Employees at the Montreal-founded, Luxembourg-based company behind Pornhub and other adult sites were laid off in batches via Zoom yesterday morning, several former staffers told The Logic. The layoffs occurred on the same day that CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo resigned, though both remain shareholders in the company. The Logic could not immediately confirm the number of layoffs. (The Logic)

Talking point: The employees were laid off via Zoom in batches and across several departments, according to those on the call. “The people being laid off were forcefully muted so they couldn’t speak or ask questions. The layoff was immediate and all accounts were disabled within minutes after the meeting,” said one employee, while another said there were “dozens” of people on their call, which occurred just as Antoon and Tassillo announced their resignations. Though MindGeek continues to be profitable, it has faced headwinds since a New York Times December 2020 article said Pornhub was “infested with rape videos.” Visa and Mastercard both subsequently suspended their payment services to the company—contributing to a 40 per cent dip in revenue, according to a pitch deck The Logic viewed last December. The company responded to a request for comment from a pseudonymous account. It is against The Logic’s editorial policy to publish comments from sources whose identity it can’t confirm.