The Hollywood Reporter laid off four staffers on Friday, including executive managing editor Sudie Redmond, deputy editor Degen Pener, copy editor and film critic Sheri Linden and video editor Colin Burgess, TheWrap has learned.
Redmond was one of the first hires by former editor Janice Min. TheWrap has reached out to Penske for comment.
Just days ago, the magazine cut its special correspondent Lachlan Cartwright, Semafor reported, in addition to an unspecified number of Penske Media Corporation layoffs on the business side. Those dismissals were first reported in Rick Ellis’ Too Much TV newsletter.
Ellis previously wrote that thanks to new co-editor-in-chief Maer Roshan, THR is shifting into a “more entertainment lifestyle” direction and is shifting to focus less on the entertainment industry itself.
In July, Ellis quoted a brand manager who said, “Just from watching THR in recent months, it feels as if the stories billed as ‘new’ are often things [that] are fairly lightweight. Interviews done days in advance, articles promoting new trailers and casting information. It’s not that the journalism is bad. But it certainly makes THR a less vital daily read for me.”
The publication bid farewell to longtime TV editor Lesley Goldberg, who has been with the outlet since 2003, in June, as well as senior editor of diversity and inclusion Rebecca Sun. Her reporting has won both National Arts & Entertainment Journalism and Southern California Journalism awards from the Los Angeles Press Club.
As TheWrap reported at the time, VP of business development and partnerships Cathy Field also exited in June. She had been been with the publication since 2010.
The Hollywood Reporter’s vice president and publisher Elisabeth Rabishaw announced in June that she was retiring after 14 years, but would stay on as a consultant.
Penske also owns Variety, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Women’s Wear Daily.
