‘Pod Save America’ Producer Crooked Media Faces Internal Conflict as Employees Look to Unionize | Report

Crooked Media, the company behind “Pod Save America,” has faced increased conflict behind the scenes — from accusations of union-busting to one of the organization’s founders and hosts, Jon Lovett, dating an employee — according to a report from Bloomberg . There have also reportedly been internal political divisions at the activist media outlet, particularly over the war in Gaza.

Bloomberg’s staff cited 15 current and former anonymous employees in Thursday’s report. Flagship show “Pod Save America,” which averages around 12 million downloads and streams per month, has had three different senior producers over the past three years, the article noted. Additionally, a third of the company’s staff has left since January 2023, shortly after the midterm elections.

Advocating for better workplace conditions as they face long hours and other issues, Crooked Media staff looked to join the Writers Guild of America East in early 2023, but they haven’t come to an agreement on a contract yet. Earlier this week, the WGA East filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company , arguing that it was engaging in union-busting tactics and excluding eligible staff members from the company’s collective bargaining unit. The company responded that it had already voluntarily recognized the union and that the company’s disagreement with the unit was only over five roles that weren’t included in their initial agreement.

Crooked Media union staff shared a photo on social media Thursday of the team wearing union shirts as they continue to seek a contract.

As is the case in many media organizations, one of the concerns raised by staff was the difficulty in getting promoted at Crooked. Staffers pointed to frustrations over an employee who was promoted three times over two years, ultimately reporting directly to the CEO, only to discover they were allegedly dating cofounder Lovett. That relationship began approximately a year after their last promotion, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.

The company received an influx of cash in 2022 after signing a distribution and ad-sales deal with SiriusXM that was worth $150 million over three years, Bloomberg noted, per people familiar with the arrangement. It was also invested in by the liberal Soros Fund Management, which was Crooked’s first outside financing.

Some saw big paydays for the organization’s founders — including lead host Jon Favreau — as troubling given the organization’s progressive ideals, according to the article. That included Favreau purchasing a $10 million home in early 2023 as the podcast industry faced an increasingly difficult market.

The organization’s goal has long been to help Democrats win elections, but many of the company’s progressive staff members have been interested in other political aims, according to the piece. Some staffers told Bloomberg that they felt divisions within the Democratic Party needed to be more openly discussed, including concerns around the humanitarian cost of the war in Gaza. However, hosts on the network, including the founders and particularly cohost Tommy Vietor on his “Pod Save the World” show, have been outspoken throughout the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Comedian and Crooked Media writer Julia Claire took particular issue with the Bloomberg story, writing on social media, “Difficult to put into words how actively counterproductive I find this article to be, not only as someone who deeply believes in the work we do at Crooked, but also as a member of the Crooked Union. It denigrates my coworkers and reads like a gossip column.” She also pointed to Vietor’s outspokenness on Gaza.

Former staff member Travis Helwig, who now heads up a progressive PAC making anti-Republican ads, wrote that he’d “worked good jobs and bad jobs (Ellen DeGeneres made me cry a lot), and I can say without a doubt that Crooked is the best place I’ve ever worked. I was further left than the hosts on a lot of things too, but I never felt unheard. I genuinely miss working there.”

Max Fischer, cohost of the “Offline” podcast with cofounder Favreau, also disputed some of the characterizations of the Bloomberg article, writing that it’s “not true the staff is ‘rebelling’ or riven by some grand ideological divide.” He, too, noted that he is a member of the Crooked Media union.

A specific dispute cited in the piece includes a discussion of pro-Palestinian student protestors that led to one producer allegedly using a slur. That producer was cleared of any wrongdoing by human resources, but they later quit over the workplace culture around such issues. Favreau and the company’s CEO told staff that distractions like that were unacceptable and that the team’s focus needed to be on the election.

One of the few people who are quoted on the record discussing Crooked Media in the article is climate essayist Mary Annaïse Heglar, who cohosted the show “Hot Take” on the platform before it was canceled in December 2022. She wrote in a March 2023 blog post that she and cohost Amy Westervelt saw “a lot of red flags” during contract negotiations, including “our very apparent ideological differences with the heads of the network.” She went on to note that she and Westervelt were “far, far to the left of just about every show I’ve heard in the Crooked universe.”

The company’s all-hands meetings, held monthly, also became more contentious over time, according to the piece. Beyond promotions, employees also took issue with the return-to-office requirements as COVID restrictions were lifted. Those open forums were ultimately suspended.

Crooked Media did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

You can read the full report from Bloomberg right here .

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