LA Weekly Staff “Eviscerated” by Layoffs, Says Editor

LA Weekly editor Mara Shalhoup on Wednesday afternoon posted a series of 12 tweets that spelled out one shocking announcement: Nine of 13 editorial staffers had been laid off at the publication, “including all five editors and all but one staff writer.”

Some of those are managing editors are Drew Tewksbury, music editor Andy Hermann, arts and culture editor Gwynedd Stuart and food editor Katherine Spiers.

The decimation of the LA Weekly staff — described by Shalhoup as a “Red Wedding”-style event, referencing Game of Thrones’ iconic massacre scene from Season 3, Episode 9 titled “The Rains of Castamere” — comes more than a month after the alternative city paper had been sold to a mysterious buyer. The Los Angeles Times named the buyer as Semanal Media, a new entity created for the purpose of this transaction.

In a blog post on Friday by Brian Calle revealed the identity of the new owners. “Rumors are rampant and the assumption is that someone bought the Weekly for some nefarious reason. But that’s not the case,” he wrote. “Our new ownership team is a patchwork of people who care about Los Angeles, care about the community and want to once again see an incredibly relevant, thriving L.A. Weekly with edge and grit that becomes the cultural center of the city.”

Those investors include: Calle, formerly of the Southern California News Group; David Welch, an L.A.-based attorney; Kevin Xu, a philanthropist and investor; Steve Mehr, an attorney and investor; Paul Makarechian, a boutique hotel developer; Mike Mugel, a real estate redeveloper; and Andy Bequer, a Southern California–based investor. (Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s law school, also plans to invest, the article stated.)

Back to the layoffs. “We were expecting there to be some pain with the sale of LA Weekly,” Shalhoup posted. “But we weren’t expecting the Red Wedding. That’s how deep the cuts are.” 

The editor then went on to compliment her staff one by one, elevating the praise above and beyond well-placed kind words to promote their work in an effort to shine a spotlight on those journalists who are now in need of new jobs. 

“But first let me say what an incredible honor it has been to work at this legendary place, with this dream team of journalists,” she wrote, before noting their 21 nominations at Sunday night’s L.A. Press Club Southern California Journalism Awards. “Let me now talk about how hard-working these journalists are, how creative, how devoted, how YOU SHOULD HIRE THEM NOW.”

After highlighting their work, Shalhoup ended her series of posts with a note of gratitude.

“Thank you, all of you at LA Weekly, for kicking so much ass. I was hoping for a less heartbreaking ending, but I’m glad we all got to tell the story of this city together,” tweeted Shalhoup, who, according to her Twitter bio, had previously served as editor of Chicago Reader and Creative Loafing Atlanta and is the author of BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family.

The rest of her tweets can be seen below. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Shalhoup for additional comment. 

Dec. 1, 12:19 p.m.: Updated to include news of LA Weekly’s new ownership. 

We were expecting there to be some pain with the sale of @LAWeekly. But we weren’t expecting the Red Wedding. That’s how deep the cuts are. 1/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

But first let me say what an incredible honor it has been to work at this legendary place, with this dream team of journalists. 2/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

The dream team—who recently earned 21 @LAPressClub nominations—has been eviscerated. Nine of 13 editorial staffers are gone, including all five editors and all but one staff writer. 3/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

Let me now talk about how hard-working these journalists are, how creative, how devoted, how YOU SHOULD HIRE THEM NOW. 4/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

There is no better music editor than @AndyHermannLA. He also was the only L.A. Weekly staffer thinking clearly enough on election night to articulate what we all felt. https://t.co/4u5Q58Mh4t 5/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

.@GwynnStu is the mastermind behind L.A. Weekly’s culture coverage and still finds time write magnificent stories like this one. (I’ve had the honor of hiring her in three cities!) https://t.co/ksWd7XKvw2 6/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

Managing editor @DrewTewksbury has saved the day so many times, including all the days I was on maternity leave. And the work he has done with our videos is miraculous. 7/ https://t.co/Dpfb1oehW0

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

Food editor @katherinespiers makes the city more interesting with her lovely observations about L.A. life, such as: “A happy Angeleno is lit from within, confident that they’re living in one of the world’s more interesting cities.” https://t.co/KqW7Oqjo9S 8/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

Film critic @AWolfeful is my hero. She excels at her craft and goes way beyond what’s expected of her, writing deeply researched and sometimes disturbing stories. For example: https://t.co/MorYbtImtV 9/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

News writer @DennisJRomero is a machine. He somehow writes two stories per day, then turns around and does this: https://t.co/VO4JJB5KlS 10/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

I first worked with @JasonMcGahan when he was a freelance investigative reporter and was so excited when I got the chance to hire him. This recent cover story of his has one of my favorite endings (warning: also heartbreaking).https://t.co/usBJMTkMVR 11/

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017

Thank you, all of you at @LAWeekly, for kicking so much ass. I was hoping for a less heartbreaking ending, but I’m glad we all got to tell the story of this city together. 12/12

— Mara Shalhoup (@mshalhoup) November 29, 2017