood Reporter writer. He rejoined TheWrap thereafter, was suspended in 2016 following a dispute with a public relations representative about a lost scoop, and worked for Mashable, with his tenure at the latter site ending later that year following a racially insensitive declaration about the Academy Awards. He joined Collider in 2018, and had a tenure as the editor in chief of Above the Line that ended in October 2023 with a pay dispute. He founded his independent newsletter The InSneider that November.
Sneider has engaged in public disputes with several figures in Hollywood and the media, including allegations of harassment and threats by Deadline Hollywood founder Nikki Finke who rejected him from the publication; fights with his "nemesis" Deadline writer Mike Fleming Jr over "exclusive" story credits; actress Sydney Sweeney over a reported role in the Johnny Depp film Day Drinker (2027) which she denied; claims about Sony scrapping the majority of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027) that drew the attention of producer Christopher Miller and composer Daniel Pemberton; and the representatives of actress Inde Navarrette over his criticized public offers to journalistically cover her and subsequent ignorance by the representatives.
Career
Career beginnings, trade reporting, and industry feuds (2003–2016)
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From Needham, Massachusetts,[2] Sneider graduated in 2006 from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, from where he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Writing.[3] He is Jewish.[4][5] Publications Sneider wrote for include MTV Movies Blog, Hollywood Life, Washington Square News and the Colorado Springs Independent.[2] From 2003, Sneider wrote for Ain't It Cool News under the alias "MiraJeff",[3] a portmanteau of his own name with the name of his favorite film studio, Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax.[1] In 2006, Sneider represented the website in a boxing tournament by director Uwe Boll, who fought contributors to websites that criticized him. Since the site's founder Harry Knowles exceeded the 190-pound weight limit, Sneider fought in the tournament despite not having reviewed one of Boll's films—Sneider figured that since Ain't it Cool was known for criticizing Boll, the director had them in mind.[1] Sneider considered himself disadvantaged because he smoked, has asthma, didn't jog, and "can't have sex for more than five minutes at a stretch", and said that he was Boll's "highest-profile target".[1] Sneider made it to round two of his match before being taken down twice by Boll, at which point his cornerman then threw in the towel.[1]
He joined Variety as an intern in August 2006, then joined TheWrap,[3] where he anchored their Deal Central column.[6] Sneider returned to Variety in February 2011 as a film reporter.[3] In late January 2013, Sneider was fired from Variety.[7] The outlet was reported as firing him for "unprofessional" behavior, though did not specify an incident.[7] Sneider had recently been tracking a scoop on Christopher Nolan's then-prospective Interstellar, though lost this to The Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters.[7] As a result of Masters getting the scoop on the story over him, Sneider had tweeted about driving his car into a tree and declared his blood would be "on Hollywood's hands", and reportedly was asked by editors at Variety to write a letter of apology to a publicist who had promised to update him on the deal, from whom Sneider never saw confirmation of the story.[7] At the beginning of April, he rejoined TheWrap to take over their Deal Central column, covering casting and deals.[6] Sneider stated he was grateful for the "second chance" and was impressed with the growth the outlet experienced since he had left.[6]
Sneider had been accused of harassment by Deadline Hollywood's founder Nikki Finke, she alleged in 2013 he had targeted her in 2009 with threatening emails and comments on the site referencing bodily harm after he was rejected from a position there. Finke had Sneider's IP address traced and threatened to involve law enforcement; Sneider later in 2010 and 2011 allegedly staked out Finke's apartment to find a photograph of her, eventually running a college yearbook photo on TheWrap in a campaign called 'Mission: Take Down Nikki'.[8] Sneider had posted an exclamatory reaction of "OH MY GOD!!!!" on the day of her firing in June 2013.[9] Sneider entered a dispute in September 2014 with Deadline's editor in chief Mike Fleming Jr regarding an "exclusive" scoop on a project by Michael Eisner's Tornante Company, asserting that Dave McNary of Variety had scooped the same information days before Fleming.[10][11][12] Sneider and Fleming had come to be described as "nemeses" in the media.[13][12] In May 2016, Sneider lost a scoop to Fleming about a planned film to be directed by Brett Ratner The Libertine to star Johnny Depp. He blamed the public relations representative Simon Halls, tweeting screenshots of their emails together, and was asked to delete them. On the 11th, Sneider tweeted that he was suspended from TheWrap without pay.[13]
Post-trades career, independent journalism, and public controversies (2016–present)
Sneider had a tenure at Mashable, serving as senior film reporter, which ended in December 2016 following racially charged comments about #OscarsSoWhite, a hashtag which gained popularity online due to a controversy that no people of color were nominated for major acting awards during a stretch of time.[14] Sneider had claimed that the movement was "canceled" following the prospects of non-Whites receiving consideration at the 89th Academy Awards, and posted this in a Mashable article and subsequent tweet.[14] Online backlash followed, with Sneider being criticized as he is a White man who attempted to declare a movement started by a Black woman as "dead".[14] Mashable entertainment editor Josh Dickey expressed regret for the controversy, attaching a correction to the article and tweeted acceptance of responsibility, while Mashable's director of communications Paul Cafiero confirmed that this ordeal resulted in Sneider leaving the website.[14] Following his termination from Mashable, Sneider served as Editor in Chief of the Tracking Board and the host of Meet the Movie Press.[2] In June 2018, Sneider joined Collider as Video News Director and a contributor to Movie Talk.[2] Sneider had served as editor in chief of Above the Line until October 2023, claiming publisher Patrick Graham owed him US$15,800.[15]
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Sneider announced his independent newsletter The InSneider on November 9, 2023.[19] Sneider was responsible for instigating a rumor in March 2024 about actress Sydney Sweeney starring in the film Day Drinker (2027) with Johnny Depp, which caused controversy online.[16] Sneider quote tweeted a tweet of denial from the actress, claiming it was a "non denial".[16][20] Sneider claimed it was the fault of Sweeney's representatives, saying that the "mess" he caused by reporting what his sources told him was just spoiling a "big Cannes [Film Festival] announcement".[16] Sneider's claims in September that Sony scrapped the majority of the animated film Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027) due to creative reasons forced producer Christopher Miller to deny this report on social media, with composer Daniel Pemberton disputing the accuracy of Sneider's internet reporting.[17] However, Sony later removed the film from its schedule to an unspecified future date[21] with a later report confirming that the film would not release in 2025 nor 2026.[22]
Sneider re-ignited his feud with Fleming, who had become editor-at-large with Deadline, in late July 2026 over a story about artificial intelligence (AI) in the publishing industry. Sneider had published a piece centered on a $2.4 million deal for publishing rights to Call Me, I'll Hide The Body being terminated regarding concerns about AI use in its writing, though did not name the author or book title. Fleming's story on the matter, published a day later and marked as an "exclusive" story, did name the book title. Sneider called Fleming out on Twitter, with other journalists commenting, including Showbiz411 writer Roger Friedman who supported Sneider.[12] In September, Sneider began a feud with the representatives of actress Inde Navarrette, posting to Twitter about wanting to write about her and additionally offering to become "a useful friend" to Navarrette. Commentary under the post was negative and Sneider received no attention from Navarrette's representatives, with his responses deemed "creepy, unprofessional and inappropriate" according to PinkNews. Sneider resolved to threaten to publish indiscriminate, constant rumors about the actress if he was to be continued to be ignored.[18][23][24]