According to multiple reports by the New York Post, Us Weekly staffers are “livid” and “appalled” over an email sent by boy king Gus Wenner, head of Wenner Media’s digital operations and son of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, announcing that Us had been sold to American Media. Jezebel has obtained that email.
Dear All,
We want to share the news that today Us Weekly was purchased by American Media Inc. While we are sad to say goodbye to a great brand and to even better people, this is a key step to Wenner Media’s path forward.
I would like to give a special thank you to Mike Steele and Vicci Rose. It has been an honor to work with you and your teams for the last several years. Your talent and commitment have meant a great deal to my family and have inspired me many times over.
Us Weekly has been a leader in celebrity news for many years and defined a new approach to the category, making it one of the great magazine success stories of the past three decades. We are immensely proud of that record and all that has been accomplished. Many people played a role and we are grateful to all of them. We are pleased that Us Weekly is going to a new and welcoming home.
Over the course of the next several months, we will be implementing a plan to double down on the growth of our remaining brands — Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal and Glixel. There is no doubt, without Us Weekly, our company will be different, and as a result, we must become different. I could not be more excited for the journey ahead and I look forward to working with the incredible people that will bring it to life.
Us Weekly will continue to operate from our offices for the next several months during a transition period.
We sincerely wish everyone at Us continued success. We will be watching closely and cheering you on.
Best,
Gus Wenner
On Wednesday, Page Six reported that “the tone-deaf company-wide missive hurt the feelings of an already suffering staff—who are all in the dark about what will happen to their jobs once the venerable tabloid changes hands—by framing the sale as a boost for Wenner Media.”
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