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Maxim (stylized in all caps) is an international men's magazine, devised and launched in the United Kingdom in 1995, but based in New York City since 1997,[3] and prominent for its photography of actors, singers and female models whose careers are at a current peak. Maxim has a circulation of about 9 million readers each month. Maxim Digital reaches more than 4million unique viewers each month. Maxim magazine publishes 16 editions, sold in 75 countries worldwide.
Maxim was founded by Felix Dennis (1947–2014) in 1995[4] and expanded to the United States in 1997.[5]
In 1999, MaximOnline.com (now maxim.com) was created.[6] It contains content not included in the print version, and focuses on the same general topics, along with exclusive sections and videos.
On February 5, 2005, Maxim Radio, featuring male-oriented talk programming, debuted on Sirius Satellite Radio. Following the Sirius-XM merger in late 2008, the Maxim brand was dropped, and the channel is now known as Sirius XM Stars Too.
Since 2005, in Argentina, the Argentinian edition of Maxim magazine began to adapt and approximate the styles of the American adult magazines Penthouse and Hustler, publishing photos of Argentinian models in thongs and topless.
On June 5, 2006, the magazine announced plans to build a casino on the Las Vegas Strip north of Circus Circus, but the casino plan failed after local condominium owners complained that the proposed casino would ruin their view. The land was sold to MGM Mirage.[7]
Jessica Simpson holding a copy featuring her on the cover, 2007
On June 15, 2007, private equity firm Quadrangle Group, along with long-time media executive Kent Brownridge, announced the acquisition of the parent company of Maxim, Blender, Stuff, and MaximOnline.com in the United States, under the name Alpha Media Group. As of April 23, 2009, Dennis Publishing has announced that it will no longer produce a print edition of Maxim in the United Kingdom, though the website for the UK version will remain.
Quadrangle Group gave up on its investment in Alpha Media Group in August 2009, making Cerberus Capital Management the majority partner. In 2013, Alpha announced the sale of Maxim to the newly created Darden Media Group, but Darden was unable to raise the money.[8] Calvin Darden Jr. was later charged with fraud relating to the transaction.[9]
Between 2010 and 2012, Maxim eliminated two issues, going from 12 issues a year to 10, and decreased its circulation numbers by 20%, from a reported 2.5million to only 2.0million.[10]
The Argentinian edition of the magazine Maxim stopped circulating in March 2013 in Argentina and its last cover was the Argentinian model Valeria Degenaro.
On February 27, 2014, entrepreneur Sardar Biglari, the founder of Biglari Holdings and Biglari Capital, purchased Maxim. In September 2014, Kate Lanphear became editor-in-chief. During Lanphear's tenure, the September 2015 issue featured actor Idris Elba on its cover, marking the first time that the magazine did not have a woman on the cover.[11] Lanphear left the magazine in November 2015.[12]
In January 2016, Biglari officially took over as editor-in-chief of Maxim, though a Maxim staffer said that the new masthead title just formalized what had always been clear since Biglari's purchase; Biglari exercises full editorial control over Maxim. At one point in 2015, the staffer said, Biglari decided to throw out a nearly complete version of the December issue to completely redesign the magazine.[13] On January 13, 2016, Gilles Bensimon joined Biglari as a special creative director.
The Indonesian edition of the magazine Maxim stopped circulating in August 2017 in Indonesia and its last cover was the Australian model Jessica Gomes.
MaximBet
In April 2021, Maxim collaborated with international sports betting operator, Carousel Group, to create MaximBet, a licensed iGaming and sports betting services provider.[14] In September 2021, MaximBet made its debut in Colorado, when they partnered with Johnny Nolon's Saloon and Gambling Emporium.[14] In late September 2021, MaximBet expanded its operations and its brand launched in Indiana.[14]
In June 2007, Israeli diplomat David Saranga invited Maxim to the country. In what came to be known as "beers and babes", the magazine did photo shoots of near-naked Israeli women who serve in the army. The campaign drew an angry reaction from lawmaker Colette Avital, a former diplomat who served as Israel's consul-general in New York City in the 1990s.[18] Professor John H. Brown of Georgetown University described the spread as the first event in a new branch of public diplomacy.[19]
In February 2008, Maxim was criticized by The Black Crowes for rating their upcoming CD, Warpaint, without hearing the entire album.[20] Black Crowes manager Pete Angelus said, "Maxim's actions seem to completely lack journalistic integrity and intentionally mislead their readership." According to Crowes, the magazine stated in an email, "Of course, we always prefer to [sic] hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don't want to ignore that aren't available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It's either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former." The magazine's editorial director James Kaminsky later apologized, stating, "It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers."[21] Facing more criticism over rating albums without listening to them, Maxim magazine maintains it was previewing CDs in its March 2008 issue, not reviewing them, and the mistake was to include star ratings.[22]
In December 2019, Presto Media Productions, criticized the "Maxim Cover Girl 2019" competition with an independent documentary created by model, actor, and producer Valentina Lucia Faltoni. Her documentary is visible on Vimeo and it is titled: "The Ugly $ide of Beauty Conte$t$"[23]
Maxim has launched international editions of its magazines since 1995. In 2006, it has launched its 26th and 27th international[24] editions in Serbia and Greece, where it is published by Attica Media. Notably, the magazine has been circulating editions in South Korea, Indonesia (defunct), India (defunct), Japan, Portugal (as Maxmen), the United States, Thailand, France (as Maximal), Russia,[25][26] Turkey, Serbia, Greece,[27] Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Argentina (defunct), Italy, Canada, Poland, Brazil, Germany, Australia,[28] Mexico (defunct), Colombia (defunct) and the Philippines (defunct).
