Ozy Media, the digital media company that came under intense scrutiny for its business practices in recent days, announced on Friday that it was shutting down, following a sudden flight of investors and advertisers and bringing to a close a strange chapter in the annals of online journalism. (NYT)
The company, founded in 2013 by Carlos Watson and business partner Samir Rao, faced a slew of damning reports that began when Rao was accused of impersonating a YouTube executive on an investor conference call in February, a revelation that came out earlier last week. (Adweek)
Over the last several days, former BBC journalist Katty Kay publicly resigned, advertisers ran for the hills, and its chairman Marc Lasry—owner of the NBA World Champion Milwaukee Bucks—resigned just three weeks after taking the post. (The Verge)
Watson, who won an Emmy in the news discussion and analysis category last year for the show OWN Spotlight: Black Women OWN the Conversation, which he hosted on the Oprah Winfrey Network, stepped down from hosting a documentary Emmy awards show on Wednesday night. (The Guardian)
Ozy also promised former company producers that it was filming a show for A&E, according to a Times report from Ben Smith published Thursday. But producers discovered that this was bogus, and that A&E never had plans to air interviews Ozy had filmed. (TVNewser)