Earlier this month, two favorites at Buzzfeed Video—my friend Brittany Ashley, who created, wrote, and acted in an LGBTQ series called “Lesbian Princess,” and Jenny Lorenzo, who wrote, produced, and acted for the company’s Latino channel, Pero Like—were abruptly fired. They were dismissed because they’d worked on the weekends as actors in America Ferrera’s “Gente-fied” web series, which was deemed in competition with a telenovela series Buzzfeed is developing. Ashley and Lorenzo, like most Buzzfeed Motion Pictures staffers, had been required to sign an agreement when they were hired that prevented them from doing anything that competed with their work at Buzzfeed.
Editors’ note: Earlier this week, Buzzfeed published an internal memo on their policies at Buzzfeed Motion Pictures, which they provided as a statement in response to this essay. In it, Buzzfeed gives the following explanation for their policies: “We’re investing heavily in you, and we do ask for a real commitment in return. Concretely, this means that the work you do while you’re on BuzzFeed’s staff belongs to BuzzFeed, and that you can’t work for other productions without our permission. Being a part of BuzzFeed is a full-time job, with many benefits and opportunities, and as with any full-time job you are expected to be fully committed to your work and collaborating with your colleagues while you are here. These are, it’s worth noting, standard features of being an employee at any media or tech company—but we realize they’re different from the freelance Hollywood models…”
BuzzFeed declined to comment on its employment of Gaby Dunn, Brittany Ashley, and Jenny Lorenzo.
"Women, LGBTQ people, and people of color at media companies: Protect yourself. Know your worth."
-M