Late last week it posted a story in which it said the CFO of Condé Nast had sought out a male escort. Following a public outcry, Gawker decided to pull the story a day later.
But some in the editorial department disagreed vehemently with this move, claiming business interests trumped editorial freedom. Now, both editor-in-chief Max Read and executive editor Tommy Craggs on Monday announced they were leaving the company.
Craggs' and Read's internal memos were posted on Gawker earlier Monday morning.
Read writes in his memo that the post's deletions was "an absolute surrender of Gawker's claim to 'radical transparency.'"
Craggs, in his note, mentions that the post was taken down because of heat from advertisers including Discover and BFGoodrich.
Gawker CEO Nick Denton posted a Google Doc defending his decision. "This was a decision I made as founder and publisher - and guardian of the company mission - and the majority supported me in that decision," he wrote. He went on, "That post wasn't what Gawker should stand for, and it is symptomatic of a site that has been out of control of editorial management."
This isn't the first time advertisers balked at stories Gawker posted. Last year Gawker ran a series of posts about the Gamergate movement that reportedly resulted in advertisers including Adobe and Mercedes-Benz tempering their ad dollars.
As of now, Gawker has yet to announce who will be filling Read's and Craggs' roles.
This story is developing and will be updated once we learn more.