Michael Musto | |
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 Michael Musto in 2007 | |
| Born | (1955-12-03)December 3, 1955 (age 69) Brooklyn,New York, United States |
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) |
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Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an Americanjournalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. Best known as acolumnist forThe Village Voice, where he wrote theLa Dolce Musto column ofgossip,nightlife,reviews,interviews, and political observations, in 2021, he started writing articles about nightlife, movies, theater, NYC, and LGBTQ politics for the revivedVillage Voice, which returned as a print publication, with accompanying website, and now is web only.
His books areDowntown andManhattan on the Rocks, as well as a compilation of selected columns published asLa Dolce Musto: Writings By The World's Most Outrageous Columnist and a subsequent collection,Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back. He currently writes a monthly gossip column called "Read Now, Cry Later" forQueerty.
Musto was born inManhattan to anItalian American family.[1] He was raised inBensonhurst,Brooklyn, and graduated fromColumbia University in 1976.[2] During his studies, he was a theater critic for theColumbia Spectator.[3]
Musto isgay and has been published regularly in severalLGBT publications, includingOut andThe Advocate.[citation needed]
He contributes toHuffPost, has written the weekly, entertainment-relatedMusto Unfiltered column forNewNowNext.com,[4] and has had bylines inThe New York Times,[4]W,[citation needed] andVanity Fair.[citation needed]
Among Musto's first journalistic jobs were assignments covering culture forCircus magazine,SoHo Weekly News, andAfter Dark magazine, as well as becoming the music critic forUs magazine in the 1980s. In 1982, he began writing forDetails, then a downtown style-and-nightlife magazine, and in 1984, Musto began hisVillage Voice column, after having already written features for the publication.[5] Musto's breathlessly dishy and opinionated first-person column celebrated nightlife and LGBT personalities, described outlandish New York club fetes, and gave vital early coverage to up-and-coming performers likeJohn Sex,RuPaul,Kiki and Herb,Bridget Everett,Jackie Hoffman,Bianca Del Rio andPeppermint. A 1989 appearance inSlaves of New York—based onTama Janowitz's book centered on the New York nightlife scene—was called the film's only moment of credibility by criticJ. Hoberman ofThe Village Voice. Other cameos through the years were made inGarbo Talks (1984),Day of the Dead (1985),Jeffrey (1995),Death of a Dynasty (2003),The Big Gay Musical (2009),Violet Tendencies (2010), andThe Smurfs (2011). Larger film roles awaited for more recent films likeVamp Bikers,Japanese Borscht,The Duke of New York, andMister Sister.
Musto was a great personal friend of thevideographerNelson Sullivan, who filmed much of the footage that exists of the "Club Kids", as well as obsessively chronicling Musto's exploits and those of RuPaul and Sylvia Miles.
Musto also used his column to lambasthomophobia and to demand attention to the growingAIDS crisis, Musto joining the activist groupACT UP and engaging in their highly influential rallies and protests. In 2011,The Advocate magazine referred to Musto's "legendary gossip column" and said, "Since 1984, shrewd and self-deprecating humorist Michael Musto has written his 'La Dolce Musto' column, tirelessly chronicling nightlife and celebrity culture. The bridge-burning blogger and baron of blind items has earned a position as both historian and spokesman for the gay community."
In the 1980s, Musto did nightlife-related segments forMTV, where his un-self-conscious gayness seemed radical. Videotographer Nelson Sullivan chose Musto as one of his favorite subjects and relentlessly followed the writer through clubs, appearances, and family get-togethers, many of the videos later surfacing onYouTube. From 1993 to 2000, he was one of the most prominent columnists onThe Gossip Show, anE! program which featured colorful reporters relaying celebrity dish, and again, Musto was out and flamboyant on the show. He was featured on the cover of New York magazine in a 1994 "Gossip Mafia" story that spanned New York's most influential tattlers, includingRichard Johnson, George Rush, andJeannette Walls. In 1999, he cohosted "New York Central", a nightly magazine-format show on theMetro Channel.
Musto appeared indrag in a blue dress in the alldrag queenmusic video forCyndi Lauper's remake of her single "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (1994). He has also donecameos in videos by TV on the Radio, Sherry Vine,Sharon Needles,Jinkx Monsoon, Larry Tee, and Gorgon City featuringJennifer Hudson, among many others.
