
Some background: Several years ago, Los Angeles-based writer Anna David teamed up with New York sex columnist Amy Sohn for a Playboy article. Each woman spent a few days in the other's hometown, meeting, dating and, occasionally, shtupping men from the opposite coast. Anna's first encounter was a figure named Magazine Guy, the "dark-haired and tall and appropriately chiseled" editor of an unnamed men's title.
Despite finding him "cheesy and too into himself" on first inspection, the writer soon succumbed to Magazine Guy's pickup moves, which included massaging her back in a taxi, showing off a gift from designer Tom Ford, and telling her about a story he was editing on cunnilingus: "He says he would tell me what the article espouses but it's actually something far easier to show than it is to tell." And to think she had him pegged as cheesy.
[UPDATE: Zinczenko emails Radar this morning to tell us his version of what went down: "The Playboy article took a lot of artistic license, and it was a fun, gossipy read about a semi-fictionalized encounter. Given the made-up dialogue she attributes to Magazine Guy, I certainly wouldn't have gone to bed with him."]
When the action moves to Magazine Guy's penthouse apartment, Anna writes, "Suffice it to say I feel a need to check out what he'd learned from the article he claimed to be editing. While the information is not earth-shattering, I believe most men could benefit from following the advice."
Soon after the article appeared, in Playboy's April 2003 issue, the New York Daily News revealed that Magazine Guy was none other than Zinczenko. Surprisingly, Anna confirmed his identity to the News; as she recently explained to Radar, "I assumed he wouldn't mind because it was true. You don't get in Page Six all the time by being a reluctant celebrity editor." (Clearly she hadn't read his profile in the Times.)
While the sexual tension wasn't exactly crackling between them during their joint appearance on Fox News' Dayside—Zinczenko, promoting his book Men, Love & Sex, was in the studio, while Anna joined the show via satellite—their history made itself felt in subtle ways. Asked how soon a man should follow up after a date, Anna, who waited in vain for Zinczenko to call her after their tumble, jabbed, "If a guy doesn't call right away, I kind of think he's a little bit insecure."
Zinczenko parried, "If you call too soon, you risk appearing desperate."
Anna: "You should call right away, but not, like, five minutes later."