Editing Hedda Hopper (section)

===Feud with Louella Parsons===
When Hopper initially came to Hollywood, she and [[Louella Parsons]] had had a mutually beneficial arrangement. At the time, Hopper was a moderately successful actress, and according to Parson's successor, Dorothy Manners, "if anything happened on a set—if a star and leading man were having an affair—Hedda would give Louella a call.” In return, Hopper was guaranteed a few lines of copy under Parsons' increasingly influential byline.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/rivalry-hedda-hopper-louella-parsons-gossip-columnists|title=The Powerful Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons|first=Amy Fine|last=Collins|magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref>

After MGM canceled her contract,{{when|date=June 2022}} Hopper struggled to maintain her career as an actress. She was offered{{when|date=June 2022}} a position as a Hollywood columnist by the Esquire Feature Syndicate due to a recommendation by Andy Hervey of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]]’s publicity department.

One of the first papers to pick up “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” was the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', a morning paper like Louella's ''Examiner''. Hopper first publicly [[scoop (news)|scooped]] Parsons with the divorce{{when|date=June 2022}} of the president's son [[James Roosevelt|Jimmy Roosevelt]] (a Goldwyn employee), who was involved with a Mayo Clinic nurse, from his wife, [[Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney|Betsey]]. The story became front-page news across the country.<ref name='Vanity Fair'/>

====''Citizen Kane''====
When rumors began to surface that [[Orson Welles]]’ debut film ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' was inspired by the life of [[William Randolph Hearst]], Parsons lunched with the director, and believed his evasions and denials.<ref name='Vanity Fair'/> Hopper arrived uninvited to an early screening of the film and wrote a scathing critique, calling it a "vicious and irresponsible attack on a great man".<ref name="Orson Welles">{{cite book |last=Leaming |first=Barbara |title=Orson Welles, A Biography. |publisher=New York: Viking Press. |isbn=978-0-618-15446-3 |year=2001 }}</ref>{{Rp|205|December 2014}} As a result, Hearst sent Parsons a letter complaining that he had learned about ''Citizen Kane'' from Hopper, and not her.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

====Ingrid Bergman====
In the early 1950s, the ''[[Los Angeles Examiner]]'' ran on its front page above Parsons's byline: "Ingrid Bergman Baby Due in Three Months at Rome". Bergman left her husband, neurologist Peter Lindstrom, to live in Italy with director [[Roberto Rossellini]], but the news that she might be pregnant was met with some skepticism. Bergman was well known for the angelic role of Sister Benedict in ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]''.<ref name="Vanity Fair"/>

Hopper, who had been a public supporter of Bergman, believed the actress's denial of the pregnancy, and printed a fervent repudiation of the rumor.<ref name="telegraph1">{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/trumbo/hedda-hopper-woman-who-scared-hollywood/| title=Hedda Hopper: the woman who scared Hollywood| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph| author=Karen Krizanovich| date=2015-11-05| access-date=2018-03-18}}</ref> However, Bergman was indeed pregnant and Hopper, enraged at being scooped, launched a PR campaign decrying Bergman for being pregnant out of wedlock, and carrying a married man's child.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/news/a9774/who-was-hedda-hopper/|title=Who Was Hedda Hopper?|date=March 3, 2017|website=Town & Country}}</ref> Parsons had allegedly received the tip from [[Howard Hughes]],<ref name="Vanity Fair"/> who was incensed at Bergman for being unable to shoot a film for him as promised.

====Reaction====
Reportedly, whereas Hopper was more inclined to see their much-publicized antagonism as funny and good for business, Parsons took it personally and saw Hopper as a rival in every possible way. Hopper also referred to [[Harry Martin (urologist)|Doc Martin]] (Parsons' third husband) as "that goddamn clap doctor", which infuriated Parsons.<ref name="Vanity Fair"/> [[Louis B. Mayer]] assisted Hopper in establishing herself as a columnist, and her role was supported by other studio chiefs, which saw it as a step in offsetting Louella's monopolistic power. Gossip columnist [[Liz Smith (journalist)|Liz Smith]] stated: "The studios created both of them. And they thought they could control both of them. But they became Frankenstein monsters escaped from the labs."<ref name="Vanity Fair" /> Hopper and Parsons had a combined readership of 75 million in a country of 160 million.<ref name="Vanity Fair" /><ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/trumbo/hedda-hopper-woman-who-scared-hollywood/ |title=Hedda Hopper: the woman who scared Hollywood |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2016 |website=telegraph.co.uk |access-date=2019-10-11}}</ref>