Pain at Penske

Jay Penske's media empire is quietly bleeding.

Penske Media Corporation, which owns the lion's share of Hollywood trade publications, including Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter, has quietly laid off staffers in piecemeal fashion over the last several weeks, raising questions about the health of the powerhouse publisher. One person familiar with the matter told me dozens of people had been impacted by recent belt tightening.

A spokesperson for PMC sidestepped specific questions about the layoffs and state of the business, but told me in a statement, "Penske Media is growing and will grow overall in both headcount and revenue this year. Penske Media has grown its total employees in 2022, 2023 and 2024. As a regular course of business, we are proactive about moving resources from slower growing to higher growing businesses, brands and departments across the company.”

It's notable for Penske to lay off staffers, given that his portfolio of outlets has historically proven to be quite lucrative. The trade publications Penske owns boast audiences highly saturated with industry professionals and other key figures, which has allowed the wealthy mogul to sell pricey advertisements to film and television studios yearning to get in front of awards show voters.

This story is based on conversations with more than half a dozen people familiar with Penske’s company who described a business being confronted with a number of challenges.