On Monday, November 4, The FADER announced that the publication had parted ways with Head of Content Eric Sundermann after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced on Twitter. In a report by Jezebel published yesterday, several women, including former coworkers of Sundermann’s at The FADER and Noisey, detailed those allegations, which included sexual harassment and coercion. The Jezebel report also claimed that FADER President and Publisher Andy Cohn was aware of the allegations against Sundermann when he was hired and chose to ignore them. Cohn himself was also accused of inappropriate behavior in the Jezebel report and was alleged to have “enhanced” the workplace’s “culture of harassment.”
The FADER has now issued a statement in response to the Jezebel story, as Variety reports and Pitchfork can confirm. In the statement, a FADER representative writes that the company has now suspended Cohn. Additionally, The FADER has launched an “independent investigation into [the] company’s workplace policies and systems.” Read the full statement below.
We founded The FADER with the goal of creating a magazine and
community that is an inclusive space that fosters discovery and
connection – a place where our employees and community felt open,
safe, and free to project their pure creative abilities onto the
world. It is clear that we have failed to do that and failed to live
up to our standards.Today we have retained outside counsel to launch an independent
investigation into our company’s workplace policies and systems — not
just to find out where we went wrong, but how we can improve our
culture moving forward.Additionally, we have suspended President and Publisher Andy Cohn.
Our employees are the foundation of our culture. We hope to empower
them through this process to help us improve our workplace support
systems, policies and culture. We are putting immediate steps in place
to encourage more feedback and an open dialogue.We apologize to those who we have let down. The FADER will continue to
strive to make its community, and its workplace, a place where
everyone can feel safe and respected so that their creative energies
and talents can shine. We pledge that these changes will make The
FADER stronger in the years ahead.