Ozy Media is shutting down after reports about misconduct and lies at the company, NYT says
Carlos Watson, founder of the US online magazine OZY.com, talks in Berlin, Germany, 06 October 2014.
Britta Pedersen | picture alliance | Getty Images
Ozy Media’s board on Friday announced that the company is shutting down, according to The New York Times.
“At Ozy, we have been blessed with a remarkable team of dedicated staff,” the company’s board told The New York Times. “Many of them are world-class journalists and experienced professionals to whom we owe tremendous gratitude and who are wonderful colleagues. It is therefore with the heaviest of hearts that we must announce today that we are closing Ozy’s doors.”
A spokesperson for Ozy Media wasn’t immediately available for comment. According to Axios, which also reported Ozy Media is shutting down, the company had 75 full-time employees.
The news follows a week of reporting on misconduct and lies at the company.
The New York Times first reported on Sunday that an Ozy executive later revealed to be COO Samir Rao, impersonated a YouTube executive on a conference call with Goldman Sachs, which was considering a $40 million investment in the company. The company had also allegedly vastly inflated its monthly unique visitors, a metric used by media companies to attract advertisers.
That report set off a tailspin at the company.
On Wednesday, former BBC anchor Katty Kay, and one of Ozy Media’s executive producers, resigned from the company amid the fallout.
On Thursday, Marc Lasry resigned as the chair of Ozy Media after just three weeks on the job. Billionaire investor Lasry is the CEO of Avenue Capital Group and owner of NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks. “
“I believe that going forward Ozy requires experience in areas like crisis management and investigations, where I do not have particular expertise,” Lasry said on Thursday. He added that he remains an investor in Ozy Media.
CNBC also reported on Thursday that Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson lied when he claimed Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne invested in his company. The Osbournes filed a trademark lawsuit in 2017 over the company’s name Ozy Fest, which is the firm’s annual concert and festival. Osbourne told CNBC Watson leveraged his connections with billionaire Ozy Media investor Laurene Powell Jobs to threaten lawsuits. “This guy is the biggest shyster I have ever seen in my life,” Osbourne said.
Ozy Media also promised former producers that it was filming a show for A&E, according to a report from The New York Times on Thursday. But producers discovered that, too, was a lie, and that A&E never had plans to air interviews Ozy Media had filmed, according to The New York Times.
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