An Emmy Award-winning television producer resigned from Ozy Media this summer, it emerged on Thursday, after he discovered he was producing a show for the embattled company without there being a network on which to air it.
Brad Bessey joined Ozy Media in June 2020, to work on The Carlos Watson Show - a daily, half-hour talk show presented by Watson, who is also Ozy's CEO.
He was told repeatedly that the show would be broadcast on the cable channel A&E.
But this summer he discovered that there was no agreement with A&E, and that the show would just appear on Ozy's YouTube channel.
Bessey and his team had told guests that they were appearing on a show to be broadcast on A&E, and said he was deeply troubled by the duplicity.
'You are playing a dangerous game with the truth,' he wrote in his resignation email, obtained by The New York Times.
'The consequences of offering an A&E show to guests when we don't have one to offer are catastrophic for Ozy and for me.'
Brad Bessey, a veteran television producer, was hired by Ozy in June 2020. In August he resigned, having discovered that the show he produced had no network on which to air it
The Carlos Watson Show, which was broadcast on YouTube, was going to be shown on A&E, Watson and others told Bessey. He later found out that no deal had been reached. Watson (left) is pictured interviewing Terry Crews for the first episode
Despite the deception, the show managed to attract multiple big-name guests for its interviews, filmed virtually because of COVID, including Dr Anthony Fauci, Scarlett Johansson and Megyn Kelly.
Bessey's account comes amid mounting problems for the media startup, which was founded in 2013 and produces a digital magazine, newsletter and podcast in addition to the show.
Bessey said that he was shocked by the cavalier attitude of the company's founders
On Thursday the chairman of the company resigned after it emerged that the chief operating officer, Samir Rao, had posed as a YouTube executive on a call with Goldman Sachs, to discuss a possible $40 million investment.
Revelations about Rao, a co-founder of the company, were followed by allegations of an extreme and exhausting workplace.
Marc Lasry, the billionaire financier admitted that Ozy was in dire need of 'crisis management' as he resigned his position.
He told the New York Times: 'I believe that going forward Ozy requires experience in areas like crisis management and investigations, where I do not have particular expertise'.
'For that reason, I have stepped down from the company's board. I remain an investor in the company and wish it the best going forward.'
Ozy Media Chairman Marc Lasry resigned on Thursday, days after a report found that the company's co-founder Samir Rao allegedly impersonated a YouTube executive on a call with potential investors
The company faces further scrutiny after being accused of using smoke-and-mirrors business tactics when it tried to throw a Fyre Festival-like event in 2019 in New York's Central Park.
On Tuesday, the Ozy board announced it had hired a law firm to investigate the company's 'business activities' and leadership team, the NY Times reported.
Rao had allegedly set up a videoconference call with Goldman Sachs on Feb. 2 that included an appearance by Piper to discuss Ozy's standing on the social media platform.
But when it came time for Piper to talk, Goldman Sachs officials received a notice that the YouTube exec was running late and having trouble logging into Zoom.
The videoconference then switched over to an old-fashioned telephone call where Rao allegedly began impersonating Piper.
During the call, Rao - as Piper - boasted that Ozy had a huge subscriber base, garnered significant ad dollars and was run by an incredible leader, all to win favor with Goldman Sachs.
The company's co-founder Samir Rao (right) allegedly impersonated a YouTube executive Alex Piper (left) on a call with potential investors
Ozy had also allegedly claimed it had a great relationship with YouTube, where many of its videos attracted more than a million views despite the company having only about 95,500 subscribers.
Goldman Sachs officials described the call as unnatural, almost sounding 'digitally altered,' the Times reported.
After the call, a Goldman Sachs official emailed a confused Piper, who said that he was never on the call.
YouTube launched its own investigation after finding that someone had impersonated one of their executives, which quickly led them to identify Rao.
Carlos Watson, Ozy's chief executive officer, contacted Goldman Sachs and also confirmed that Rao was the one on the call, apologizing profusely for his actions.
Watson blamed the incident on Rao's mental health.
Lasry, who invested just $1 million in the startup - according to Axios - had previously defended Watson and the company following the report.
In a statement to the Times, he wrote, 'The board was made aware of the incident, and we fully support the way it was handled.'
He added, 'The incident was an unfortunate one-time event, and Carlos and his team showed the kind of compassion we would all want if any of us faced a difficult situation in our own lives.'
Lasry's resignation comes as several former Ozy employees shared stories of alleged systematic abuse in the workplace that was understaffed and overworked, as well as reports that the company cashed in on insurance money for a failed festival in 2019.
Marc Lasry, right, had defended Ozy Media and its leadership following the report of co-founder Samir Rao impersonating a YouTube exec. Lasry is pictured in January with Michael Jordan, left, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
Staff at Ozy have accused Rao of being a bully and creating a toxic work atmosphere.
Rao, also allegedly once demanded to see an employee's medical records after she suffered a panic attack and extreme depression after working 18-hour days at the 'abusive' firm.
Eva Rodriguez, 24, a creative director for Ozy since 2017, was rushed to the ER and later admitted into a six-week outpatient program for 'extremely depressed people' after the panic attack late last year.
'I felt so helpless because I desperately needed to sleep and take time off, but Carlos had expressed how critical my role is to the show,' Rodriguez told CNN Business in
