News/Commentary

‘Go woke, go broke’: X has little sympathy as Sports Illustrated lays off entire staff

January 20, 2024 | | Print Article

Sports Illustrated, once a staple in every American “man cave,” is in trouble.

A “significant number” of staffers learned in a Friday email that they would be laid off, Fox Business reports, adding that the move “puts the future of the iconic sports publication that has been widely considered the gold standard of sports journalism for nearly seven decades in jeopardy.”

Authentic Brands Group has revoked its marketing license, The Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated (SI) and its related properties, explained to its employees.

“As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand,” the email stated.

A statement from NewsGuild, Sports Illustrated’s employee union, called on The Arena Group to “honor” the union contract.

“Earlier today the workers of Sports Illustrated were notified that The Arena Group is planning to lay off a significant number, possibly all, of the Guild-represented workers at SI, a result of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) revoking Arean’s license to publish SI,” the statement reads.

“This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Mave) stewardship,” it continued. “We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audiences in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”

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“We expect The Arena Group to honor all the terms of our union contract and will fight for every one of our colleagues to be treated fairly,” NewsGuild said.

Mitch Goldic, NFL editor and unit chair, echoed the sentiment.

“WE have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company,” he stated. “It is a fight we will continue.”

“The Arena Group acquired publishing rights from ABG in 2019 for at least 10 years,” Fox Business reports. “The group’s stewardship of SI has had many hurdles since then. In December, it fired chief executive officer Ross Levinsohn when the magazine’s alleged use of AI-generated stories drew public backlash.”

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But for users on X, AI-generated stories aren’t the problem.

The problem is that Sports Illustrated put “a DUDE in a swimsuit on the cover of their 2023 annual swimsuit edition.”

Few are sympathetic to the employees’ current plight.

“Bwahahaha!!” one user exclaimed.

“Go woke, Go broke,” the user stated. “Who else LOVES IT when Karma just SLAPS THE S**T out of those that really need it!!”

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“When German pop star Kim Petras released her first single, ‘I Don’t Want It at All,’ in 2017, the singer-songwriter had been creating music since she was a teenager. Earlier this year, she made history as the first transgender woman to win a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance, for her track ‘Unholy’ with Sam Smith,” SI gushed at the time. “The collaboration with Smith reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Petras the first trans artist to be so ranked. While she initially released music under her own imprint, BunHead Records, the ‘Heart to Break’ singer is currently signed with Republic Records.”

“Pop Star Kim Petras Was a Real Life Malibu Barbie During Her SI Swim Cover Shoot,” SI declared in an article published Friday.

The big-busted boy called the “iconic” cover shoot “a big dream come true.”

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(Video: YouTube)

“The only guy stupider than the guy who invented New Coke was the guy who put a dude in a bikini in SI,” noted conservative legend, and actor James Woods.

Meanwhile, Authentic Brands Group remains optimistic about SI’s future.

“Authentic is here to ensure that the brand of Sports Illustrated, which includes its editorial arm, continues to thrive as it has for the past nearly 70 years,” ABG said in a statement, according to Fox Business. “We are confident that going forward the brand will continue to evolve and grow in a way that serves sports news readers, sports fans, and consumers. We are committed to ensuring that the traditional ad-supported Sports Illustrated media pillar has best in class stewardship to preserve the complete integrity of the brand’s legacy.”

Melissa Fine
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