Huffington Post laid off three of its television section reporters on Wednesday as part of its restructuring plans for its entertainment coverage.
Maggie Furlong, Laura Prudom and Alex Moaba were laid off on Wednesday, their co-worker Maureen Ryan tweeted.
“It’s been my great honor & privilege to work with @MaggieFurlong, @LauInLA & @AlexMoaba. If you’re hiring, hire them fast. They’re awesome,” Ryan wrote.
Update 10:29 PST: A senior executive with Huffington Post told TheWrap that the TV layoffs were in no way a part of a downsizing. Said Jimmy Soni, managing editor: “We’re expanding Entertainment; we added one full-time person to it in the last week (Chris Rudolf, a former fellow), and we’re searching for three social media fellows as we speak.”
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An individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap that the layoffs may just be the beginning, and more are “expected” to hit the New York offices.
HuffPost will also be consolidating its television, entertainment and celebrity verticals into one broad entertainment section.
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HuffPost Live recently laid off staffers when it closed its Los Angeles office in August. Though a majority of the 26 employees stayed with the website and moved to New York, a third were let go.
Executive culture and entertainment editor Mike Hogan left HuffPost in September to return to Vanity Fair as its digital director.
Huffington Post declined to comment on personnel issues.