Jeff Sneider

Jeff Sneider (born 1983 or 1984) is an American entertainment journalist who founded the entertainment newsletter The InSneider. A 2006 graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts, Sneider had previously held tenures at Ain't It Cool News, Variety, TheWrap, Mashable and Above the Line. Other publications Sneider has written for include MTV Movies Blog, Hollywood Life, Washington Square News and the Colorado Springs Independent. Sneider's public statements and tweets have been the subject of controversy.

Career

From Needham, Massachusetts, Sneider graduated in 2006 from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, from where he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Writing. From 2003, Sneider wrote for Ain't It Cool News under the alias "MiraJeff", a portmanteau of his own name with the name of his favorite film studio, Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax. In 2006, Sneider represented the website in a boxing tournament by director Uwe Boll, who fought contributors to websites that criticized him. Since the site's founder Harry Knowles exceeded the 190-pound weight limit, Sneider fought in the tournament despite not having reviewed one of Boll's films—Sneider figured that since Ain't it Cool was known for criticizing Boll, the director had them in mind. Sneider said that he was disadvantaged because he smoked, has asthma, didn't jog, and "can't have sex for more than five minutes at a stretch", and that he was Boll's "highest-profile target". Sneider made it to round two of his match before being taken down twice by Boll, at which point his cornerman then threw in the towel.

He joined Variety as an intern in August 2006, then joined TheWrap, where he anchored their Deal Central column. Sneider returned to Variety in February 2011 as a film reporter. In late January 2013, Sneider was fired from Variety. The outlet was reported as firing him for "unprofessional" behavior, though did not specify an incident. Sneider had recently been tracking a scoop on Christopher Nolan's then-prospective Interstellar, though lost this to The Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters. As a result of Masters getting the scoop on the story over him, Sneider had tweeted about driving his car into a tree and declared his blood would be "on Hollywood's hands", and reportedly was asked by editors at Variety to write a letter of apology to a publicist who had promised to update him on the deal, from whom Sneider never saw confirmation of the story. At the beginning of April, he rejoined TheWrap to take over their Deal Central column, covering casting and deals. Sneider stated he was grateful for the "second chance" and was impressed with the growth the outlet experienced since he had left.

Sneider had a tenure at Mashable which ended in December 2016 following racially charged comments about #OscarsSoWhite, a hashtag which gained popularity online due to a controversy that gained traction for the past two years due to there being no people of color nominated for major acting awards. Sneider had claimed that the movement was "canceled" following the prospects of non-Whites receiving consideration at the 89th Academy Awards, and posted this in a Mashable article and subsequent tweet. Online backlash followed, with Sneider being criticized as he is a White man who attempted to declare a movement started by a Black woman as "dead". Mashable entertainment editor Josh Dickey expressed regret for the controversy, attaching a correction to the article and tweeted acceptance of responsibility, while Mashable's director of communications Paul Cafiero confirmed that this ordeal resulted in Sneider leaving the website.

Following his termination from Mashable, Sneider served as Editor in Chief of the Tracking Board and the host of Meet the Movie Press. In June 2018, Sneider joined Collider as Video News Director and a contributor to Movie Talk. Sneider had served as editor in chief of Above the Line until October 2023, claiming publisher Patrick Graham owed him US$15,800. Sneider was responsible for instigating a rumor about actress Sydney Sweeney starring in the film Day Drinker with Johnny Depp, which caused controversy online. Sneider quote tweeted a tweet of denial from the actress, claiming it was a "non denial". Sneider claimed it was the fault of Sweeney's representatives, saying that the "mess" he caused by reporting what his sources told him was just spoiling a "big Cannes [film festival] announcement".

External links

• The InSneider (subscription required)
• Jeff Sneider on Twitter