The tech platform Oath has canceled a show starring several Instagram stars whose mother is famous conspiracy theorist and Islamophobe Pamela Geller.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, an Oath spokesperson said the company would cancel the program and launch an investigation into The Morning Breath, which stars the Oshry sisters, who are popular Instagram personalities better known as GirlWithNoJob and JackieOProblems.
“The Morning Breath, an Oath social-media show, is being canceled immediately and we have launched an internal investigation and will take other appropriate steps based on the results of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.
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The representative also said officials are looking into whether the girls would remain employed at Oath, the company formed when Yahoo and AOL merged last year.
The Daily Beast published a story Wednesday detailing the Oshry sisters’ attempts to distance themselves from Geller, a prominent anti-Muslim critic and conspiracy theorist. The girls themselves also occasionally were political online, expressing their support for President Donald Trump, and mocking President Barack Obama on their Twitter and Instagram accounts.
In a statement following Wednesday’s story, Claudia Oshry implied that the girls did not share their mother’s anti-Muslim beliefs.
“We want to be clear to our audience and fans that our political and cultural beliefs are not anti-Muslim or anti-anyone,” she said. “Our views are separate from our mother’s. Being raised by a single parent, we were taught to make our own choices based on our personal beliefs. We are inspired to think for ourselves and we do. We do not condone discrimination or racist beliefs of any kind."
According to several employees who spoke with The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity, a number of employees at Oath, the Huffington Post, and Yahoo were upset by the revelations.
After The Daily Beast’s story was published Wednesday, employees circulated a video of failed Republican mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, the outspoken celebrity New York cop with deep ties to Trump and conservative media, praising the stars on their show last year.
“Since you guys supported me, my campaign has been in upsurge,” Dietl said.
“We’re so excited about your campaign,” Jackie Oshry replied.
Others said the Oshry sisters, several of whom formerly worked for the Huffington Post and AOL, were unprofessional and embraced their status as favorites of Oath CEO Tim Armstrong.
Two employees said that while they rarely showed up to tapings more than an hour early, the show was territorial about space, attempting to permanently block off an Oath conference room to serve as the show’s greenroom.
They pointed out that instead of writing their own news scripts, the Oshrys had a habit of loading articles from the New York Post or US Weekly into the teleprompter and simply reading the stories verbatim.
Some planned to make their qualms known by sending a letter to management, calling on Oath to cut ties with the show.
Still, the show’s cancellation represented a sharp U-Turn from Armstrong's embrace of the show just several weeks ago.
During a panel in February at Recode’s Code Media conference, Armstrong said when he discovered the girls were Instagram-famous, he asked them over one weekend to create ideas for social-media properties for Oath, which eventually resulted in the creation of The Morning Breath.
He repeatedly praised the brand as the future of the company, saying the “impact they’re having in the younger news generation is meaningful.”
“It’s one of the most groundbreaking programs,” Armstrong said. “The Oshry sisters are some of the most talented people I’ve ever met and worked with.”
In a Facebook group created for fans of the show, fans lamented its cancellation with some saying that it was all “fake news” and rumors, and that the show would be back within a week.
“I just want to hug each of them. This people who watch this show know exactly what these girls stand for,” one fan wrote.
“I hate that bigotry was perpetuated, but I love the show and will continue to watch wherever it goes,” added another.
