The pioneering gossip columnist, TV personality, and author became a defining voice in Black entertainment journalism across four decades
Florence “Flo” Anthony, the celebrity journalist who broke through some of tabloid media’s most entrenched color lines, died Thursday, August 6, after a battle with cancer. She was 74.
Her death was confirmed by Jack Hirsch, biographer of Anthony’s husband, boxing legend Michael Spinks, with whom Anthony co-authored an authorized biography released earlier this year. Hirsch said Anthony had disclosed her cancer diagnosis to him in March.
A Career Built on Firsts
Anthony’s path into journalism ran through the boxing world. A Howard University graduate who’d arrived in New York with dreams of acting, she worked as a teacher before becoming a publicist for some of the sport’s biggest names — Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Butch Lewis, Mike McCallum, Matthew Saad Muhammad, and Michael Spinks among them.
In 1985, she joined the New York Post as an agate clerk in the sports department, becoming the first woman to work there. She was soon moved to the entertainment department, where she became the first African American staffer in both that section and the paper’s famed Page Six column. She later broke another barrier as the first Black woman to write a column for a supermarket tabloid, penning “Eye on the Stars” for the National Examiner.
Over her career, Anthony broke stories on the marriages of Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, and John McEnroe and Tatum O’Neal, along with the news that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were adopting.
A Familiar Face and Voice
Anthony became a fixture of 1990s daytime and cable television, appearing on shows hosted by Joan Rivers, Ricki Lake, Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jessy Raphael, Maury Povich, and others. She spent six seasons as a contributor and later co-host on E!’s “The Gossip Show,” appeared frequently on “E! True Hollywood Story,” and became a regular contributor to TV One’s “Unsung,” “Unsung Hollywood,” and “Life After.” She also appeared on Court TV, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel, and was part of CNN’s 2025 documentary series “American Prince: JFK Jr.”
Her weekly “Go With the Flo” column ran in the New York Amsterdam News starting in the early 2000s, syndicated to outlets including the Philadelphia Sunday Sun and Columbus Times, alongside contributions to the New York Daily News. Through her company, Dottie Media Group, she produced the syndicated radio programs “Gossip on the Go With Flo” and “Flo Anthony’s Big Apple Buzz,” which reportedly reached more than three million listeners daily across roughly 20 markets.
She also served as editor-in-chief of Black Noir and Black Elegance magazines, and authored four novels: “Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies,” “Deadly Stuff Players,” “One Last Deadly Play,” and “Last Call for a Deadly Diva.”
Industry Tributes
News of Anthony’s death drew tributes across entertainment media. CNN entertainment journalist Lisa Respers France said she felt “deeply indebted” to Anthony, calling her someone who did more than just cover gossip and was “so important to the culture.”
Personal Life
Anthony began dating Spinks in 1987, not long after his run as IBF heavyweight champion ended in a loss to Mike Tyson. The couple married in a January courthouse ceremony in New York after 39 years together. Born March 4, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Anthony is survived by Spinks. Details on additional survivors or memorial plans have not been released.