Paul Maidment, the editorial director at Deadspin’s parent company G/O Media who sent the infamous stick to sports memo to the website’s staff writers, is out.
Maidment broke the news in an internal email where he said he was resigning with immediate effect.
“I wanted to let you all know that effective immediately I have resigned my position as Editorial Director of G/O Media. It is the right moment for me to leave to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. I admire the journalism that you produce and the unique voice that is otherwise missing from mainstream media. It has been a great honor and I wish you all the very best. I am certain that the sites will grow and thrive in the future.
All the very best,
Paul Maidment”
Maidment’s departure follows all of Deadspin’s writers quitting last week after he sent out a memo telling them to keep their writing focused on sports-related topics. The writers objected to the memo, responded by filling the site with non-sports posts, and then ultimately quit in protest.
Despite the mass staff departures, G/O Media has said that Deadspin will continue. In the wake of Maidment’s departure, the company said it’s already in the process of looking for a new editorial director.
“We thank Paul for his hard work and wish him nothing but the very best. We will be working with our EICs to expedite the search for a new editorial director.”
And last week, after all of the staff writers quit, G/O Media said it was “excited about Deadspin’s future” and will have “important updates in the coming days.”
