IAC Sells CollegeHumor, More Than 100 Laid Off

By Elaine Low

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Barry Diller’s media company has sold CollegeHumor Media, whose portfolio includes comedy site , Drawfee, Dorkly and relatively new streamer Dropout, which debuted in September 2018, Variety has confirmed. The move resulted in over 100 layoffs at the company.

In a “twist,” chief creative officer Sam Reich announced on Twitter that IAC had agreed to transfer majority ownership to him.

“I hope to be able to save Dropout, CollegeHumor, Drawfee, Dorkly, and many of our shows,” said Reich on Twitter. “Some will need to take on bold new creative directions in order to survive. You may not agree with all of them.”

IAC first acquired CollegeHumor in 2006. The site was founded by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen in 1999.

In a statement on the sale obtained by Variety, IAC described Reich as “the best choice” to sell the brand to and promised that he will “define its next chapter.”

“The decision places CH Media with an owner who is beloved by fans, passionate about the business and sees a future we believe in,” the statement said.

Reich’s full Twitter statement read as follows:

“IAC, our parent company, has made the difficult decision to no longer finance us. Today, 100+ brilliant people lost their jobs, some of whom are my dear, dear friends. Hire them. The twist, however, is that IAC has agreed to let me run with the company myself. In words that I’m sure are as surreal to read as they are to type, I will soon become the new majority owner of CH Media. 

Of course, I can’t keep it going like you’re used to. While we were on the way to becoming profitable, we were nonetheless losing money — and I myself have no money to be able to lose. Long story short, I need your support now more than ever. The #1 way you can support me is to stay subscribed to Dropout. We have six months’ worth of content still to release: Dimension 20, Um, Game Changer, Breaking News, and more.

Dropout 2.0 launches at the end of the month, and along with it come two long-desired features: (a) downloads and (b) international Discord access.

In these six months, I hope to be able to save Dropout, CollegeHumor, Drawfee, Dorkly, and many of our shows. Some will need to take on bold new creative directions in order to survive. You may not agree with all of them. And this won’t be the last time I ask for your support.

I will, however, do my very best to stay true to the talent, shows, fans, and principles that got us where we are today.

We dropped out once before; we can do it again. Independent comedy lives on — just now more independent (gulp) than ever before.”