Biography of 1950s gossip columnist and radio show announcer Walter Winchell (Stanley Tucci) who wrote in a very unorthodox style, but grabbed the public's attention with his dirt on public figures. However, as shown, he lived far from a clean life himself. He lived out of a hotel room away from his family where he fraternized with a known prostitute (Glynne Headley) who was, of course, seeking to make her break in show business. Paul Giamatti co-stars as Winchell's long-suffering ghost writer and friend who drew his egotistical attacks.