by Noah Shachtman, Rolling Stone’s top editor, will step down at the end of the month after a more than two-year stint at the helm of the pop culture bible.
In a brief note to employees seen by The New York Times, Shachtman said his last day at the helm of the magazine would be March 1, but did not give further details about the reasons for his departure.
His resignation was prompted by editorial differences with Gus Wenner, CEO of Rolling Stone, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
“It is the right decision, made by Gus Wenner and I after many discussions about the direction of the brand,” Shachtman said in the letter.
Wenner told employees in a separate memo that Shachtman would be replaced in the interim by Sean Woods, the magazine’s deputy editor, and Lisa Tozzi, its digital director. The magazine will begin searching for a new top editor in the coming weeks, she said. Mr. Shachtman will continue as a contributing writer for the magazine.
“I want to thank you for all the work, passion and dedication you have put into our publication over the past few years,” Mr. Wenner wrote.
Shachtman, a former senior editor at The Daily Beast, imported the news website’s hard-nosed, investigative sensibilities to Rolling Stone. During his tenure, the magazine published investigations into prominent musicians and actors, including Jonathan Majors and Marilyn Manson. The publication also won a National Magazine Award for digital design and was nominated for its first Emmy Award in interactive media under his leadership.
In recent years, Rolling Stone has focused on expanding beyond its roots as a traditional magazine, emphasizing projects including events, licensing, online commerce, film, television and podcasts.
Rolling Stone was plunged into crisis last year when Jann Wenner, one of the magazine’s founders, made comments in an interview with The Times that were widely considered racist and sexist. Jann Wenner, father of Gus Wenner, left the publication in 2019, but remained influential in the music world as a board member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which he also helped found. After his comments were published, he was expelled from the foundation and condemned by the Black Rock Coalition, a conflagration that Shachtman had pressured Rolling Stone to cover.
