{{Short description|British women's entertainment magazine}} {{Infobox magazine | title = | logo = | logo_size = | image_file = Closer magazine.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | editor = Jane Johnson (English edition), Laurence Pieau (French edition) | editor_title = | previous_editor = | staff_writer = | photographer = | category = Entertainment | frequency = Weekly | total_circulation = | | circulation_year = 2020 | publisher = Bauer Consumer Media (English edition), Ami Celebrity Publications (American edition), Reworld Media (French edition) | founder = | founded = 2005 | firstdate = | finaldate = | company = | country = United Kingdom, France, USA | based = | language = English, French | website = {{URL|https://closeronline.co.uk}} (UK)<br> {{URL|https://www.closerweekly.com}} (US)<br> | issn = | oclc = }} '''''Closer''''' is a British tabloid magazine founded in 2005 and published by Bauer Consumer Media. A French language version followed shortly afterwards, and an American edition began publication in 2013, ending in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardner |first=Chris |date=2025-05-30 |title=In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women Magazines to Shutter, Lay Off Entire Staffs |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/media-magazine-layoffs-life-and-style-in-touch-closer-mcclatchy-1236234252/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Profile== ''Closer'' mainly specializes in celebrity news and gossip, real-life stories, fashion and television/entertainment. There is also a French-language version of the magazine published by Mondadori, an Italian media company.<ref name="Telegraph"/> The French edition had a circulation of 399,589 copies in 2005.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} In the spring of 2006, the British parent company East Midlands Allied Press announced that it would separate its French subsidiary, which was eventually acquired in August 2006 by Mondadori for 545 million euros when taking over Emap France.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mondadori.com/layout/set/print/Media/Files/Comunicati-Stampa/MONDADORI-REACHES-AGREEMENT-FOR-THE-ACQUISITION-OF-EMAP-FRANCE-FOR-545-MILLION|title=Mondadori reaches agreement for the acquisition of Emap France for €545 million|work=Mondadori|access-date=14 September 2012}}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The 2010 circulation of the French version of the magazine was 466,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Magazine Facts 2011|url=http://mediakortit.aikakausmedia.fi/content/Liitetiedostot/pdf/magazinefacts2011_2012_04_04_netti.pdf|work=Mediakortit|access-date=11 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062901/http://mediakortit.aikakausmedia.fi/content/Liitetiedostot/pdf/magazinefacts2011_2012_04_04_netti.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Controversies== In September 2012, the French edition of the magazine printed topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) taken, apparently with a long telephoto lens from a road 1 km away, while she and her husband Prince William were on a private holiday at the Château d'Autet in the south of France. The British edition promised that they would not publish the photographs, and distanced itself from the French edition after receiving numerous complaints.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/9542946/British-Closer-magazine-dragged-into-row-over-Duchess-of-Cambridge-topless-pictures.html|title=British Closer magazine dragged into row over Duchess of Cambridge topless pictures|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 September 2012|access-date=14 September 2012}}</ref>
The Royal Family said it intended to sue the magazine, calling the publication of the photographs a "grotesque and unjustifiable invasion of privacy"; the BBC's Nicholas Witchell stated that "he had rarely seen such a level of publicly expressed anger from the palace over such an incident."<ref>{{cite web |date=14 September 2012 |title=Topless Kate pictures: Duke and duchess sue French magazine Closer |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19604535 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915000057/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19604535 |archive-date=15 September 2012 |access-date=14 September 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
In the 10 January 2014 issue, ''Closer'' "revealed the supposed affair" between French actress Julie Gayet and French President François Hollande.<ref name="Pressure Mounts Against President Hollande">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/pressure-mounts-against-president-hollande-7361630?src=nl/mornReport/20140116|title=Pressure Mounts Against President Hollande|work=WWD|date=16 January 2014|access-date=16 January 2014|author=Alex Wynne and Laure Guilbault}}</ref> The issue was so popular that ''Closer'' "reprinted the issue, with a further 150,000 copies scheduled to hit newsstands" on 15 January 2014.<ref name="Pressure Mounts Against President Hollande"/> The website of ''Closer'' also saw visitor numbers increase 800 percent to 1.4 million on 10 January 2014.<ref name="Pressure Mounts Against President Hollande"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{commons-inline}}
{{American Media}} {{Bauer Verlagsgruppe}}
Category:Celebrity magazines Category:Entertainment magazines Category:Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Category:Weekly magazines published in France Category:English-language magazines Category:French-language magazines Category:Magazines established in 2005 Category:2005 establishments in France Category:2005 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Bauer Group (UK) Category:Celebrity magazines published in the United Kingdom