Flo Anthony: I Met Michael Jackson at Disney World, Now We're Best Friends!
Updated: Sep 9
Florence “Flo” Anthony: The New York Gossip Trailblazer Who Knew Everyone
Florence “Flo” Anthony (March 4, 1952 – August 6, 2026) lived the kind of life that sounds almost too colorful to be true. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and later becoming a proud New Yorker, Anthony built a remarkable four-decade career as a gossip columnist, radio host, television contributor, publicist, and author. She died at 74, leaving behind a legacy deeply connected to New York’s entertainment and media world.
A graduate of Howard University, Anthony did not begin her career chasing Hollywood gossip. She first worked as a publicist for some of boxing’s biggest names, including Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks, Mike McCallum and Matthew Saad Muhammad. That experience placed her close to powerful personalities and helped establish the extraordinary network of relationships that would later become one of her greatest professional assets.
In the 1980s, Anthony moved into entertainment journalism and broke important barriers. She became the first African-American reporter to work in the New York Post’s famous gossip operation and later became the first African-American columnist for The National Examiner.
She went on to write for publications including the New York Daily News, the New York Amsterdam News, and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun.
For television audiences, Flo became a familiar face. She appeared on programs including Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, MSNBC, and Court TV. She spent six seasons as a contributor and later co-host of E!’s The Gossip Show, while also appearing on numerous talk shows and E! True Hollywood Story episodes involving some of the biggest names in popular culture.
Her celebrity Rolodex was extraordinary. Anthony knew or interviewed figures including Michael Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Whitney Houston, O.J. Simpson, Donald Trump and numerous major entertainment and sports personalities.
Her friendship with La Toya Jackson became particularly important. Anthony described La Toya as a dear friend and publicly discussed her relationship with the Jackson family for years.
That connection to Michael Jackson is at the heart of the video featured in this article. In the video, Anthony recalls her first meeting with Michael at Disney World and describes how that encounter developed into a lifelong friendship and connection with the Jackson family. She also talks about the extraordinary journey that followed, including her friendship with La Toya and the experiences that took her far beyond the world of journalism.
Radio became another major part of Anthony’s career. Through her company, Dottie Media Group LLC, she hosted the syndicated programs “Gossip To Go With Flo” and “Flo Anthony’s Big Apple Buzz,” which reached millions of listeners across markets nationwide.
Anthony’s connection to New York remained central to her identity. She lived in East Harlem and continued writing and commenting on celebrity culture while maintaining relationships throughout the entertainment, media, and sports worlds. In January 2026, she married longtime partner Michael Spinks in a New York City courthouse ceremony after a relationship that had begun in 1987.
Anthony reportedly disclosed a cancer diagnosis in March 2026. She died on August 6, 2026, although a more specific medical cause of death has not been publicly released.
For New Yorkers who remember the golden age of celebrity journalism, Flo Anthony was more than a gossip columnist. She was a reporter who opened doors that had often been closed to Black women, a media personality who knew how to turn relationships into stories, and a New Yorker who seemed to know somebody everywhere.
Her legacy is perhaps best summed up by the people she knew, the barriers she broke, and the stories she carried with her. And in this remarkable video, as Flo recalls meeting Michael Jackson at Disney World, viewers get something particularly valuable: a glimpse not just of the journalist, but of the woman behind the headlines.
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