Florence “Flo” Anthony, a trailblazing figure in entertainment journalism, has passed away at the age of 74. Her death was confirmed by Jack Hirsch, biographer for her husband, boxing legend Michael Spinks. Anthony had recently disclosed that she was battling cancer.
Anthony’s career spanned decades, during which she became a defining voice in African American entertainment journalism. Her weekly column, “Go With The Flo,” was a staple in publications like The New York Amsterdam NewsPhiladelphia Sunday Sun and Columbus Times. She also contributed to the New York Daily News and served as publisher and editor-in-chief of Black Noir and Black Elegance magazines.
The Firsts of Florence ‘Flo’ Anthony
Anthony was known for her pioneering spirit, breaking numerous barriers in a field that was often resistant to change. She became the first woman to work in the sports department of the New York Post and the first African American to work in the newspaper’s entertainment and world-renowned Page Six departments. Her achievements were not merely promotions but significant breaches in a wall that had long excluded people of color, particularly African American women.
Before her illustrious career in journalism, Anthony worked as a publicist for some of boxing’s most formidable figures, including Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, and her future husband, Michael Spinks. This experience gave her a deep understanding of the relationship between journalists, publicists, and public figures, which she later leveraged in her reporting.
A Legendary Career in Entertainment Journalism
Over the course of her career, Anthony reported hundreds of exclusives, including the marriages of Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, and John McEnroe and Tatum O’Neal, as well as the news that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were adopting. She did not regard gossip journalism as the careless recycling of rumors but saw herself as a reporter who broke stories and took the responsibility of getting those stories right seriously.
Her influence extended far beyond print. During the 1990s, she became a familiar and authoritative presence on daytime television, appearing on shows hosted by Joan Rivers, Ricki Lake, Geraldo Rivera, and others. She also contributed to entertainment-news programs including “Inside Edition,” “The Insider,” and “Entertainment Tonight.” For six seasons, she appeared as a contributor and later a co-host on E! Entertainment Television’s “The Gossip Show,” and was featured in numerous installments of “E! True Hollywood Story.”
Extending Her Voice Through Radio and Literature
Through her company, Dottie Media Group LLC, Flo extended her voice into syndicated radio with “Gossip on the Go With Flo” and “Flo Anthony’s Big Apple Buzz,” which aired in approximately 20 markets and introduced millions of listeners to her combination of insider knowledge, brisk reporting, and unmistakable personality.
Flo was also the author of four novels: “Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies,” “Deadly Stuff Players,” “One Last Deadly Play,” and “Last Call for a Deadly Diva.” The books transformed decades of observing fame, ambition, deception, and power into fiction, bringing the practiced instincts of a journalist to the suspense and intrigue of a novelist.
In a 2013 interview with, Anthony reflected on her career, saying, “I’ve broken in roads that will never be broken in again. So 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’ve done a lot of what God put me on this earth to do.”
