Ozy Media Announces It’s Shutting Down Just Days After Stunning NY Times Exposé

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 29: Carlos Watson records a TV debate for Take On America With OZY at The Bently Reserve on October 29, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images)

Days after a bombshell New York Times report dropped, Ozy Media announced that it is shutting down.

Times media columnist Ben Smith — whose story on Ozy took the media world by storm — broke news Friday that the digital media company is shuttering.

“At Ozy, we have been blessed with a remarkable team of dedicated staff,” the company’s board of directors said in a statement. “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.”

Smith’s initial report included a lot of stunning details, the most significant being that someone at Ozy allegedly impersonated a YouTube executive on a call with investors.

A subsequent report from Smith looked into how a number of people were apparently duped by claims surrounding a show hosted by Ozy Media CEO and co-founder Carlos Watson. As Smith reports, people working on the show were told it would be airing on A&E, and some prominent guests Watson spoke with were told the same. It turned out this was not actually happening.

Additionally, Sharon Osbourne publicly said this week Watson’s previous claims she invested in the company were false.

The fallout from Smith’s reporting led to Ozy Media chairman Marc Lasry resigning, and Watson resigned from his position on NPR’s board of directors.