Flo Anthony, the entertainment journalist and gossip columnist born Florence Anthony, has died at 74, AllHipHop reported on August 6. She wrote the long-running Go With the Flo column in the New York Amsterdam News, syndicated for generations of readers, and AllHipHop calls her one of the pioneering voices in entertainment journalism.
Jack Hirsch, a biographer who recently worked with Anthony and her husband, former light heavyweight boxing champion Michael Spinks, confirmed her death. The two had collaborated on Spinks's authorized biography, published in March. SoulBounce, which also reported her death on August 7, said she had cancer and had kept the diagnosis largely private; Hirsch said Anthony had only recently told him about the illness.
Before entertainment journalism, Anthony built a career in public relations, representing boxing figures including Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, along with LaToya Jackson, before eventually representing Spinks, whom she later married. AllHipHop reported she also became the first Black columnist at the New York Post's Page Six, in addition to writing Go With the Flo for the Amsterdam News and contributing to the Philadelphia Sun.
She went on to become a familiar face on national television entertainment coverage and hosted syndicated radio shows over a career AllHipHop says spanned more than four decades, cultivating sources across music, film, television, sports and politics that gave her access few entertainment reporters could match.
Colleagues remembered her widely after her death. AllHipHop contributor Ricardo Hazell called her "definitely an OG of Black journalism," while media figure Alvina Alston, who described herself as Anthony's god-daughter, remembered her online as a trailblazing columnist and publicist who helped open doors for the Black entertainment journalists who came after her.
The story lands in our hip-hop coverage.
The facts
- Flo Anthony was 74
- Her full name was Florence Anthony
- She wrote the Go With the Flo column for the New York Amsterdam News
- AllHipHop says she was Page Six's first Black columnist at the New York Post
- She worked in PR for Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and LaToya Jackson before Michael Spinks
- SoulBounce says she had cancer, kept largely private
- She co-wrote Michael Spinks's authorized biography, published in March
How this checks out
Developing
Reported by 2 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 2
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.