CollegeHumor Lays Off More Than 100 Employees

CollegeHumor, one of the web's earliest meme centers and comedy hubs, laid off more than 100 employees yesterday. The announcement comes on the heels of InterActiveCorp (IAC), CH's parent company, sale of the brand to the site's chief creative officer Sam Reich.

The site, once one of the web's biggest comedy outlets, will continue with about five to 10 people, cut back from more than 100 in New York and Los Angeles, according to Vulture.

"So, bad news – with a twist," Sam Reich tweeted. "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."

Reich continued to call on fans of CH for support, asking them "stay subscribed to Dropout," the CH-run comedy streaming service.

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.

— Sam Reich (@samreich) January 8, 2020

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.

— Sam Reich (@samreich) January 8, 2020

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.

— Sam Reich (@samreich) January 8, 2020

IAC purchased CollegeHumor in 2006, but has been looking to unload the brand since October, reports Bloomberg. The company will retain a minority stake in CollegeHumor after Reich assumes ownership.

“Sam was the best choice to acquire CH Media and define its next chapter,” an IAC representative said in a statement. “The decision places CH Media with an owner who is beloved by fans, passionate about the business, and sees a future we believe in.”

Founded in 1999, CollegeHumor has seen a number of different iterations over the last two decades. However, due to the instability of the online media landscape, like SeeSo, Funny or Die and Super Deluxe, it has become another victim of a series of layoffs and shutdowns that have become all to common in the last five years.