Ozy CEO Carlos Watson Won’t Host Documentary Emmys After Site Co-Founder Impersonated YouTube Exec On Fundraising Call

New York Times wrote that Rao changed the video call to a voice conversation, and sent a new address for Google executive Alex Piper, and then altered his voice to impersonate Piper in order to vouch for Ozy’s strong YouTube presence.Robinson said that numerous people who have reached out to him to say they believed the digitally altered voice actually belonged to Watson himself.

within a week’s span.In his letter, Watson did admit to several marketing falsehoods, including saying his self-titled talk show was picked up by A&E (it was not) and falsely advertising it’s marquee event, Ozy Fest. “In our effort to bring our best stories to a diverse array of people, we have often marketed hard.  Sometimes too hard, with bold claims and improper attribution,” he wrote. “That was wrong and I pledge to make sure we get better.”It’s unclear who the “we” are.

Embattled Ozy Media continues to make headlines as founder-CEO Carlo Watson tell the Today show that the company is not in fact shutting down in the wake of a fast unfolding financial scandal last week as it previous announced.

exposé shook the company, revealing leadership had inflated traffic numbers, not been entirely honest in advertising and once, notably, impersonated a Google executive in an effort to secure Goldman Sachs fundraising.“At Ozy, we have been blessed with a remarkable team of dedicated staff. Many of them are world-class journalists and experienced professionals to whom we owe tremendous gratitude, and who are wonderful colleagues.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe board of Ozy Media, the media and entertainment company accused of deceiving investors and advertisers, has had a change of heart and will not be shutting its doors, CEO Carlos Watson said Monday.“This is our Lazarus moment, if you will,” Watson said in an appearance on NBC News’ “Today” show.The about-face comes after Ozy announced Friday, Oct.

NEW YORK -- The CEO of Ozy Media on Monday called the company's announcement last week that it was shutting down “premature” and that after meeting with advertisers and other partners that it would continue to operate.“We have something special here,” Carlos Watson told CNBC on Monday morning.The board of directors of Ozy emailed a statement Friday saying the company was ceasing operations less than a week after a New York Times column raised questions about the media organization’s claims of

reported that Watson’s resignation letter arrived to the board’s chairman just prior to the governance committee meeting later in the day to determine his status. Watson joined NPR’s board in 2016 and was re-elected for his second, three-year term on the board, which would have begun this month.

The winners of the Documentary categories of the 42nd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards are in tonight, with PBS once again topping the contenders with 10 wins, while Netflix nabbed four trophies.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargePBS dominated the documentary portion of this year’s News and Documentary Emmys, landing ten awards overall — including three for “POV” and two for “Frontline,” which are two of the public broadcaster’s long-running, signature series.Netflix followed with four wins, then Showtime with three.

CNN led winners on Night 1 of The News and Documentary Emmy Awards, as it did last year, claiming seven statuettes. See the full list of winners here.

New York Times report on Sunday revealed that he had impersonated a Google executive on a fundraising call with Goldman Sachs.Harry Hawks, the former executive president and chief financial officer of Hearst Television, will serve as interim CFO during this transition period.“Following reports of conduct that is not in keeping with our standards or values, OZY has engaged Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to conduct a review of the company’s business activities.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeA day after a New York Times article revealed that Ozy Media chief operating officer Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive on a call with potential Goldman Sachs investors, the company has announced that the exec will take a leave of absence.Also as part of the news, Ozy’s board of directors has hired a law firm to review the company’s practices.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeOzy Media CEO Carlos Watson has informed the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that he will no longer host the documentary portion of the 42nd News & Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday night.Watson’s decision to step down comes following a New York Times report on Monday questioning the validity of Ozy’s various traffic claims, and revealing that Ozy co-founder Samir Rao had posed as a YouTube executive, touting Ozy’s success, during a

a New York Times exposé on the operations of his company. “Carlos Watson has graciously reached out to us and asked to be removed from his hosting duties tomorrow night so as not to distract the focus from the talented nominees in the documentary categories of the 42nd News & Documentary Emmy Awards,” a representative for the program told TheWrap.