Ozy Media founder and CEO Carlos Watson has been arrested on fraud charges, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Watson’s arrest comes after his former Ozy Media partner, Samir Rao, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with federal officials.
Watson’s arrest comes more than a year after Ozy Media’s downfall, and just as Watson was planning to tro and resurrect the brand. Earlier this month Watson appeared at an advertising event sponsored by global marketing giant IPG, seeking sponsors for an upcoming edition of OzyFest.
Ozy’s downfall began in fall 2021, when then-New York Times media columnist Ben Smith revealed that Rao impersonated an executive from YouTube in a fundraising meeting with Goldman Sachs. Subsequent stories suggested Watson also lied to the executive producer of his YouTube show by saying it would air on cable channels owned by A+E Networks, and that Watson had made false claims about Ozy’s reach and traffic.
Ozy’s TV and podcast deals fell apart after the stories, and the company shut down in October 2021 (though Watson would go on to tease its possible resurrection).
