Female-focused site Jezebel shutting down after 16 years

The female-focused website Jezebel is shutting down after 16 years. Parent company G/O Media announced Thursday, Nov. 9, that 23 employees will be laid off as part of a broader restructuring of its digital news outlets.

In a memo to staff, G/O Media’s CEO Jim Spanfeller said he made the “difficult decision” after failing to find a buyer for Jezebel. The company, which owns sites like Gizmodo and Deadspin, laid off 13 employees in June.

Media news: G/O Media is shutting down Jezebel after failing to find a buyer. Memo just went out from Jim Spanfeller: pic.twitter.com/TN96LuVKbh

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) November 9, 2023

Spanfeller sent a memo to employees calling the decision to shut down after failing to find a buyer for the outlet, “excruciating.”

“I want to make clear this is in NO WAY a reflection on the Jezebel editorial team,” Spanfeller wrote. “They have had many successes over the past year or so and continue to do great work in difficult times.”

In the memo, Spanfeller goes on to compliment Jezebel’s legacy in coverage on core topics.

“Their urgent, breakthrough coverage of reproductive rights in this post-Roe era, as well as other key issues core to modern women, affirmed the brand’s storied legacy as the website that changed women’s media forever,” Spanfeller wrote.

While the memo brought with it somber news, Spanfeller left the door open for Jezebel, saying that he has not given up on it.

“Media is nothing if not resilient,” Spanfeller said. “So are its practitioners.”

It marks the latest cuts being made across the media industry amid a weak advertising environment. Vice Media announced Thursday, Nov. 9, that it is shutting down several shows and laying off dozens of staffers.