{"id":38008,"date":"2026-08-11T05:33:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38008"},"modified":"2026-08-11T05:33:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:33:33","slug":"trailblazing-journalist-florence-flo-anthony-dead-at-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38008","title":{"rendered":"Trailblazing Journalist Florence &#8216;Flo&#8217; Anthony Dead At 74"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"0\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"352\" width=\"660\" src=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/17863837887854-e1786394499377.jpg?w=660&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"A smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a black jacket and jewelry.\" class=\"wp-image-1685420\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Flo Anthony \/ Screenshot courtesy of Instagram @tlcjanetfan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Florence \u201cFlo\u201d Anthony, a pioneering <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/tag\/entertainment\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"590362607\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entertainment<\/a> journalist, former national syndicated radio host, TV contributor, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/stores\/FLO-ANTHONY\/author\/B096T1WDFS?ref=ap_rdr&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true&amp;ccs_id=502f9c3d-0774-45ab-aa73-c8271e0e1e64\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">author of several books<\/a>, who broke down barriers for Black women, died after a battle with cancer on August 6. She was 74.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news was <a href=\"https:\/\/amsterdamnews.com\/news\/2026\/08\/06\/longtime-amnews-columnists-flo-anthony-has-died\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confirmed<\/a> by Jack Hirsch, the biographer of her husband, Olympic and pro boxing champ Michael Spinks, to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amsterdamnews.com\/\"><em>New York Amsterdam News<\/em><\/a>, which published her weekly \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amsterdamnews.com\/news\/category\/go-flo\/\">Go With The Flo<\/a>\u201d column\u00a0dating back to 2001. She also had a nationally syndicated radio segment called \u201cGossip to Go With Flo\u201d and another called \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/flo-anthony\/\">Flo Anthony<\/a>\u2019s Big Apple Buzz.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony and Hirsch collaborated on\u00a0<em>Michael \u201cJinx\u201d Spinks: An Authorized Biography<\/em>, which was released in March. He shared that she had recently disclosed to him that she had cancer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"450\" width=\"238\" src=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?w=238&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"SummerFest2024\" class=\"wp-image-1685467\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?strip=all&amp;quality=80 498w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=81%2C153&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 81w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=219%2C414&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 219w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=238%2C450&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 238w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=180%2C340&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 180w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=53%2C100&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 53w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=106%2C200&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 106w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=26%2C50&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 26w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=254%2C480&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 254w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=317%2C600&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 317w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=476%2C900&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 476w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=132%2C250&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 132w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=78%2C147&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 78w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=245%2C463&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 245w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=45%2C86&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 45w, https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/1786394995747-e1786395348174.jpg?resize=144%2C272&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 144w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michael Spinx and Flo Anthony attend SummerFest2024 at Southampton Arts Center on August 17, 2024 in Southampton, New York. (Photo by Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED CONTENT: <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/1620431\/claudette-colvin-civil-rights-pioneer-dead-86\/\">Claudette Colvin, Unsung Civil Rights Pioneer, Passes Away At 86<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"1\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born on March 4, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Anthony graduated from Howard University. She initially moved to New York to pursue acting, and also worked as a teacher. Her work with talent manager Tobe Gibson eventually segued into a career as a publicist for athletes such as Muhammad Ali and other champion boxers, including Spinks, whom she began dating in 1987 and married in January 2026. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the 1980s, she pivoted to journalism, making a name for herself in the industry as a celebrity reporter who always got the inside scoop. She started as an agate clerk at the<em>\u00a0New York Post<\/em> in 1986 before becoming the first female to work in the publication\u2019s sports department and the first African American to work in the newspaper\u2019s entertainment and world\u2011famous Page Six departments. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a 2013\u00a0interview\u00a0with <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanbridgez.com\/2026\/08\/06\/in-memoriam-trailblazing-journalist-florence-flo-anthony-ub-interview\/\">Urban Bridgez<\/a>, Anthony looked back on her seven years with the <em>Post<\/em>, recalling,<em> <\/em>\u201cAfter a while, they said, \u2018You flunked the job,\u2019 and I was like. \u2018What do you mean I flunked?\u2019 But it was the thing of being the agate clerk, you had to do a lot, and I would be there all night till like 5 in the morning. So they was like, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, we see you have a masters degree in fine arts. We\u2019re moving you to the entertainment department.\u2019 I went to the entertainment department kicking and screaming. They said, \u2018Look it\u2019s a day job and pays more money, so why are you upset?\u2019 So I went from the first African American woman in the sports department to the first African American woman in the entertainment department.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"2\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony became a fixture on popular talk shows hosted by Joan Rivers, Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake, Maury Povich, and more. She was also a regular contributor and sometimes served as co-host on E!\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Gossip Show<\/em>\u00a0from 1993 to 1998. She appeared on episodes of celebrity-themed entertainment and news programs\u00a0including <em>Entertainment Tonight<\/em>, <em>Inside Edition, E! True Hollywood Story, Most Shocking Celebrity Moments<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>Most Annoying People<\/em>,\u00a0as well as frequently contributing to TV One\u2019s\u00a0<em>Unsung<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Unsung Hollywood<\/em>, and <em style=\"font-style: italic;\">Life After<\/em><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also worked in magazine journalism, serving as publisher and editor-in-chief of\u00a0<em>Black Noir<\/em>\u00a0and as editor-in-chief of\u00a0<em>Black Elegance<\/em>. Anthony made history as the first African American woman to write a column for a supermarket tabloid, with \u201cEye on the Stars\u201d for the\u00a0<em>National Examiner<\/em>. But despite her penchant for what many regard as \u201ctrash journalism\u201d Flo did not treat gossip journalism like the reckless recycling of rumors. As a gossip columnist, she saw herself as both a journalist and reporter who scooped exclusive stories and was responsible for ensuring journalistic integrity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She discussed the definition of a journalist during her Urban Bridgez interview, saying, \u201cWell, a journalist is someone who actually looks for a real story.\u201d She went on to explain, \u201cNot just picking something up off of a blog and not just being some wildcat person with a blog, but someone looking for a real story. Someone who researches the story, talks to people regarding the story and also a journalist is someone who breaks stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"listicle-slide\" data-page-number=\"3\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout Anthony\u2019s illustrious career, she reported hundreds of exclusives, including the marriages of Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, John McEnroe and Tatum O\u2019Neal, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, as well as the news that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were adopting children. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve broken in roads that will never be broken in again,\u201d she said\u00a0in the Urban Bridgez interview. \u201cSo if I never wrote another sentence or got on radio again in life or got on TV, I would miss it yes but I feel I\u2019ve done a lot of what God put me on this earth to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony\u00a0is survived by her long-time love, Spinks.\u00a0Details\u00a0on additional\u00a0survivors or memorial plans\u00a0have not been released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED CONTENT: <a href=\"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/1357447\/ellen-holly-dead-92\/\">Ellen Holly, 1st Black Leading Daytime Soap Opera Star, Dies At 92<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Flo Anthony \/ Screenshot courtesy of Instagram @tlcjanetfan Florence \u201cFlo\u201d Anthony, a pioneering entertainment journalist, former national syndicated radio host, TV contributor, and the author of several books, who broke down barriers for Black women, died after a battle with cancer on August 6. She was 74. The news was confirmed by Jack Hirsch,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/madamenoire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/17863837887854-e1786396051583.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=786&crop=0,0,100,419px","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}