By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The man known as the king of New York gossip is abdicating his throne.
Richard Johnson is leaving the famed New York Post gossip column 'Page Six' to move on to an unspecific digital venture with the paper's parent company Newscorp in Los Angeles, an announcement in the Post said.
Johnson, who has led Post's gossip section for 25 years, has been wanting to head to the West Coast for a while, according to reports.
Last month, the Village Voice reported that Johnson had been offered a million dollar annual contract to go to the Hollywood Reporter but the Post wouldn't let him out of his contract.
In a diplomatic statement through the paper, Johnson said "I love Page Six and The Post, but I've always wanted to give Los Angeles a try."
Johnson, who is credited with building up much of Page Six's reputation as the top notch gossip column in the city, has faced a shaky end to his time at Page Six.
In 2006, a number of freelancers were axed from the column in what was considered one of the biggest bribery scandals in gossip journalism. That same year a reporter was fired and nearly faced criminal charges for extortion.
Then in 2007, the Post launched pagesix.com, which quickly failed and was shuttered in early 2008. And last summer, Johnson's deputy editor, Paula Froelich, left the paper as well.
Johnson's current deputy editor, Emily Smith, who came to the Post from Life & Style Magazine, will replace Johnson.
