Wenner Media has laid off more than a dozen staffers on Wednesday across Rolling Stone, Us Weekly and Men’s Journal magazines.
The cuts include multiple senior level edit staffers, including David Fricke, senior writer at Rolling Stone, Sasha Morrison, fashion director at Us Weekly, Albert Lee, special projects at Us Weekly and Kevin O’Leary, senior writer at Us Weekly.
Fricke, however, is set to continue to contribute to the magazine. He will be a contract writer no longer based at the office, a source told The Hollywood Reporter.
“To be clear: David Fricke isn’t leaving Rolling Stone. He’s still a Sr Writer and he’ll be in the magazine and on the site as much as ever,” managing editor Will Dana wrote on Twitter after this article was initially published.
Additionally, Nina Pearlman, special projects editor at Us Weekly and Rolling Stone, and Deborah Dragon, deputy photo editor for Rolling Stone, were among those laid off.
A company spokesperson declined comment on the record.
An editor not a part of the cutbacks: Sean Woods, the deputy managing editor who oversaw the discredited Nov. 2014 University of Virginia campus rape story.
The layoffs are affecting both the edit and business sides of the magazine company in a reallocation of resources toward digital efforts, which include the recent hiring of ESPN’s Josh Swade as head of video.
9:30 pm, June 18 Updated with additional information. Clarifies Fricke’s status, said to be a contract writer.
