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The past week has been hellish with mass layoffs in the field of sports and music journalism. Sports Illustrated is not folding, but their corporate owners are firing a huge chunk of sports journalists, writers and editors, and no one knows what the future holds for one of the most important national sports-reporting brands. This week, we also learned that Pitchfork would not continue to exist as a somewhat independent site – Conde Nast is slashing Pitchfork’s staff and the music site is being folded into GQ. Anna Wintour controls a lot of what happens within Conde Nast – her official title is Global Chief Content Officer, which means she oversees content over a vast array of domestic and international media outlets, mostly print outlets. Wintour was in the meetings with Pitchfork staffers as they learned their site is being folded into GQ. Apparently, she never removed her sunglasses.
Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s longtime fashion doyenne, is famous for a singular style trademark — her sunglasses. Indeed, Wintour didn’t take off her sunglasses the entire time she met with employees of Pitchfork this week to tell them they were losing their jobs after Condé Nast had decided to subsume the music criticism site into GQ, according to one now-former employee in attendance.
“One absolutely bizarro detail from this week is that Anna Wintour — seated indoors at a conference table — did not remove her sunglasses while she was telling us that we were about to get canned,” Allison Hussey, a former Pitchfork staff writer, wrote on X. “The indecency we’ve seen from upper management this week is appalling.”
It’s unclear whether Wintour’s reported decision to not remove her eyewear during the meeting was a deliberate fashion choice or, rather, a way to avoid having to look Pitchfork’s employees in the eye. Reps for Condé Nast did not respond to a request for comment.
Condé Nast on Wednesday told staffers that Pitchfork, the music news and criticism site the company bought in 2015, will merge with men’s magazine GQ. First launched in 1996, Pitchfork has become known for effusively praising favored artists while harshly dinging those that provoke its disapproval. The decision “was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company,” Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue, wrote in a memo to staff.
Pitchfork staff members being let go include editor-in-chief Puja Patel and features editor Jill Mapes, who commented on X, “after nearly 8 yrs, mass layoffs got me. glad we could spend that time trying to make it a less dude-ish place just for GQ to end up at the helm.”
The sunglasses detail is appalling, but am I the only one surprised that Wintour would even sit in those meetings? While I know her position gives her power over a lot within Conde Nast, it feels like Wintour would think that it was beneath her, to deal with Pitchfork music critics and such. Maybe that’s why she kept her sunglasses on – she didn’t want those peasants to see her eyes. I don’t know.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Anna Wintour beim Modeevent Vogue World 2023: London im Theatre Royal Drury Lane. London, 14.09.2023 *** Anna Wintour at the fashion event Vogue World 2023 London at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane London, 14 09 2023 Foto:xS.xVasx/xFuturexImagex vogue_world_3601,Image: 805392412, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Steve Vas / Avalon
Anna Wintour at the Netflix Beckham UK Premiere at Curzon Mayfair in Mayfair, London, United Kingdom on 3 October 2023.,Image: 810872739, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
Anna Wintour beim Specal Screeing des Kinofilms The Boys in the Boat im Museum of Modern Art. New York, 13.12.2023 *** Anna Wintour at the specal screening of the movie The Boys in the Boat at the Museum of Modern Art New York, 13 12 2023 Foto:xB.xHinex/xFuturexImagex boat_3204,Image: 829376696, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Barbara Hine / Avalon
