Oz Media’s Swift Collapse Followed a Flurry of Resignations and Accusations

After years of hyping itself as a indispensable media player, Oz sooner or later became the discuss of the industry in newest days—albeit for the entire injurious reasons. And since the working week wrapped up Friday, The Novel York Instances, which first dropped a bombshell Sunday evening, reported that Oz Media equipped it was as soon as shutting down. “At Oz, now we had been blessed with a excellent crew of devoted workers,” the company’s board of directors talked about in an announcement. “Somewhat a whole lot of them are world-class journalists and experienced professionals to whom we owe enormous gratitude and who are very ideally suited colleagues. It’s miles attributable to this fact with the heaviest of hearts that we must always express on the present time that we’re closing Oz’s doors.”

The company’s swift crumple unfurled with a flurry of resignations, revelations, and accusations. Factual hours before Friday’s announcement, Oz CEO and cofounder Carlos Watson had resigned as a company director of NPR. Watson’s relinquishing his NPR title comes a day after Oz Media chairman Marc Lasry, a hedge-fund billionaire and the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, resigned after leading Oz’s operations for fair about three weeks. “I factor in that going ahead Oz requires trip in areas bask in disaster administration and investigations, where I make not possess particular skills,” Lasry said. And outdated to the Lasry news it was as soon as Katty Kay, a historical BBC anchor and one of Oz’s greatest stars, announcing that she was as soon as departing the media imprint, writing on Twitter that her exit was as soon as attributable to the “severe and deeply troubling” allegations made in opposition to Oz in The Novel York Instances. 

Oz’s P.R. nightmare has handiest worsened since Sunday’s Instances yarn, which published that the company’s chief working officer, Samir Rao, allegedly impersonated a YouTube government all the plan in which via a name with Goldman Sachs investors to deliver that Oz’s snarl material on the video-sharing web page was as soon as doing exceptionally well. Rao, who could maybe well well want dedicated securities fraud, was as soon as at the start put defended by each Lasry, who described the incident as an “uncomfortable one-time tournament,” and Watson, who talked about Rao had suffered “a extraordinarily private mental well being discipline.” Instances media columnist Ben Smith, who wrote the initial yarn, adopted up Thursday with claims from Brad Bessey, historical government producer of The Carlos Watson Current, that the Oz crew misled workers and guests about where this system would air. “Probabilities are you’ll perchance well well be playing a foul game with the fact,” Bessey wrote in a farewell electronic mail to Watson and Rao. An Oz spokesperson didn’t reply to the Instances’s ask for comment.

Sooner than Oz Media being shuttered on Friday afternoon, a want of most essential corporations suspended their ad partnerships, and Rao, who equipped “a leave of absence pending the outcomes of the investigation,” in step with the board, was as soon as not the handiest excessive-rating Oz staffer under scrutiny for claims regarding the company’s performance. In 2019, Watson referred to the now departed Lasry as a “lead investor” in a round of funding price $35 million, but Lasry’s investment reportedly amounted to fair $1 million, in step with Axios. And Sharon Osbourne this week accused Watson of lying about her and husband Ozzy Osbourne investing in the company. “This guy is the greatest shyster I actually possess ever considered in my life,” she suggested CNBC. An Oz Media spokesperson didn’t reply to CNBC’s ask for comment.

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