Rex Reed Hated Everything. Someone Had to Edit Him

Rex Reed's merciless taste and provocative voice compelled a careful editor to manage his legacy behind the scenes. In 2013, a 24-year-old staff writer at The New York Observer began overseeing the paper’s most incendiary movie critic, Rex Reed, who later died at 87 after a storied career that included Esquire profiles of Ava Gardner, Tennessee Williams, and Warren Beatty. The arrangement placed the editor in a delicate balancing act: preserve Reed’s sharp voice while shielding the paper from potential backlash. Reed’s online presence and print work sparked controversy, most notably a scathing verdict dismissing Melissa McCarthy as a “female hippo,” which intensified debates about taste and decency in criticism. The editor recalls vetting Reed’s copy for offensive terms, sometimes removing phrases such as “savage Indians” and weighing the line when terms like “sluttish” appeared, to avoid amplified harm. Over three years, the relationship grew volatile as Reed raged against what he saw as cinema’s decline, sending his AOL emails to the editor in bold, urgent bursts. The piece frames a defining tension in modern criticism: uncompromising standards colliding with evolving sensitivities, and a quiet editor who helped contain Reed’s worst impulses while preserving his distinctive voice.