Project Veritas CEO James O'Keefe starred and danced in a parody of a 1981 Prince song. Concerns about using company resources on 'theatre stuff' were recently brought up in a staff memo.

• Project Veritas CEO James O'Keefe starred in a parody of Prince's 1981 song, "Controversy."
• A staff memo outlined a concern about the founder's spending on "theatre stuff."

The CEO of Project Veritas, a conservative nonprofit media outlet that often uses clandestine methods or sting operations for its reporting, played a starring role in a parody of the late Prince's hit 1981 song "Controversy," in which James O' Keefe sings about his company's exploits.

"I just can't believe/That my face is on TV/Oli-garch-y," O'Keefe can be seen singing.

—Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 9, 2023

Project Veritas posted the video, titled "Oligarchy," on its website and said it was to "honor" Twitter's suspension of O'Keefe back in 2021.

However, not all of Project Veritas' staff may have agreed with how resources were spent evidently on writing the song, creating the sparse set design, and getting several backup dancers.

In a staff memo sent to Project Veritas board members on Monday, concerns were brought up with how O'Keefe spent company resources, including personnel and money, to itch the CEO's musical theater aspirations.

"All the theatre stuff and how that is handled makes me very uneasy," a comment in the letter, signed by 16 employees said. "I understand it is rationalized as 'raising awareness of our brand,' but the cost of that both in a financial sense as well as personnel and resources, becomes priority over why donors actually give us money..."

The note also claimed that the company was "in a deficit now" and that "fans and potential fans beyond do not respond positively to all of that stuff because all they want is for us to carry out the mission."

Project Veritas built its brand around unorthodox journalism methods, most notably using body cameras in interviews to secretly record their sources. The organization advertises that it "investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions."

The memo did not disclose specific details about spending on productions, but Project Veritas has been scrutinized before for subsidizing the founder's singing ambitions.

In November, the nonprofit was legally obligated to report that O'Keefe, as the company's executive, received $20,512 in "excess benefits" in 2021. The filings were posted by Hawaii's Tax & Charities Division.

Project Veritas' executive director, Daniel Strack, later told The New York Times through a spokesperson the money was used to "accommodate" the CEO at a production of "Oklahoma!" in Roseland, Virginia, in which O' Keefe played a lead role.

The company said in its filings that O'Keefe had not paid back those funds as of the end of 2021, which executives are required to do whenever they receive excess benefits. A Project Veritas spokesperson told The Times that O'Keefe had paid them off last year.

The staff memo that was first reported on by The Daily Beast outlines more than seven pages of grievances about O'Keefe's alleged "erratic" behavior.

One comment claimed "James has become a power drunk tyrant," while other statements alleged that two employees, including Eric Cochran, were subjected to a lie detector test.

O'Keefe exhibited concerns about there being a "mole" leaking information about the organization, the memo stated, and a majority of the staff were required to go to Project Veritas' New York headquarters to be interrogated by two private investigators.

Few current and former employees, including Cochran, could not be reached for comment.

The memo came at a time when O'Keefe's future at the media organization remains unclear.

The CEO was recently placed on paid leave as the Project Veritas board members consider ousting him from his executive role, New York Magazine reported.

"Like all newsrooms at this stage, the Project Veritas board of directors and management are constantly evaluating what the best path forward is for the organization," the company said in a statement posted on Twitter. "The board and management are continuing this internal evaluation to assure our long-term success."

O'Keefe's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.