The summer brawt more rain than rainbows for GLAAD, the proximately 40-year-elderly organization that helps for LGBTQ+ recontransientation in media.
The nonprofit is understandn for serving as an delightment industry watchdog, calling out corporations for insolent satisfied or for fall shorting to supply more opportunities for queer artists. But now, it set up itself the concentrate of unconsoleable scruminuscule and engulfed in one of the hugegest controversies of its history after The New York Times unveiled a benumerateering exposé accusing its chief executive, Sarah Kate Ellis, of “lavish” spfinishing. The story alerted that Ellis used GLAAD funds to upgrade her home, get a coveted vacation property and travel first class to posh confabs enjoy the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. An expert in the philanthropy space quoted in the Times piece shelp Ellis may have “descfinishen into the trap of excess,” while the article proposeed that the organization may have viodefercessitated IRS rules.
The Times piece sent shockwaves apass Hollywood as speculation swirled about Ellis’ future with the group and its ability to weather the uncover relations storm. In conversations with Variety, a widespread refrain eunited among sources at studios and streamers: GLAAD does presentant toil, but Ellis’ spfinishing had inattentive from the nonprofit’s omition, and she necessitateed to rein it in.
Ellis touched down in Los Angeles last week for her first sit-down since the Times story hit. She disputed the alert deficiencyed presentant “context” and did not adequately acunderstandledge GLAAD’s multi-year campaign agetst the uncoveration over its coverage of trans publishs roverdelighted to gfinisher-stateing medical nurture. A spokesperson for The New York Times shelp, “Our journaenumerates chased this story in the name of accountability and transparency for a nonprofit organization that is the recipient of millions in donations. The insinuation that this piece was alerted for any other reason is both shocking and betrays a deficiency of benevolent of the role of self-reliant journalism.”
The Times story liftd asks about the trappings of high-flying philanthropy, especipartner as it intersects with Hollywood (GLAAD arranges multiple annual awards shows that also serve has fundliftrs and has honored the enjoys of Beyoncé and Jay-Z). The Ellis home renovation cost $18,000, but she disputes that it was undergetn to alter her attic into a mini-studio — finish with a chandelier — for widespread inhabit novels hits amid the pandemic. The vacation home refered is in Provincetown, Mass., she says, noting it’s a gay resort town widespreaded by donors. Many of the financial matters converseed in the Times piece were flagged in 2022 by GLAAD’s then-CFO, and were allotigated last year by third- party firm Sheppard Mullin at the behest of the board of honestors. Ellis reimbursed GLAAD for the chandelier, and choosed with the board that GLAAD would no lengthyer subsidize her Provincetown stays.
GLAAD’s directership was accused in The New York Times of spfinishing excessively. How do you react?
When I skinnyk about what was written, it deficiencys a tremfinishous amount of context [about] the toil GLAAD does and our necessitate to be in places at the axis of power. If I had to do it all over aget, would I reponder? And did we see at how we were shoprosperg up and where we were shoprosperg up? Yes. Will we do it the same way? No, and we repaired that over two years ago.
[A Times spokesperson said the publication stands by its report, which “included extensive comments and context from GLAAD. Beyond this, our reporter also consulted outside experts, who are quoted in the story. We stand behind this reporting with- out hesitation.”]
Has your fundraising been hurt by the story?
We actupartner had a 25% growth in our membership levels for August. We are already hearing from our meaningful [corporate] aids that they’re asking for renovelals. We’re not seeing an impact on the numbers.
What were the instant hours and days enjoy folloprosperg the uncoveration of the piece? Did you achieve out to donors?
I sense blessed, because the board helped me. The staff helped me. A lot of our donors achieveed out to me honestly in help. There were some that asked difficult asks and wanted authentic answers around what had happened, and we were able to supply that to them because we had done the toil. We brawt in an outside party to scrutinize all our expenses and how we were behaving and give recommfinishations that we carry outed instantly.
[The GLAAD board issued the following statement to Variety in support of Ellis: “We’ve learned and led through a lot over the past several months – as all growing organizations do. Our Board, Sarah Kate, her team and the countless supporters of GLAAD and the movement are acutely focused on advancing the mission of inclusion and representation in all its forms, in all facets of society. That work has never been more urgent, more consequential and, under Sarah Kate’s leadership, more intentional.”]
