WASHINGTON (TND) — The left-wing watchdog Media Matters is laying off staffers following months of legal challenges and controversies, according to social media posts by impacted employees.
Katherine Abughazaleh wrote in a post Thursday she and "a dozen colleagues" had been laid off from Media Matters. She blamed the move on "far-right billionaires" who attacked the organization with "armies of lawyers."
Abughazaleh also made a reference to an specific, unnamed billionaire, likely a jab at Elon Musk. Musk, the owner of the social media platform now known as X, launched a defamation lawsuit against Media Matters last year after the watchdog released a report claiming X was placing ads from major brands next to content that "touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party."
Lawyers for X alleged Media Matters manipulated data to create the evidence backing up its report. This manipulation, X attorneys claimed, generated an "inorganic" and "exceedingly rare" result intended to create a false perception of the platform, leading to advertisers like Comcast, NBCUniversal and Apple pulling their ads from X.
The suit spurred Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to launch a fraud investigation into Media Matters. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey also started an investigation into the organization, claiming Media Matters may have fraudulently solicited donations based on the allegedly false information in its report on X.
Media Matters did not respond to a request for comment Friday about the layoffs.
Several other Media Matters staffers also confirmed the layoffs on social media. Alex Paterson, an associate research director for the organization, celebrated the five years he spent "fighting right-wing hatred" while announcing his layoff on X. Paterson also touted himself as an "incredible manager with superb research skills" and urged others to hire him.
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