Musto penned several writeups inThe Village Voice about the 1996 murder ofAndre "Angel" Melendez, helping bring national attention to a case that resulted in the trial and conviction ofMichael Alig and Robert "Freeze" Riggs. He was the first to report Alig's firing fromThe Limelight club by ownerPeter Gatien and to allude to talk about a missing person from Alig's sphere. When hisblind item describing the buzz on the details of the crime got picked up byThe New York Post'sPage Six gossip column, the story took on even more prominence.[citation needed] A later Village Voice feature story acknowledged Musto's breaking item. The movie "Party Monster" (2003) includes reference to a Musto item, and Musto has appeared in many related documentaries, including "Disco Bloodbath" andA&E's "American Justice", as well as severalGeraldo Rivera shows, where he had long been the expert on club kids. Discussing topics like gossip and nightlife, Musto also appeared on daytime talk shows hosted bySally Jessy Raphael,Joan Rivers,Ricki Lake,Richard Bey,Gordon Elliott, andMark L. Walberg.
In 2001, Musto appeared in a groundbreaking ad campaign forFortunoff in which he sported a wedding veil, campily promoting the possibility of same-sex marriage.
In 2010, Musto made a cameo appearance inErasure's re-release ofA Little Respect (HMI Redux)';[6] the proceeds of this release were donated to help students attending theHarvey Milk Institute. Also in 2010,LCD Soundsystem mentioned Musto in the song "Pow Pow" playfully urging him to "Eat it" (wacky retaliation for banter between Musto and the group's James Murphy at a Paper Nightlife Awards ceremony). That year, Musto also added "Theater Producer" to his resume, when he coproduced the musical comedyPerfect Harmony about the search for truth, love, and high schoola cappella championship glory, which played Off-Broadway in New York City.[7]
In 2011, Musto was named one of the "Out 100" as one of the country's most influential LGBT personalities.[8]
In 2013, he played himself in a scene on theNBC series "Smash", having also previously figured in a plot line involving his gossip writing.
In May 2013, Musto was laid off fromThe Village Voice,[9] but in 2016, he was back as an entertainment correspondent, writing three cover stories that year. The Village Voice folded, but then it came back in 2021 as a quarterly print publication. Musto was writing for the paper (and the accompanying website) again and now that it's web only, he's still there.
Musto was a regular commentator onMSNBC'sCountdown with Keith Olbermann where he sardonically skewered the antics ofParis Hilton,Lindsay Lohan, and other scandalous celebrities du jour. Starting in 2015, Musto became a recurring panelist onLogo TV's "Cocktails and Classics", which involved showing well known films and offering campy commentary on them.
He has moderatedBroadway talkbacks for shows like "Talk Radio" and "End of the Rainbow", and in 2016, was the celebrity guest star one night in the off-Broadway production of "Oh, Hello."
Musto has also dabbled in acting and singing. In 1980, he became lead singer of aMotowncover band called the Must, and once shared a bill with rising starMadonna. He played a lead role and received rave reviews fromEileen Shapiro ofHuffington Post,[citation needed] for the filmVamp Bikers Tres by Eric Rivas, as a head doctor namedHedda Hopper alongsideAngel Salazar. The film premiered in 2016 atAnthology Film Archives and in 2018 was released by the Orchard. Musto sang a pop/reggae/dance ditty, "I Got Ur Back", written and produced by Tyler Stone, based on Musto's idea, forTrax Records, released in 2017. A celebrity roast of Musto at Actors Temple on May 22, 2017—kicked off byRosie O'Donnell and hosted byBruce Vilanch-raised significant money for theCallen-Lorde clinic. The roast which was produced by Daniel DeMello and directed by Rachel Klein, featuredBianca Del Rio,Jinkx Monsoon,Judy Gold,Orfeh,Randy Rainbow, andLuann de Lesseps. In addition to doubling the take of the benefit, O'Donnell—after aiming some barbs at Musto's closet-busting mania—thanked him for pulling her into the community; in the 1990s, he'd urged her andEllen DeGeneres in print to come out of thecloset.[10][11][12]
He has won ten Glam Awards for Best NightlifeWriter/Blogger, as well as their Living Legend award. He was named one ofGenre magazine's "Men We Love" more than once, won a Lifetime Achievement award at the Gay Expo atJavits Center (2015), was named one ofMetrosource magazine's "People We Love" (2019) and got a special award for his work from the Imperial Court of New York. In 2024, the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club honored him with a Human Rights award.
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