Two top executives at the parent company of major pornography site Pornhub have resigned, the company said Tuesday, amid scrutiny of alleged nonconsensual sexually explicit videos hosted on the site.
MindGeek Chief Executive Feras Antoon and Chief Operating Officer David Tassillo are leaving, the privately held company said in a statement. The leadership changes have been in the works since early 2022, MindGeek said. Antoon and Tassillo will remain shareholders, the company said.
Investigations by several news organizations, including
the New Yorker earlier this month, reported that Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular pornography sites, allegedly hosted videos that included nonconsensual and underage sex. The Wall Street Journal hasn’t independently verified the accusations in those articles.
A spokesman said the departures aren’t related to the accusations against MindGeek. The company said it has enacted safeguards and that it removes incidents of child sexual-abuse material. “MindGeek has more comprehensive and effective policies than any other major platform on the internet,” the company said.
MindGeek has more than 1,000 employees and its network of sites attracts over 150 million daily visitors, according to the company. In addition to Pornhub, it also owns other popular porn sites such as RedTube and YouPorn.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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