BuzzFeed is investigating anonymous allegations of harassment by its employees

pulse

October 21, 2017 1:31 AM

BuzzFeed is looking into allegations of verbal and sexual harassment after several male staffers' names appeared on a list compiled anonymously.

BuzzFeed is investigating
BuzzFeed staffers appeared on this list, which is anonymously sourced. T

BuzzFeed is investigating allegations of harassment by its employees, people familiar with the matter said.

The investigation comes after several of its staffers appeared on a list, titled distributed among journalists across several news organizations. The existence of the list, which names men from a variety of publications, reported by BuzzFeed

The allegations on the list include verbal, physical and sexual abuse, but were added anonymously so it is unclear who wrote them. The list makes clear that these are "allegations and rumors," and that readers should "take everything with a grain of salt."

BuzzFeed staffers, both current and past, are represented in multiple versions of the list reviewed by Business Insider. The number of BuzzFeed employees on the list sparked a conversation among current and former employees about the publication's own workplace culture, according to people familiar with the matter.

An anonymous reporting tip line was distributed to editors this week in which employees can report harassment if they don't feel comfortable going to their managers, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

"We cannot discuss specific personnel matters, but we take allegations of inappropriate conduct extremely seriously, including anonymous ones," BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal said.

The list was widely distributed among journalists in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal that has rocked Hollywood.

Female journalists, in conversations with Business Insider, say that a list of this nature is necessary to warn other women and because women may otherwise hesitate to report harassment to management for fear of retribution.

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