From the huffington post: As first reported by Jossip, four staff members at popular lad-mag Maxim were laid off Friday morning. A source inside the magazine said that senior associate editor John Devore and associate editor Steve Mazzucchi have been let go, as well as production editor Andrij Witiuk and fact-checker Bartley Morrisoe.

A source inside Maxim said that the turnover had “nothing to do” with the recent hiring of erstwhile gossip maven Chris Wilson, though the magazine will have to match Wilson’s current salary, rumored among industry insiders to be in the $70,000 range, not to mention perks (such as fully-subsidized weekend getaways). The Daily News reported yesterday that the former Page Sixer’s new job would in fact be a “higher-paying gig” than his position at The New York Post.

A source close to the magazine said that several staff members have felt a “palpable distrust” of editor-in-chief Jimmy Jellinek since he assumed leadership, and that certain editors felt that Jellinek had decided from the beginning “who would stay and who would go.” Wilson, whom ETP’s source said is a “known drinking buddy of Jellinek,” will be joined by current Stuff associate editor and sections editor Jeff Foss and Seth Kelly as new Maxim hires, as reported by FishbowlNY. Jellinek did not return a phone call made earlier this afternoon.