“I’m proud that we stood by him while he struggled, and we’re all glad to see him now thriving again,” Mr. Watson said.
Mr. Rao did not reply to requests for comment.
In its report, The Times also raised questions about claims Ozy made concerning the number of people who had visited its website or watched its online videos.
On Tuesday, Ozy’s board said it had hired Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, a large international firm with headquarters in New York, to investigate the company’s “business activities” and its leadership team. In a statement announcing the investigation, the board also said it had asked Mr. Rao to take a leave of absence.
Also on Tuesday, Mr. Watson pulled out of his scheduled appearance as the host of an Emmys ceremony scheduled for Wednesday night to honor documentary filmmakers, part of the 42nd News and Documentary Emmy Awards. An Emmys spokesperson confirmed that Mr. Watson had asked to be removed as the host “so as not to distract the focus from the talented nominees in the documentary categories.”
And Ozy Fest, a music and ideas festival run by the company that was scheduled to take place Oct. 16-17 in Miami, has been canceled, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Mr. Watson, a skilled networker who was an MSNBC anchor early in his career, has been the public face of Ozy since it started eight years ago. In addition to Mr. Conway, Ozy’s early investors included Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of Emerson Collective, and David Drummond, the former chief legal officer at Google.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/business/media/katty-kay-ozy-media.html
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