Variety editor Bart returns to post

Variety editor Peter Bart will return to work September 10 following a three-week suspension prompted by allegations in Los Angeles magazine that he used racist and homophobic slurs. The Los Angeles article by Amy Wallace quoted such Bart comments as "ghetto blacks, who can't even speak, can't get a job, and bury themselves in black-itude" and cited a former reporter who claims that Bart once said, "I'm not hiring any more fags, because they get sick and die." Cahners Business Information said in a statement that Bart would be required to attend diversity training and that his docked pay would be donated to "appropriate organizations dedicated to the promotion of diversity." Variety has also denied claims made in Wallace's article that Bart sold a script in 1996, despite the appearance of conflict of interest that such a sale would have engendered, and that Bart fabricated quotes for stories and used the magazine to reward friends and punish enemies. Wallace and Los Angeles stand by the story.