A spate of layoffs hit Billboard this week after a wave of cuts at other Penske Media outlets this month, also affecting writers and editors at Variety and Rolling Stone just weeks before the holidays.
Billboard cuts include editors at large Robert Levine and Steve Knopper, senior director of live music and touring Dave Brooks and lead analyst Glenn Peoples, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap. Executive editor Frank DiGiacomo was also laid off, prompting him to change his Instagram bio to read “(An, not the) Executive Editor at Billboard.”
At other PMC outlets, Rolling Stone writers Andre Gee and Brittany Spanos and Variety senior entertainment writer Adam B. Vary and associate news editor J. Kim Murphy were all pink-slipped, confirming their exits with social media posts.
A Penske Media spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters. Status first reported the cuts at Variety and Rolling Stone.
The cuts are the latest layoffs at Penske Media outlets this year, as Rolling Stone cut several staffers in September, including executive digital director Lisa Tozzi and chief television critic Alan Sepinwall. The layoffs at PMC organizations also come after the company removed work-from-home employment as an option, instituting in-office mandates and forced resignations in October for those who would not comply.
“The great axe of modern journalism has come for me: Today was my last day at Variety,” Vary wrote in a Dec. 5 Bluesky post. “Not my choice at all and I will miss my tremendous colleagues — and friends! — there enormously.”
“After 11 years i was laid off from rolling stone!” Spanos wrote in an X post on Monday, noting she had published three cover stories this year alone. “kind of surreal feeling to start over but excited to see what’s next.”
“More Variety layoffs, sad to say I’m among those impacted. Grateful for my five years there and proud of all the work I did — breaking news, editing, reviews, interviews, social and more,” Murphy wrote in an X post on Monday. “Looking back, I did a lot. It was a job I loved! If you know of any openings, do pass along.”
“after 3 years, i was laid off by rolling stone,” Gee wrote in an X post on Monday, with a link to a GoFundMe post. “im appreciative of my time there, but i know this is opening a better path.”
The cuts came amid a broader wave of layoffs throughout 2025. CBS News laid off about 100 people in October, weeks after NBC News laid off roughly 150 people. Condé Nast also cut multiple staffers last month through layoffs at Teen Vogue and the firings of four staffers who protested the cuts.