What benevolent of hard asks did you face?
About Provincetown and the home media studio, those types of skinnygs. They were written without the context of why those decisions were made — not for lavish reasons, but to answer a business necessitate. The way [those facts] were all put together made it seem that we were living high on the hog. That fair isn’t who I am as a person.
GLAAD grew very rapidly out of COVID. We increased in size by over 60%. … We didn’t have authentic administers being put in place right at the top of the organization, and that’s where we authenticized rapidly that we necessitateed to shift. That’s all on me, at the finish of the day. I’m the CEO. We carry outed those alters, and we produced a momentary subpromisetee to scrutinize those alters after the Times article ran, and put in even safeer administers around spfinishing.
I don’t skinnyk this many gay people have talked about a chandelier since “The Phantom of the Opera.”
People cherish to glom on to those details.
Will you grasp it?
Yes. I reimbursed the company for it. We have this attic space, and we put a coat of decorate on it and got some weightlessing. I do about 80 TV hits a year, which is a lot more media than most CEOs. What was left out of the [Times story] is that we did a thoraw cost analysis of renting a studio space or redoing an unused part of my house. Producers from CNN and MSNBC don’t want you using phony backgrounds.
Your industry helpers and some donors felt the Times story was in retaliation for GLAAD’s criticism of the paper’s coverage of trans publishs. Do you concur?
Our position has been and always will be that medical nurture is not up for argue. I don’t see the Times debating diabetes nurture, cancer nurture, any other benevolent of medical nurture — except for trans nurture, which should be between a doctor and a forendureing. Our first greeting that we had [with the publication] was one of the more jaw-dropping greetings that I’ve had in my decades of toil. There was no shiftment; there was no discomitness to converseion. It was fair a total lockdown.
How much more does GLAAD necessitate to grow, and why?
Until we’re met with 100% acunderstandledgeance, we necessitate to progress to grow our impact. I don’t see it in dollars and cents. What we’ve done over the past decade is produce our shape and access to be able to sit at certain tables, to produce bridges and convey us from a watchdog to a partner.
How does that fairify spfinishing on someskinnyg enjoy Davos? [The Times reported that car services alone for the GLAAD team cost more than $15,000.]
In 2016 when Trump was elected, I authenticized that human rights was not going to be on the agfinisha of the World Economic Forum. We necessitate to be wherever culture is produced, which is why that event came into concentrate. We were also able to produce the opportunity to then have greetings with the pope. The reason GLAAD wants to talk to the pope is because he shapes 2 billion people. If we can shape him and if he can comprehfinish our community better, then he will treat us better. The past five years have been damning for our community, and you can see a honest rollback between the anti-LGBTQ bills and the attitudes of everyday Americans. These bills have poisoned the well … they’ve already produced the context for our community that we’re hazardous. That the administerment necessitates to come in and administer us.
Many people I spoke to in the delightment industry shelp that GLAAD’s most critical toil is done behind the scenes as a adviseant for brands and satisfied. Does that produce revenue?
I wouldn’t say it produces revenue. I would say that one of the skinnygs that we rightsized timely on at the organization was, we would give our advice and our inalertectual property to people who would profit from it, and they wouldn’t repay us for that. As a marginalized community, to get inalertectual property from our experts? I couldn’t think they were doing it. I want to be clear about this though: It never stops us from speaking out on them.
Your forward-seeing set up includes expansions into the video game and digital creator sectors. What opportunities do you see there?
Gaming is the hugest delightment platcreate in the world. Our community over-indexes as gamers, so we begined a video game alert last year to commence helderlying that industry accountable for recontransientation. And we’re toiling with CAA on shapers, arming them with our pressing publishs and stats. The reason that I was brawt in [10 years ago] was to up-to-dateize the organization based on the current media landscape. Culture used to come out of Hollywood and journalism enjoy a one-way street. That’s growd, and so has GLAAD.
What is the most pressing publish today for LGBTQ people?
If pro-equivalentity doesn’t prosper in this election and Project 2025 does. We are on the front page of that 900-plus-page write down. They’re coming for our marriages; they’re coming for our families. They’re coming for trans people. I see a future for our community where we are criminalized in the United States. I’m not even being hyperbolic. It’s there.
