Entertainment Weekly has been sued by a top editor and talent booker who claims the magazine punished her for speaking out against its problematic past editor in chief. Brittany Kaplan, who still works at the mag, alleges that JD Heyman instituted a toxic work culture, including making jokes about the Holocaust and eating disorders, making racist remarks, and calling musician Jewel a “snaggletooth.” Heyman “intentionally” ignored a request from actor Kristen Stewart not to be featured on a Pride month cover, and a request from the late Chadwick Boseman’s family for him to be pulled from another cover, Kaplan alleges. He also rejected actor Ryan Reynolds’ request for some diverse co-stars to share a cover with him during the 2020 racial justice protests, she alleges.
Kaplan accused EW of stripping her responsibilities when she made internal complaints then allowing incoming editor Mary Margaret to consult with Heyman when he was ousted in late 2020 over multiple complaints from staffers. “Ms. Kaplan has attempted for years to resolve the subject of today’s lawsuit short of litigation, but her internal complaints, even those made after we were retained to represent her, fell on deaf ears,” her lawyer Michael Willemin said. Meredith, the owner of EW, did not respond to a request for comment. (EW is owned by Dotdash Meredith, which shares a parent company with The Daily Beast.)
