Vox Media Not Renewing Deal with Controversial Internet Personality Taylor Lorenz

Progressive media firm Vox Media is not renewing its distribution deal with Taylor Lorenz, the controversial New York Times and Washington Post alum who was recently criticized for a post that appeared to celebrate the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Semafor’s Max Tani got the scoop:

Vox Media is ending its deal to distribute Taylor Lorenz’s podcast and YouTube show. The company had a short-term partnership with the high-profile tech reporter that is set to expire at the beginning of the year, Semafor has learned.

The company announced its partnership with Lorenz earlier this year in Axios, which dubbed the distribution deal a “huge win” for the company, as it tried to partner with premiere podcast talent on distribution, monetization and strategy. Still, while Lorenz remains one of the most talked-about journalists in digital media, her social media persona is a magnet for criticism both for her and for media companies associated with her.

Vox’s decision not to renew the show was made before Lorenz’s comments this week, in which she appeared to justify the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO as an expression of public discontent.

In a series of posts last week Lorenz happily reacted to Thompson’s murder, musing “And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” and sharing celebratory images with captions like “CEO DOWN.” and “Healthcare Executive DOWN!”

She later defended her conduct in a Substack post, calling it “natural” for people who “have watched a loved one die because an insurance conglomerate has denied their life saving treatment as a cost cutting measure,” to ” wish that the people who run such conglomerates would suffer the same fate.”

“Let me be super clear: my post uses a collective ‘we’ and is explaining the public sentiment. It is not me personally saying ‘I want these executives dead and so we should kill them,'” she said, explaining one of her original social media posts. “I am explaining that thousands of Americans (myself included) are fed up with our barbaric healthcare system and the people at the top who rake in millions while inflicting pain, suffering, and death on millions of innocent people.”

Lorenz disputed the accuracy of Tani’s reporting on social media, writing that “Media continuers to lie and say that Vox media has parted ways w me. Nothing could be further from the truth. I own 100% of my show and distribute it myself on YouTube, not Vox. Nothing about my relationship w Vox’s ad sales has changed. Sorry to break it to u but the media lies!”

Update: In a statement to Mediaite, Lorenz said: “Power User is my show. I own 100% of Power User and I distribute it myself on YouTube. I own my show outright and I own all of the IP related to Power User. No media company or entity other than me can ever make a decision about Power User. Vox has been an amazing partner in helping me get the show off the ground and nothing in terms of my relationship to the company has changed. Semafor falsely claimed Vox was “ending its deal to distribute” my show and link to my YouTube. Again, I distribute my own show on YouTube. It is published to my YouTube channel, not Vox’s. Vox has not ended anything and I continue to work with them. The next episode of Power User will be out on Thursday.”