Ozy Media closes after damaging New York Times report

Ozy Media, a struggling media start-up recently accused of highly questionable business practices, is shutting down.

The struggling company has come under scrutiny following a startling New York Times story this week.

The story recalls a meeting earlier this year in which Ozy co-founder Samir Rao posed as a YouTube executive during a conference call with potential investors and profiled rave about the company’s content on the video platform.

Ozy’s other co-founder, Carlos Watson, blamed the incident on a mental health crisis. The company’s board declined to investigate, presenting it as an unfortunate and one-time event.

Watson did not immediately respond to calls for comment. He dismissed the Times original story as a “ridiculous blow” in a response on social media.

News of the incident sparked further scrutiny from the company, which has been accused of inflating its web traffic. Major advertisers have put their campaigns on hold with the company on hiatus, and senior staff including Ozy Chairman Marc Lasry and ex-BBC journalist Katty Kay have resigned.

“At Ozy, we are fortunate to have a remarkable team of dedicated staff,” the company said. in a statement to Ben Smith, who is the author of the Times article. “Many of them are world-class journalists and experienced professionals to whom we owe immense gratitude, and who are wonderful colleagues. It is therefore with a heavy heart that we must announce today that we are closing the doors of Ozy.

Smith previously worked as the editor of BuzzFeed, the parent company of HuffPost.