It’s a plot twist for Ozy Media.
The content creation company will no longer cease its operations after announcing plans to shut down amid controversy, CEO Carlos Watson told NBC’s “Today” show on Monday.
The company had announced its decision to shut down on Friday, days after The New York Times reported that Ozy co-founder Samir Rao had impersonated a YouTube executive during a February business call with Goldman Sachs.
“Last week was traumatic,” Watson said on Monday’s “Today” broadcast. “It was difficult. Heartbreaking in many ways, and at the end of the week, we did suspend operations with a plan to wind down. But as we spent time over the weekend, we talked to advertising partners. We talked to some of our readers, some of our viewers, our listeners, our investors. I think Ozy is part of this moment.”
Watson and Rao co-founded Ozy in 2013. The brand creates content such as podcasts and TV series, including “Black Women OWN the Conversation” on the Oprah Winfrey Network and “The Contenders: 16 for ‘16″ on PBS.
On Monday, Watson called the situation involving Rao “tragic” and “horrible,” and said he wasn’t personally part of the call with Goldman Sachs.
Ozy has also been involved in controversy with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, who sued over the media company’s Ozy Fest festival in a trademark spat. The Osbournes started the Ozzfest music festival.
Watson later said on CNBC that the Osbournes later became investors in Ozy, which Sharon denied to CNBC.
“This guy is the biggest shyster I have ever seen in my life,” she told the news outlet.
Watson on Monday addressed that situation as well.
“The agreement was that we were going to give her shares in the company, and the way I think about it, I think the way a lot of people think about it, if you own shares in a company, you’re an investor,” Watson said on the “Today” show. “Now, she may not have liked that word.”
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