TheWrap found and CEO Sharon Waxman finds herself in hot water following a report from The Daily Beast, revealing a toxic work environment for the media outlet.
20 current and former TheWrap staffers spoke to The Daily Beast regarding the work environment and culture of fear at the prominent outlet. According to the report, Waxman has forced out one staffer after another and left current employees searching for their way out of the company.
Most of the former staffers speaking out had left the media outlet within the past two years.
“It was very The Devil Wears Prada. It was really demoralizing and degrading. I would have to emotionally shut down and smile and nod,” the ex-employee said.
Waxman has reportedly screaming outbursts at employees. In addition, she engages in demeaning conduct while berated employees for dealing with family emergencies during work hours. Furthermore, the founder and CEO threatened one employee due to them working from home while taking care of an injured child.
“I’ve been around CEOs and politicians and like, actually important powerful people, and people that should be scary, like prisoners, and she is the scariest person I’ve ever met,” another former TheWrap writer said
Furthermore, these former and current employees don’t feel they can turn to human resources due to Waxman’s ex-husband serving as the department for TheWrap.
After The Daily Beast reached out for comment, Waxman assembled workers for a meeting, promising to do better and bring in outside advising to develop a better workplace culture.
“I was very sorry to learn that some current and former employees have had experiences at TheWrap that are not consistent with our values or the environment we work to foster. Providing a safe, enjoyable, and thriving workplace is essential to any business, and something we have always made a priority from the time we started 12 years ago,” Waxman wrote in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“While I don’t believe these allegations accurately reflect our current work environment, it’s clear that we have some work to do, and I am committed to doing it.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
