Parler's owner laid off most of its staff and executives in recent weeks, according to a report yesterday by The Verge. Parlement Technologies, owner of the self-described "free speech" social network, started the spate of layoffs in late November, according to The Verge's sources.
"These layoffs continued through at least the end of December, when around 75 percent of staffers were let go in total, leaving approximately 20 employees left working at both Parler and the parent company's cloud services venture," the report said. "A majority of the company's executives, including its chief technology, operations, and marketing officers, have also been laid off, according to a source familiar with the matter."
The Verge report said it isn't clear "how many people are currently employed to work on the Parler social media platform or where it's headed from here." We contacted Parler today and will update this article if we get a response.
Based on the timeline reported by The Verge, the layoffs began about two weeks after Parlement Technologies ended a deal to sell Parler to Ye (formerly Kanye West). Ye and Parlement announced the acquisition deal on October 17, with Ye saying he would protect "conservative opinions" on the site. Ye struck the deal with Parler after his antisemitic posts got him locked out of Twitter and Instagram.
But Parlement announced the termination of the deal after Ye praised Nazis and said, "I like Hitler" during an appearance on Alex Jones' Infowars show. Ye's Hitler comments were made on December 1, but Parlement issued a statement saying the "mutual" decision to terminate the deal "was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November."
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