OK!

OK!

30 August, 2011 cover, featuring Kerry Katona
Editor	Lisa Byrne
Categories	Celebrity
Frequency	Weekly
First issue	April 1993
Company	Northern & Shell
Country	United Kingdom, Ireland, US/Canada, Mexico, Middle East, Australia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia
Website	Official OK! Magazine website OK! on Twitter OK! on Facebook

OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006. In 2005, a US version was launched, followed by an Indian edition in May 2006, a Spanish-language version in Mexico in 2006, a Bulgarian-language version in 2007 and a Spanish edition in 2008. OK! is the world’s biggest celebrity lifestyle magazine, with more than 30 million readers worldwide, and now appears in 20 countries (Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, the Philippines, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the US, Venezuela and Vietnam).

Weddings

OK! is best known for its coverage of celebrity nuptials. OK! was awarded £1,033,156 in a lawsuit, but lost it when the case came to the court of appeal.^[1] OK! had exclusive rights to the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, but its rival Hello! magazine, published pictures as well, so OK! sued.

In October 2005, three celebrity weddings took place on the same day - Katie Price and Peter Andre, Kate Garraway and Derek Draper, and Samia Ghadie and property developer Matthew Smith. OK! covered them all over separate issues. The biggest wedding of the three (Jordan and Peter) was covered over two bumper issues.

The same happened for the wedding of Ashley and Cheryl Cole as well as Christina Aguilera's wedding. OK! devoted an issue with photos of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria's wedding.

Other weddings covered by OK! are:

• Natasha Hamilton and Riad Erraji (November 2007)
• Kerry Katona and Mark Croft (February 2007)
• Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin (August 2007)
• Steven Gerrard and Alex Curran (June 2007)
• John Terry and Toni Poole (June 2007)
• Kym Marsh and Jack Ryder (August 2002)
• Melanie Brown and Jimmy Gulzar (September 1998)
• Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin (June 2008)
• Jack Tweed and Jade Goody (February 2009)
• Patsy Kensit and Jeremy Healy (April 2009)
• Kian Egan and Jodi Albert (May 2009)
• Samantha Janus and Mark Womack (May 2009)
• Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie (August 2010)

Controversies

Prior to Jade Goody's cancer-related death in March 2009, OK! sparked controversy by publishing an 'Official Tribute Issue' with the front-page captions 'In Loving Memory' and '1981-2009', even though Goody was still alive at the time of going to press.^[2]

Several months later in June 2009, OK! again caused outrage by running another tribute issue, this time for Michael Jackson displaying a front cover picture which the magazine claims inside is 'his lifeless body', further images inside purportedly show scenes of his attempted resuscitation, with Jackson's mouth covered by an oxygen mask and strapped to a hospital stretcher.

Other Media

OK! TV is an early evening magazine programme, broadcast on Channel 5 as a brand extension of celebrity title OK! Magazine. It had replaced Live From Studio Five in February 2011, and is presented by Kate Walsh and Matt Johnson.

OK! Insider is a weekly vodcast about the current issue of the magazine. It is written and presented by Layla Anna-Lee, produced by Simon Withington and available to view on the OK! UK webpage.

References

1. ^ Dan Tench, Photo finish, The Guardian, 3 May 2005
2. ^ Marina Hyde, The Jade obituary issue just shows how deeply OK! cares, The Guardian, 21 March 2009

External links

• OK! Magazine
• OK! USA
  • OK USA mobile
• OK! Turkey
• OK! Azerbaijan
• OK! Thailand