The TNA Interview: Nik Richie

Nik Richie is the founder of the gossip Web site TheDirty.com. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based publication has gained notoriety for publishing compromising photos of athletes and college women, often with the two in the same photo. One feature of the site has readers submitting photos of young women and asking Richie, “Would you?...” Richie, a tough critic, rarely says yes and is quick to point out why he wouldn’t touch the women. Read our interview with him, then decide: is he naughty?

TNA: Why did you start The Dirty?

Nik Richie: I originally started the site as a joke. It was something that I made to kill time while working eight-to-five for the man. It was really for my cubicle buddies, as I called them. We would see people in the nightlife, see certain things, or make up certain terms – you know, water cooler talk, basically.

I never expected it to take off as much as it has. It was, like I said, a joke. I guess there was a place for it in the marketplace. I started as DirtyScottsdale.com and it took off virally like crazy, so I said, “Let me try a couple of other markets.” I tried DirtyNewport.com and a few other cities, and they took off. Then I got all these e-mails from people in other cities that wanted “Dirties” for their city. I thought, it’s not gonna work if I have a hundred different sites. Why don’t I make just one national site, and that’s how we started TheDirty.com.

What kind of a timeline are we talking about when you say it “took off”?

TheDirty.com started in January [2008]. It’s still fairly new. DirtyScottsdale itself was March 2007. Once we launched the national site, it didn’t really take-off take off. We were in the top 5,000 sites by March 2008. That solidified, then, that that’s something that the marketplace needs. Really, what it is, is new wave media.

You see the same celebrity blogs. You see the same regurgitated crap over and over again. But what people really want to see is their neighbor rise and fall. So, what we did is take people who think they’re real celebrities and make them into real celebrities in their home market because deep down inside that’s what they want to be. So, we have our pseudo-characters. But we also make fun of the culture, what the new trends are – you know, the Ed Hardy clothes or the Affliction clothes.

It’s stuff to me that my mind thinks of, and obviously, I think a little naughty here and there. It’s fun for me. Now, I sit down in a room and I bust out 250 posts all across the country, if not the world.

We get our breaking stories, our huge athlete stories. Different things come to us. I’m enjoying it.

What was the big break for the site – the one posting that thrust TheDirty into the national spotlight?

I would have to say, without a doubt, it was the Matt Leinart picture. That took it to a whole new level because we were featured on “Sports Center.” We were featured on almost every news station in the United States. In Arizona, we were popular, but on a national level we really weren’t that big. And those pictures were everywhere and it wouldn’t stop. They were posting those pictures for a good two weeks, saying that Matt was not the future. Look at him now. He’s a backup quarterback. I feel badly a little bit, but he wasn’t taking his off-season seriously. And here we are.

How did you get a hold of the Leinart photos?

They were submitted, like any other photo we put up. The girls were smart enough to put it in their photo book album, trying to brag to their friends. They weren’t even 21. They were young girls. So, obviously for them, it was like, “Wow, I’m hanging out with Matt Leinart and Nick Lachey, partying until all hours of the night. Let me brag about it.” But you have to put some fault on Matt’s hands. Why would you let them take pictures? It doesn’t make any sense.

Have you ever met Matt Leinart?

Yeah. Our paths have crossed. I met him while hanging out at the same clubs, and stuff like that.

Pre or post appearance on The Dirty?

Both. Well, now I haven’t seen him as much, especially after getting outed for the whole DUI thing [Editor’s note: Richie was exposed as the man behind TheDirty.com in September when an article about his arrest for DUI was published in TheSmokingGun.com.] But before, it was really cool, because I could stand right next to him and he wouldn’t know who I was. I would have conversations with him. He’s always been a cool guy. He was always really nice to me. But now that he knows who I am, he’d obviously, be more cautious.

Do you think that by doing The Dirty you’ve crossed a line and can never go back? Do you think that your relationships with some people will be irrevocably strained?

That’s a great question. It’s weird because when I came out I thought it was going to be the end for me and all my friendships. I’m friends with a lot of pro baseball players and people in the sports world. I’ve partied with these people and gotten close to these people.

I thought that coming out would kill those relationships. But what it’s actually done is enhance them. It’s really weird to say. Now, I’m making even more pseudo-celebrity and athlete friends than I was before. I think, for them, it’s more of a protection thing. They’re actually fans of the site. They enjoy it. These people ask for our gear, which is cool.

And the site traffic – honestly, the traffic has doubled since I’ve been outed. It’s just a perfect example of the site. When trash happens, no matter how bad it is, good press is always bad press.

You never know, until that line gets crossed, what the backlash will be.

Because you have friends in the sports and entertainment world, are you posting items selectively? Are you withholding any dirt?

The people that I call friends are friends because they’re not that crazy or make stupid decisions. But, on that one I’m going to have to say “No comment.”

OK. Surely there are people who aren’t fans of the site. What’s you experience been with the haters?

It’s the haters who are on the site more than the actual fans, which is kind of weird. So far, I haven’t had any problems. Some people e-mail here and there, “Hey, how can you be like this?” But I always e-mail them back and give them my side, and they respect me for it. Since I’ve been outed, people have been coming up to me, shaking my hand, and saying, “Hey, I love your site. … It helps get me through the day. … It’s really funny,” and this and that.

So, you haven’t gotten any vicious hate mail, or people calling you to tell you off?

No. Nothing yet, no.

On your site, there’s always a picture of a chick, with the caption “Nik, would you hit it?” and you rarely say yes.

Yeah, I’m really, really picky.

For the record, what kind of woman would you hit?

It’s really tough. I’ve just always had this weird thing where it literally takes me about two seconds to notice all of a woman’s flaws. It’s an issue that I’m trying to work on. I’m really into the cute type of girl with the plastic surgery – the blonde, the plus-two, the whole thing – but it’s got to be done right.

Are there any celebrities or athletes that you have a little bit of dirt on, but that you’re just waiting for the right moment to release?

Yeah. I’ve got stuff on everybody. I categorize it and file it. It’s just a matter of how I want to put stuff out there. The timing is the other thing. You know the Internet world – timing is everything. And I don’t ever want the site to be something where it’s a one-hit wonder. I want to be strong, and I just want to be really dominant in the Internet world.

I think it’s on the right path.

Have you had any large media companies offer to buy you out?

Yeah, I have. But the site’s still not where I want it to be yet. I want it to grow, and be a little larger. If I did anything now, I think I’d be shooting myself in the foot.

Why do you say that?

I think the design is always going to be there. But me being the Nik Richie character, it’s got to have my stamp of approval and go where I want it to go, and to who I want to give it to.

Print’s dying, and blogs are the new-wave media, and I know I have something pretty special and very unique to the marketplace. I just want to give it its full potential. I just want it to be in that top realm where people are talking about it in a regular way, like Google.

Are there any subjects you won’t cover? Is there anything that you tell your people, “You know what, we’re just not going to go there”?

I try to keep it tongue-in-cheek. If you notice, there’s no nudity on the site. If any of that comes our way, we put a heart over the area, or wherever we need to. Also, we star-out the vowels on bad swear words. We try to keep it as PG-13 as possible. You know, it’s tough, but in the long run it’s going to get us a little bit more respect as we try to sell the company down the road. I want to call it “New Wave Disneyland,” basically.