Reality TV Powerhouse Endemol Acquires 50% Stake in Gossip Web Site

LONDON -- Independent producer Endemol has taken a 50% stake in anarchic celebrity website Holy Moly, with the aim of expanding the blogsite to TV, music, film and fashion as well as open up new global markets.

The site, which features a diet of celebrity news that is generally scathing about its subjects -- with headlines like "Paris Hilton runs Two Miles For Charity, All Is Forgiven," is not afraid to court controversy. Recently it hosted British rap star Skepta's explicit porn video All Over The House video, which has drawn a deluge of criticism for its uncompromisingly adult material.

The site, launched anonymously nine years ago by Jamie East, has drawn a fanbase of over a million monthly users.

"Eight years after starting Holy Moly on a hidden laptop underneath my work desk, no-one is more surprised and happy than me to find myself joining forces with Endemol, which I've always thought of as the most handsome and intelligent media company on the planet," said East. "Together we will be unstoppable and I'm really looking forward to the adventures that lie in wait."