Man Repeller ceases operations

Man Repeller, the website founded by influencer Leandra Medine Cohen, will be ceasing operations. The news originally broke on Business of Fashion.

Medine Cohen had a Zoom call with the Man Repeller team on Monday, where she announced the publication would close. Employees will be receiving severance pay, an announcement for which will be made today. Medine Cohen stepped back from the company earlier this year after the company was criticized for a culture of racism and classism. The company would rebrand as Repeller and attempt to make more diverse hires, but alas, the efforts were still not enough to save the publication, which of course was also struggling from the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

Man Repeller originally launched In 2010 when digital publications were in a golden era. It was before they had to compete with Instagram, which was 2 years away from launch, and it was just coming off the golden era of the blogger. Cohen, who had a huge following, managed to turn her blog into a full-scale publication that had a huge audience among millennial women.

However, after the coronavirus pandemic, advertising sales and branded content revenue were on the steep decline, as was an industry wide trend, with many companies having to furlough or let go of employees in an attempt to cut costs. There was no clear turnaround in sight for the company, so Medine Cohen opted to cease operations while she could still pay her employees severance.

photo: Mango