PJ Vogt, host of the popular podcast ‘Reply All’, took leave on Wednesday after complaints from former colleagues that he and a senior reporter had contributed to a toxic work environment and stood together against union efforts to diversify staff.
Mr. Vogt and the senior reporter, Sruthi Pinnamaneni, each apologized in their statements on Twitter on Wednesday. Mrs. Pinnamaneni also stepped back from her work on the podcast, according to an email late Wednesday to staff at Gimlet Media, which produces ‘Reply All’ from the company’s managing director.
The accusations come after the podcast released its second episode in a series on the reports of discrimination in the popular video series Bon Appétit. Since George Floyd was assassinated at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis last year, newsrooms and media organizations across the United States, including The New York Times, have once again come under fire for addressing inequalities in their ranks.
Eric Eddings, a former Gimlet employee who co-hosted the podcast ‘The Nod’ tweeted on Tuesday that ‘Reply All’, and specifically mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni, ‘contributed to an almost identical toxic dynamic at Gimlet’ as the one they described in their series on Bon Appétit.
“To me, it felt ridiculous to set this story up in this way, as if they had not participated in something similar,” Eddings said in an interview Thursday.
Mr. Vogt, 35, said on Twitter that he ‘failed deeply as an ally’ when employees united and that he apologized to everyone for whom he disappointed. “I had to think about what it means not to be on the same side of a movement led mainly by young color producers at my business,” he said. “I was a baby and a joke about it in many ways.”
He said he asked permission to walk away from the program and it took time to think and listen.
In her apology, Ms. Pinnamaneni said her behavior around diversity and efforts towards trade union organizations was ‘ill-informed, ignorant and hurtful’. She said on Twitter: “I did not pay enough attention to the coloreds in Gimlet and I should have used my power to further support and elevate them.”
Mr. Vogt and another host, Alex Goldman, started the podcast in 2014 and adapted it from their previous WNYC radio show, “TLDR” (too long; did not read). In recent years, ‘Reply All’ distractors have brought listeners to phone calls in India, to a maximum security prison in Illinois, and on a journey to locate a guitar song that a director listened to on the radio as a teenager.
A Spotify spokesperson, who acquired Gimlet Media in February 2019, said ‘Reply All’ will continue with the release of episodes. Gimlet Media, mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the employee campaign by 2018 and early 2019, Mr. Eddings said that Mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni worked ‘aggressively’ against efforts to diversify Gimlet’s staff. He said that Mr. Vogt learned about the efforts to unite – which many people of color see in the enterprise as a way to create an environment where they can succeed – Mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni tried to gain support against them.
Mr. Vogt sent derogatory text messages to a member of the organizing committee and ‘tore’ them, says Mr. Eddings to the point that the person cries.
At one point, Mr. Eddings said he met with Mr. Vogt met and asked him to stop despising him and others. Mr. Vogt was not receptive to complaints that employees of color believe they do not have the chance to move forward, Mr. Eddings said.
In another case, he said, when he wanted to raise Gimlet’s concerns about Gimlet, a member of the senior management team told Eddings that he was reluctant to discuss the issues with him because he was always ‘so angry’. .
Mr. Eddings remembers thinking, “I’m upset because this place could be better.”
Several former colleagues expressed themselves on Twitter in support of Mr. Eddings, employees of colors and other minority groups at the company.
Brittany Luse, a former Gimlet employee who worked with Mr. Eddings presented ‘The Nod’, said she understood others’ questions about the union and what it would mean for them, but that Mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni’s strong opposition was shocking and painful.
“There were so many days that I just woke up crying,” said Mrs. Luse, who left Gimlet early last year, said. ‘I’ve just seen what so many of my colleagues are going through in an attempt to communicate something I feel so simple – to people who would like to have a fairer workplace on the outside, but privately only in a very different way . It was difficult. ”
The situation became increasingly toxic as negotiations continued and Mr. Vogt and me. Pinnamaneni put pressure on employees to join, the Ms. Luse, who was Gimlet’s first black employee when she joined the company in 2015. She said it felt like they wanted to maintain the company’s status quo – which has been said by colored employees for years – lacks diversity. a fair payment. The union was recognized by management in April 2019.
Lydia Polgreen, the managing director of Gimlet, said in an email to staff on Wednesday that Mr. Moisture will retire.
“From the moment I arrived at Gimlet, it was clear that our culture needed work, and that big things needed to change to make it a better, fairer place,” Polgreen said, adding that the collective bargaining process. was “naturally confrontational.”
“At Gimlet, we do creative work in collaborative teams,” she said. ‘That job is very rewarding and also difficult. It involves honest and sometimes difficult conversations. But those conversations must take place with respect. ”
Reggie Ugwu contribution made.