How to Get Featured in Us Weekly

Us Weekly is one of the most recognised consumer titles in the world, which is why founders ask about it. It is also a celebrity newsroom, which is why the honest answer is usually no.

Here is how coverage there works, and how to tell whether you are anywhere near it.

What Us Weekly covers

Entertainment and the people in it. Film, television, music, reality formats, relationships, red carpets and public life, alongside lifestyle and shopping content aimed at the same reader.

The currency is public interest. A piece runs because readers already have a reason to care about the person in it, or because the situation itself is remarkable enough to carry the story without a familiar name attached.

That is a colder test than it sounds, and it is applied consistently. Being impressive is not the same as being of public interest, and the distinction decides most pitches before anyone reads the second paragraph.

Who realistically gets covered

Actors, musicians, television personalities, athletes with a public profile, and people currently attached to something the audience is watching. Occasionally, people with no profile at all whose story is genuinely extraordinary and verifiable.

Not, in almost all cases, a founder with a successful business and no public presence. If that describes you, this is probably not your title, and the useful thing an agency can do is say so early rather than bill you for a year of pitching into a desk that was never going to be interested.

Consumer brands do have a path, but it runs through product and shopping coverage rather than through profiles. That is a real route with real value, and it is a different route.

There is a third category worth understanding: people adjacent to a story already running. A lawyer acting in a case the title is covering, a former colleague with a first-hand account, a professional who can explain something readers are confused about. That is how most people without a public profile end up in celebrity media, and it turns on being reachable while the story is live rather than on pitching.

How access actually works

Entertainment reporting runs on representation. Publicists, managers, studios, labels, networks and event organisers decide who is available, what can be asked and when. Exclusives are given, negotiated and traded on relationships, not bought from a vendor.

Practically, that means the work sits upstream of the pitch. If you have a client with a public profile, the value is in being the person a writer can reach quickly, with something usable, at the moment a story is live.

Verification matters as well. An unsupported claim about a named person is a legal problem rather than a scoop, so documents, dates, named sources and clearable photography are what make an editor comfortable running something.

The routes in

• Earned editorial. The newsroom decides. Free, competitive, and not for sale from us or anyone else.
• Expert comment. On the lifestyle side, a qualified voice on a health, money or relationships question can get quoted on deadline.
• Product and shopping coverage. Often carries affiliate links, so the publication may earn commission on a sale. That is a disclosure, not paid inclusion.
• Advertising and branded content. Paid, labelled by the publication, and a separate product from editorial. See sponsored, branded and advertorial explained.

If someone offers you a guaranteed editorial feature at a celebrity title, read is guaranteed PR legit before you pay anything. Nobody controls that decision.

It is worth being precise afterwards as well. A quote in a lifestyle piece, a product in a round-up and a profile are three different outcomes that all get described as a feature, and claiming the largest of them when you received the smallest is exactly the sort of thing an investor or a journalist eventually checks.

What to do if this is not your title

Most people asking about celebrity media actually want the recognition that comes with a name their customers know. That is achievable without a celebrity story, through consumer and business titles where expertise is the qualifier rather than fame.

Building a public profile is also a sequence rather than a purchase. Coverage tends to follow coverage, and a founder with a visible record of substantive features is a far easier subject for any newsroom to consider later. Our guide on choosing the right publication sets out how to sequence that.

What we do

We assess the story first and tell you whether there is one. When there is, we build it properly, get the assets and the permissions in order, and approach the right people at the right time.

When there is not, we say so. We do not sell placements in newsrooms we do not control, and a plan that starts with an honest no is worth more than one that starts with a promise.

Frequently asked questions

Can I pay for a feature in Us Weekly?

You can pay for advertising or branded content, which the publication labels as commercial. Editorial coverage is a newsroom decision and is not available to buy.

I run a successful company. Is that enough?

On its own, usually not. Celebrity titles cover public interest rather than commercial success, so a business story generally belongs in business or consumer service media.

How do brands get into shopping coverage?

Through product submission and gifting to the relevant desk, judged on the product, price and timing. Those pages often carry affiliate links, which is disclosed by the publication.