Answer all co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi will leave the show next month, according to an internal memo obtained by The edge† It is unclear if and in what form the show will continue.
Gimlet executives emailed staffers Wednesday morning, saying: “Alex and Emmanuel have both made the decision to explore opportunities outside of Gimlet, and we’ll have more information on Reply All’s future shortly. … The decision to cancel this repeat of the show arose out of the host team’s desire to move on, and we hope there’s a future where a show about the internet that isn’t really about the internet can be reborn in Gimlet’s library.”
Goldman and Dzotsi’s announcement is the final blow to the controversial eight-year-old show, which was once the jewel in Gimlet’s crown. When Answer all published The test kitchena limited series on the discriminatory work culture of Enjoy your meal magazine, former Gimlet employees caused a social media storm when they accused co-host PJ Vogt and producer Sruthi Pinnamaneni from fostering a similar environment and blocking internal efforts to make Gimlet more inclusive. Vogt and Pinnamaneni left the show shortly after.
Gimlet, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019, has witnessed a number of other high-profile departures in the past two months, including Managing Director Lydia Polgreen and co-founder Matt Lieber† The edge has reached out to Goldman and Dzotsi for comment.
You can read the entire letter below:
Dear Gimlet,
We are writing to share that Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi have decided to leave Allen. On June 23, they will publish their last episode of this season.
Alex and Emmanuel have both made the decision to explore possibilities outside of Gimlet, and we’ll have more information on Reply All’s future soon. This show has had an incredible run, pushing the boundaries of what works in narrative audio, inspiring fellow and future podcasters, and driving audiences to rethink their own digital lives. It’s no exaggeration to say it defined an era of podcasting.
The decision to end this rerun of the show arose out of the host team’s desire to move on, and we hope there’s a future where a show about the internet that isn’t really about the internet can be reborn in the library of gimlet. But for now we would like to thank the team for all their hard work and celebrate the final episodes of a great season.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
Nicole, Mimi, Reyhan and Valentina
[Head of news and knowledge programming Nicole Beemsterboer; head of scripted Mimi O’Donnell; head of society and culture programming Reyhan Harmanci; and head of content operations Valentina Powers.]