Since Bill Simmons extended his contract at Spotify early last year, his company The Ringer has been heavily focused on video podcasts as part of the Spotify’s overall embrace of the medium.
As The Ringer added talent like former ESPN host Max Kellerman, NBA analyst Zach Lowe, and comedian Amy Poehler, striking a big licensing deal with Netflix in 2025, Spotify simultaneously laid off a handful of Ringer staffers including writer Claire McNear and producer Jonathan Kermah.
On Monday, news broke of another round of layoffs at The Ringer.
Special projects lead Andrew Gruttadaro and staff writer Miles Surrey both announced their departures on X:
Well, sadly it looks like it’s my turn to do one of these tweets: I was laid off by The Ringer today.
It’s impossible to sum up nine years in a tweet but: I worked on so many things—profiles, theme weeks, special projects—that I am incredibly proud of.
— Andrew Gruttadaro (@andrewgrutt) March 23, 2026
Some news: I’ve been laid off by The Ringer.
It was a rewarding eight and a half years and I’m proud to have literally written the most articles in the site’s history. I’d love to keep writing about pop culture elsewhere — drop me a line: msurrey2 at gmail
— Miles Surrey (@HKSurrey) March 23, 2026
A source tells Awful Announcing that as many as six staffers could be impacted, with most or all coming from the editorial team.
When Awful Announcing reached out to Spotify for comment, a spokesperson responded that “Spotify does not comment on staffing shifts.”
Variety reported that as many as 15 total employees across The Ringer and Spotify Studios could lose their jobs. Spotify is reportedly telling staffers that the cuts are intended to improve “execution, speed and alignment” but should not be taken as a sign of cost-cutting. The company, Variety reported, still plans to invest in multiplatform content and video.
Last week, host Jason Goff announced Spotify was ending his podcast The Full Go, which covered Chicago sports. Variety added that Spotify is also shutting down New York, New York with John Jastremski.
Jastremski also co-hosts The Ringer Gambling Show for the company.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.