Hearst chief resigns after report alleging toxic culture, misconduct
23 July 2020
Hearst Magazines president Troy Young resigned Thursday following a report from The New York Times that alleged he fostered a toxic workplace environment, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios.
The big picture: Young is the latest high-level media executive to resign after employees complained about inappropriate behavior. From 2017-2019, many executives were ousted due to complaints of sexual harassment. This year, several business leaders have resigned amid allegations of insensitivity around race and diversity.
What they're saying: The memo, written to employees from Hearst President & Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Swartz, said he and Young "have agreed that it is in the best interest of all of us that he resign his position as president of Hearst Magazines, effective immediately."
- "I recognize that the incidents cited in the NYT article are particularly offensive to women and I want to make clear they do not represent who I am as a person," Young said in response to the Times' reporting.
Catch up quick: A New York Times report published Wednesday found that, in conversations with current and former employees at Hearst, Young repeatedly made lewd remarks to employees.
Go deeper:
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.