Ozy CEO: “Premature” to shut down a week after scandal | Entertainment

New York (AP) — Monday’s CEO of Ozy Media wants to stay “premature” to shut down despite a scandal-filled week that exposed Ozy as a media company with no large audience Said.

Carlos Watson, a former cable news commentator and host who founded Ozy in 2013, told CNBC on Monday morning that he met with advertisers and investors over the weekend and hopes Ozy will continue to exist.

In a statement sent by email on Monday, the company characterized last week’s troubles as “road bumps” that “trying to overcome” and “excited to resume and will operate in the next few years. Ozy is trying to get employees back, the newsletter will resume this week, and video production will resume at the end of the month.

Ozy’s board said Friday that the company was shut down.Shutdown occurred in less than a week New York Times column He raised questions about the claims of millions of viewers and readers’ media organizations, while at the same time pointing out potential cases of securities fraud.

The story caused canceled shows, internal investigations, investor concerns, and a high-level departure at the company before it closed on Friday.

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According to a Times article, Ozzy’s chief operating officer and co-founder, Samil Lao, impersonated a YouTube executive on a phone call with Goldman Sachs while trying to raise money from an investment bank. Regarding the call, Watson said: I wasn’t there. He then went on to say that they finally “understood what had happened,” but gave no further explanation. I have a lot of friends there. “

According to the website Crunchbase, Ozy in Mountain View, California, which raised more than $ 70 million from investors in late 2019, has long been suspected of boosting viewership. Watson claimed last week that Ozy’s newsletter had 25 million subscribers and YouTube had 30 million views. The brand’s much larger presence, the New York Times, states that it has 15 million newsletter readers. According to Comscore data, the newspaper reported that less than 500,000 people visited Ozy’s website in June and July. Ozy At first glance Instead of laying the real foundation for readers and viewers, we pay for many of our viewers.

To reopen, the company needs to reestablish trust with its employees, advertisers and investors. It shut down suddenly and afflicted the workers. It was caught in some dishonest situations other than traffic.that Reportedly to people I was planning to appear on cable TV in the interview series “Carlos Watson Show”, but the episode was uploaded to YouTube. Watson interviewed celebrities like Bill Gates and Matthew McConaughey for an online show. On CNBC’s Monday, Watson said, “We originally devised the show at A & E,” then “moved to YouTube,” and “there were a lot of misunderstandings.”

Marc Lasry, a hedge fund billionaire and co-owner of Milwaukee Bucks, who was appointed chairman of Ozzy in September, blamed Ozzy’s need for someone with crisis management and investigative experience on Thursday. I resigned. He remained an investor. A prominent employee, former BBC anchor Katty Kay, resigned earlier this week, and early investors, a venture capital firm, abandoned Ozy shares. The board reportedly hired a law firm to consider Ozy’s business activities.

Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

Ozy CEO: “Premature” to shut down a week after scandal | Entertainment

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