Friday night, while most New York media and publishing types were slipping into their third or fourth drink at the holiday open bar (Oooh, look! There's—hiccup—Julia Allison in her Slutty Santa outfit!), HarperCollins was formatting a pink slip for its super-publisher Judith Regan. Her ouster from Rupert Murdoch's book mill (publishers of Sean Hannity, Mark Fuhrman, and almost O.J. Simpson) sets a new land-speed record for news cycles. Here's how it played out:

Friday

Jossip posts a rumor that Regan has been canned by Murdoch after "an intense back-and-forth following the O.J. Simpson book scandal."

Then Edward Wyatt of the New York Times makes it official, quoting from a two-sentence press release stating Regan's dismissal, "effective immediately." He adds, "The statement said that the Regan publishing program and staff will continue as part of the HarperCollins General Books Group, but it is unknown whether that group will remain in Los Angeles, where Ms. Regan moved it from New York earlier this year."

By 9 p.m. (Julia Allison has long since moved onto the next party, leaving behind nothing but digital photos and some white tufts of fur from her collar), the Huffington Post's Eat the Press is already spinning the story, giving Jossip credit for "the rumor" and the Times credit for the confirmation, adding, "Meanwhile, this evening is the News Corp holiday party at the Hilton for all News Corp properties including HarperCollins, Fox, and the New York Post; presumably Ms. Regan will not be joining in the festivities." (Someone tell Julia!)

Saturday

While last night's partygoers are mixing up weird hangover cures and explaining all the white Allison fur on their shirts to their wives, the New York Daily News, the Post's—and by extension, all of News Corp.'s—biggest rival, is gloating, "An unhappy ending for O.J. editor." At the same time, Mediabistro's GalleyCat offers details about the reorganization of Regan's company.

Later, the story spreads across the world from MarketWatch to the Independent to China View. Page Six, which like the rest of the Post is part of News Corp., dispassionately rehashes the press release under the slightly cheeky headline, "Judith Regan Gets the Boot."

Monday

The Times floods the zone. Julie Bosman and Richard Siklos report that Murdoch "personally ordered" the firing of Regan and he may have done so after Regan allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks about News Corp. attorney Mark Jackson and HarperCollins president and CEO Jane Friedman. Others in the piece speculate on Regan's future. Laurence J. Kirshbaum, a literary agent and the former head of the Time Warner Book Group says: "She'll certainly have another life in entertainment."

Also today, the Times's David Carr, offers what feels like the final word three days after this thing started and as countless media types prepare to fake their way through the week before Christmas break: "Stars, even the biggest-earning ones, become expendable when they begin to embarrass someone besides themselves. Just ask Tom Cruise."