#Troy Young out at Hearst after accused of lewd, sexist remarks

The embattled president of Hearst Magazines Troy Young is out, one day after an explosive report that he presided over a toxic workplace culture and engaged in lewd, sexist and racist remarks.

Hearst Corp. CEO Steve Swartz broke the news in a one sentence note to staffers on Thursday.

Dear Colleagues,” he wrote, “Troy Young and I have agreed that it is in the best interest of all of us that he resign his position as president of Hearst Magazines, effective immediately.”

No word yet on a replacement. But many insiders had complained that the inflammatory incidents contained in The Times article were just the tip of the iceberg.

Initially it appeared that Young had the backing of the Hearst brass, but on Thursday the internal chorus grew for his ouster, sources said. Some angry Hearst staffers are even angling to enlist superstar journalists Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey to help bring Young down, sources said.

“The staff has faith these two powerhouse females can go against the white middle-class suits on the 43rd floor,” one insider told Media Ink earlier Thursday before Young resigned.

King has been a masthead editor on O, the Oprah Magazine since its founding as a joint-venture between Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Hearst in 2000. She also has an office in the Hearst Tower and was a daily presence there until the coronavirus eruption in March.

Neither King nor Winfrey returned calls seeking comment.

Staffers told The Times Young has a history of creepy and sexist remarks, including asking one young pregnant staffer on Cosmopolitan, “Is the baby mine?”

One former young staffer told The Times about an uncomfortable interaction with Young at a holiday party. She said she was describing an unpleasant experience on a date where her date complained that he did not like the way his ex smelled. Young was said to have told her she should have just inserted her fingers into herself and asked her date how he liked her smell.

Young, 52, had denied the claims and said they were either “untrue, greatly exaggerated or taken out of context.”

He also defended himself by saying “candid conversations about sex defined the Cosmo brand for decades, and those who worked there discussed it openly.”