MEDIA WATCH |

IAC Asked to Defend Shocking Accusations of Sexual Harassment in Daily Beast CEO Ben Sherwood’s Past

Sherwood would, according to a since-settled lawsuit, “regularly engage in sexually harassing behavior” and “inappropriately touch women in the newsroom.” He also uses sex trafficking enablers as sources.

December 9, 2024

Joey Levin
CEO
IAC

It has come to our attention that not only does an IAC subsidiary source its anti-Scientology articles to a child sex trafficking champion, but the executive who signs off on this practice, Ben Sherwood, has been credibly accused of serial sexual harassment.

Given that Sherwood would, according to a since-settled lawsuit, “regularly engage in sexually harassing behavior” and “inappropriately touch women in the newsroom,” it is no surprise that, left to his own devices, he champions the cause of Tony Ortega. Ortega is best known for serving as (to quote The New York Times) the “attack dog” for Backpage.com, the largest sex trafficking site in the world until the FBI shut it down in 2018. Its executives—the former bosses Ortega praised as being “smart enough to start Backpage”—are today putting in their hours in prison.

This is the creep that Sherwood has elected to serve as his resident religion expert at The Daily Beast—a fact made less shocking only by the discovery that Sherwood is an accused sexual harasser himself.

That you have hired an individual with this kind of reputation to lead the seediest, least profitable publication in IAC’s portfolio further down the drain is your business. What is our business is that he is spreading anti-Scientology hate in IAC’s name using the most discreditable sources imaginable.

Thank you in advance for putting a stop to this disgraceful practice at The Daily Beast.

We await your reply.

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