Nekesa Mumbi Moody, one of the highest-ranking Black journalists in the entertainment world, has been replaced as co-editor-in-chief of the Hollywood Reporter, owners Penske Media Corp., recently announced.

Moody's successor will be Shirley Halperin, who recently resigned as editor of Los Angeles Magazine. Halperin is to be co-editor-in-chief at The Hollywood Reporter alongside Maer Roshan.

“Employees of The Hollywood Reporter were informed of the move at a morning meeting," Rick Ellis reported for allyourscreens.com, "and Moody later posted this message on social media: "It has been the ride of a lifetime to be editor of The Hollywood Reporter and work with the amazing reporters, editors, artists, photo staff and more there. Today that ride ends but I am incredibly proud of the work I did and the impact of it!"

Ellis also wrote, "according to sources I spoke with this afternoon at THR and the parent company, this move is seen by some at the outlet as yet another indication The Hollywood Reporter will continue its evolution towards being a more celebrity and general entertainment-centric publication.

"'I don’t think it's a coincidence that they replaced someone who had strong news instincts with someone who spent much of her career covering the music beat,' one THR employee said in a message to me today."

Sean Burch reported for The Wrap, "This is the latest staffing change at the struggling trade [publication], which let go of longtime TV editor Lesley Goldberg, who had been with the outlet since 2003, in June alongside senior editor of diversity and inclusion Rebecca Sun.

This was followed by more cuts in August that included executive managing editor Sudie Redmond, deputy editor Degen Pener, copy editor/film critic Sheri Linden, video editor Colin Burgess and special correspondent Lachlan Cartwright."

Moody joined the Hollywood Reporter in 2020 after being global entertainment and lifestyles editor at the Associated Press since 2012, overseeing a team of 40 journalists and directing multiformat entertainment coverage for the wire service, breaking news and producing exclusive content for newspapers, online portals and broadcasters, in the words of the Hollywood Reporter's 2020 announcement of her hiring. Moody has also been a longtime member of the National Association of Black Journalists and its Arts & Entertainment Task Force.

Moody participated in a 2021 New York University webinar in Los Angeles that promised attendees they would "learn about the fascinating path that brought her here."

As music editor at the AP, Moody earned the news cooperative's Beat of the Week Award in 2012, when she broke the story of Whitney Houston's death. "Beating all other news organizations was a major achievement in itself, considering that the bigger the name, the more intense the competition," the AP's Jack Stokes said in its internal note. "It was even more notable given that all manner of entertainment-focused journalists were assembled for music's biggest and most celebratory night of the year," the Grammy Awards.
"In fact, no one even came close to Moody. From TMZ to The New York Times, from MSNBC to Drudge to the Los Angeles Times, AP was credited across the board for an hour. Quite simply, no one else had the story.

Moody was named in 2020 to the Hollywood Reporter's top editorial role, but in August 2023, Roshan was brought in as co-editor-in-chief. The publication said then, "Under Moody's leadership, The Hollywood Reporter has risen to new heights in its coverage of the entertainment industry, which includes in-depth reporting, analysis and thought-provoking reviews; unparalleled access, world-class photography and video; and feature exclusives in its award-winning weekly magazine and dynamic website.

THR was named best entertainment publication at the 15th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards in December 2022 and won best website at the 65th annual SoCal Journalism Awards in June.

The 2020 announcement also said, "Prior to her role as global entertainment and lifestyles editor at the wire service, Moody served as the AP's music editor from 2000 to 2012. In that role, Moody interviewed everyone from Barbra Streisand to Luciano Pavarotti, from Beyonce to Prince, from Taylor Swift to Kanye West. Moody was the first to report the news of Whitney Houston's death, and the first person to get official confirmation of the passing of Prince.

Moody has also written for Essence and her essays can be found in the anthologies "Where Did Our Love Go: Essays on Love & Relationships in the African-American Community" and "An Illustrated History of Women Who Rock." A New York state native and a graduate of Barnard College, she currently lives with her husband and son in Brooklyn, New York. . . ."

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