Bad news for Lloyd Grove: He's been replaced by a young-ish whippersnapper. The New York Daily News is promoting Aussie Gatecrasher gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe to a five-day-a-week gig, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, filling the hole created when Grove left the paper at the end of September. The delay, according to one Daily News source, was caused by Widdicombe's demand that his new, higher profile be reflected in his salary. (Widdicome has not yet responded to a request for comment.)
Apparently, News owner Mort Zuckerman found slack in the budget somewhere (or perhaps created it by canning longtime columnist Lenore Skenazy). Widdicombe's column is said to launch within the next month.
Since departing the News, Grove has temped at Gawker and been assigned a piece for Vanity Fair, but the "multimedia" gig he has bruited about has yet to materialize.