GOT WOKE, WENT….: Sports Illustrated’s Publisher Lays Off Entire Staff. Future Unclear.
Authentic’s move to terminate Arena’s license and Arena’s eliminating SI’s staff signals a shift in the company that operates SI, weeks after Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-Hour Energy, introduced himself to employees of Arena, including SI, as their new leader. Since then, Authentic has had exploratory conversations with and reached out to multiple parties about the possibility of taking over Arena’s role with SI, industry sources with knowledge of the situation tell FOS.
It’s unclear whether Authentic will indeed pursue the path of establishing a new operator or will now allow Arena to renegotiate its current deal. Sources tell FOS, though, that Authentic’s goal is to move the process along as quickly as possible. One way or another, says one insider, “Authentic will see Sports Illustrated through a necessary evolution.”
SI, meanwhile, has struggled to find its financial foothold in the digital age, culminating in a November report that suggested its website had published AI-generated reviews without disclosure. That fiasco was followed by a head-scratching town hall in December led by Bhargava with SI and other Arena employees that spanned more than 90 minutes and during which Bhargava said, “No one is important. I am not important. … The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.” Bhargava’s Simplify Inventions agreed to purchase roughly 65% of Arena in August, a $50 million deal.
Mile markers on the road to SI’s implosion:
● Valentina Sampaio is first transgender Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model.
● Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to Feature 56-Year-Old, Plus Sized, and Bald Finalists.
● Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Embraces #MeToo Era.
Or as America’s Newspaper of Record reported last year: Dad Punishes Misbehaving Son By Giving Him Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
UPDATE: Sports Illustrated: Mass Layoffs Edition.
(Updated and bumped.)