Page Six editor Richard Johnson is not fond of apologizing. Back on May 5, the New York Post was forced to issue a retraction for an item the paper ran in April, which claimed that the fiancee of Gregg "Opie" Hughes, one half of the shock jock duo "Opie and Anthony," had made a sex tape with Jackass Neanderthal Bam Margera. (Hughes immediately denied the rumor, saying it was the handiwork of a disgruntled former employee. He went so far as to offer $100k to anyone who could produce it.) "We have since learned that this information, supplied by Steppin' Out's Chaunce Hayden, was entirely incorrect," Page Six wrote in the apology.

It's been two weeks, but the wound is evidently still open. This morning, Hayden, a media whoring celebrity journalist whose interviews with C- and D-list marginalia frequently pop up in the tabloids, sent Johnson an e-mail blast promoting the new issue of Steppin' Out. This is the response he got back:

"We're not using stuff from you at this time, or possibly ever again. My boss [hard-drinking Aussie Col Allan] was furious we had to run a correction. It is an embarrassment to the entire newspaper. Don't you get it? Don't waste your time sending us items. We're not going to use them."

Zing! According to Nexis, items attributed to Hayden have made there way into Page Six 131 times since 1997 (14 already in 2008), so the paper will have to hustle to make up for lost column filler.

Hayden tells Radar that he stressed to Page Six that he never actually saw the tape himself, and merely suggested that the paper should do some digging around to verify its existence. "And then the next day it was an item in Page Six.... I was stunned," he says. "A few days later Page Six blamed me for the whole thing even though I never printed the story." (It should be noted that this isn't the first time the Post has blamed a retraction on someone else.)

Adds Hayden: "I think Richard Johnson is a hypocrite and needs to do some soul searching." His e-mail response to Johnson, in which he claims that several Post staffers let him know that they thought he was Johnson's fall guy, is below:

"Well Richard ... it wasn't that much of an embarrassment for you. After all, you took the cowards way out and blamed me for your bad reporting. I told Bill [reporter Bill Hoffman] I never saw the tape and that I was told about the tape from an ex employee of the O&A show. But you didn't have the guts to take the hit for it.

You should know I got several emails from your co-workers who thought what you did was a disgrace. But I'm sure you already know that.

How hypocritical of you to take hundreds of items from me for nearly 20 years and one goes sour and you throw me under the bus. What kind of person are you? You should be ashamed. But again... I'm sure you already know that."