Variety: Top Two MindGeek Execs Step Down

LOS ANGELES—Entertainment trade outlet Variety reports that the two top executives of MindGeek, the parent company of Brazzers, Pornhub, Reality Kings, Digital Playground and many other adult brands, have exited their posts. MindGeek CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo have both resigned, Variety reported Tuesday morning. A company rep released the following statement to the outlet: "Antoon and Tassillo leave MindGeek’s day-to-day operations after more than a decade in leadership positions with the company. With the company strategically positioned for long-term growth, MindGeek’s executive leadership team will run day-to-day operations on an interim basis, with a search underway for replacements.” The rep also told Variety that a transition in leadership at the company has been in the works since early 2022, and that Antoon and Tassillo will remain company shareholders. "According to MindGeek, it is now beginning to 'invest deeply in expanding creator-first offerings' as well as additional 'opportunities for content monetization,'" the Variety story further noted. "The company says it currently provides hundreds of thousands of models 'with the opportunity to earn a living' and is seeking to 'massively expand' the number of talent it works with." UPDATE 8:00 P.M. PT: In a Tuesday evening statement to The Washington Post, MindGeek said the departure of Antoon and Tassillo was unrelated to a July 13 piece by The New Yorker levelling allegations against the company of allowing explicit content to be posted to Pornhub and other sites it owns involving non-consensual and underage participants. Numerous news outlets—including both Variety and the Post—have suggested that the New Yorker piece was in fact the catalyst for the executives' joint resignation. MindGeek's statement to the Post further contended: "The New Yorker had the opportunity to seriously evaluate what works in fighting illegal material on the internet by looking at the facts, comparing the policies of platforms, and studying the results. Instead, they chose to ignore the fact that MindGeek has more comprehensive and effective policies than any other major platform on the internet, and decided to peddle the same gross mischaracterizations that anti-porn extremists have spewed for decades."