On Friday, former staff writer Hillel Aron was named interim editor-in-chief of LA Weekly, capping a tumultuous week that included PR gaffes by the paper’s new owners, and a boycott effort organized by former LA Weekly writers that killed the annual Sips & Sweets event after nearly all sponsors pulled out.
Aron was the only staff writer retained after most of his colleagues were laid off Nov. 29, an event former editor-in-chief Mara Shalhoup compared to the “Red Wedding” on “Game of Thrones.” Aron tells TheWrap that the layoffs took him by surprise, but admits he didn’t consider his own job at risk.