Each year since 2000, Maxim has released the Maxim Hot 100. The winners and their corresponding ages and the year in which the magazine was released are listed below.
From 2000 until 2015, Maxim released the rest of the Hot 100 in order. Since 2016, Maxim released the rest of the Hot 100 in random order, so those lists are by default sorted alphabetically on this table. These are the rest of the Top 100 each year.
Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler is an American actress and retired professional wrestler, cheerleader, dancer, and model. She is best known for her tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Marisa Lee Miller is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and her work for Victoria's Secret. After a stint shooting with photographer Mario Testino for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Miller began working for both companies in 2002. In 2007, she became a Victoria's Secret Angel, and appeared on the cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to record-setting numbers. Her accomplishments have led to her being dubbed the "return of the great American supermodel."
Adrianne Marie Curry-Rhode is an American fashion model, actress and television personality. She is best known as the winner of the first cycle of America's Next Top Model in 2003.
Joanna Krupa is a Polish-born American model and actress. She is known internationally as the host and head judge of Polish Top Model as well as for appearances on reality television shows Dancing with the Stars and The Real Housewives of Miami.
Diora Lynn Baird is an American actress and former model for clothing brand Guess?.
Cameron Richardson is an American actress, model and producer best known for playing Chloe Carter on the CBS television miniseries Harper's Island in 2009.
Keeley Rebecca Hazell is an English model and actress. A former Page 3 girl, she also worked with magazines such as FHM, Loaded, Nuts and Zoo Weekly. She has made numerous television appearances and has appeared in films including Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) and the streaming television series Ted Lasso (2020).
China Eiko Chow is a British-born American actress and model.
April Ann McIntosh is an American actress and former model known professionally as April Scott. She has appeared on television programs such as CSI: Miami and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as well as films such as The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, The Penthouse and Living Will.
Jessica Gomes is an Australian model who appeared in the Swimsuit Issue of the American publication Sports Illustrated every year from 2008 to 2015. She works extensively in Australia and Asia. Gomes was the featured spokesperson for Australian company David Jones Limited from 2013 to Dec 2019. She has also been a spokesperson for South Korean conglomerates LG Electronics and Hyundai. Gomes served as the face of the Estee Lauder/Sean John fragrance "Unforgivable".
Rachel Sarah Bilson is an American actress. Born to a Californian show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series The O.C. Bilson then made her film debut in The Last Kiss (2006) and later starred in the science-fiction-action film Jumper (2008). From 2011 to 2015, she starred as Dr. Zoe Hart on The CW series Hart of Dixie.
Elisha Ann Cuthbert is a Canadian actress. As a child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra on Are You Afraid of the Dark? and co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids. She made her feature-film debut in the 1997 Canadian family drama Dancing on the Moon. Her first major lead role came in the 1998 drama film Airspeed alongside Joe Mantegna. In 2001, she starred in the movie Lucky Girl, for which she received her first award, the Gemini Awards.
Maxim was the Indian edition of the United Kingdom-based international monthly men's magazine called Maxim. It was known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, none of which are nudes. The first issue of the Indian edition of Maxim was the January 2006 issue featuring Priyanka Chopra on the cover. The first issue was released on 28 December 2005. The magazine was the first international men's magazine to enter the Indian market and the 30th international version of Maxim. The magazine is no longer published in India.
Sardar Biglari is an American entrepreneur and is the founder, chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings, a holding company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BH. Biglari controls the Steak 'n Shake Company, First Guard Insurance, Abraxas Petroleum, Maxim, Southern Oil of Louisiana, Southern Pioneer Insurance and the Western Sizzlin' corporation, which are subsidiaries of Biglari Holdings. Biglari is also founder, chairman and CEO of Biglari Capital, the general partner to The Lion Fund.
Arianny Celeste is an American ring girl and model. She is a co-host on the automotive reality television series Overhaulin' and has been featured in Playboy magazine.
Biglari Holdings Inc. is an American holding company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, founded by entrepreneur Sardar Biglari. Its subsidiaries include Steak 'n Shake, Maxim magazine, First Guard Insurance, Southern Pioneer Insurance, Southern Oil, Abraxas Petroleum and Western Sizzlin'.
Melanie Iglesias is an American model and actress. After being voted Maxim's "Hometown Hotties" winner in 2010, she has been featured in magazines such as World's Most Beautiful, Esquire, and Vibe.
Dylan Frances Penn is an American model and actress. She is the daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright. Her early public roles included modeling campaigns for Gap Inc., a magazine cover for treats!, a music video appearance in Nick Jonas's "Chains" and an acting role in Elvis & Nixon.
Myla Grace Dalbesio is an American model, artist, and writer.
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