Mark Duffy, best known by his nom de plume “Copyranter,” has been fired from BuzzFeed, he tweeted on Friday.
“Got fired from BuzzFeed this week (my content wasn’t “BuzzFeedy” enough). Already freelancing, I want a full-time gig,” Duffy said.
Duffy was longtime copywriter for an ad agency whose anonymous “Copyranter” blog criticized the industry in which he worked. BuzzFeed took him on in April 2012, one of editor-in-chief Ben Smith’s first big hires as the site began to ramp up its journalism.
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At the time, Smith said Duffy was the perfect fit for the site: “Mark’s coverage of the ad industry has been provoking ‘OMG,’ ‘WTF’ and, often, ‘FAIL’ reactions for years, and have been all over my personal blog, BuzzFeed, and much of the Internet and the social web. He was here in spirit long before he started work, and I’m thrilled he’s joining us.”
Duffy has three more weeks at BuzzFeed, he posted on Facebook.
BuzzFeed declined comment, as did Duffy.
“I’ve got my own story to tell,” he told TheWrap.