G/O Media Shuts Down Jezebel.com Effective Immediately

By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | November 9, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | November 9, 2023 |

G/O Media has to be the worst-run web-publishing company in the business. When the company bought the former Gawker sites, they lost all their Deadspin writers because they wouldn’t let them write about politics — many of them went on to form the successful Defector. They’ve decimated The A.V. Club, where they now create bad, inaccurate listicles with ChatGPT; I09 has been sucked into Gizmodo; a number of writers left Kotaku to form their own site; and about 75 percent of Jezebel’s staff resigned in 2021. The Editor in Chief also resigned over the summer because of staff mistreatment.

Now, G/O is shutting down Jezebel completely. Immediately. An hour ago, they published that the SAG-AFTRA strike had ended. Now, Jezebel is over. Twenty-three staff members have reportedly been laid off. They’ve all been kicked out of their Slacks and reportedly lost access to their email.

G/O Media claims they made attempts to sell the property because of the lack of synergy between advertising partners between its various sites. It could not successfully find a buyer. They reportedly are still hoping to find one.

The number of websites that cover entertainment, feminism, and politics is down to … there’s still The Mary Sue. And Pajiba. The three of us have a few writers in common over the years, including Kylie Cheung, who wrote for all three of us and covered abortion issues for Jezebel better than just about anyone on the Internet.

It’s a big loss. I hope the talented, quick-witted writers find new gigs soon.

via Will Sommer