Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is stepping down at the end of the month after a two-plus year stint at the helm of the pop culture bible.
In a brief memo to employees seen by The New York Times, Mr. Shachtman said his last day running the magazine would be March 1, but did not elaborate on the reasons for his departure.
His resignation was prompted by editorial differences with Gus Wehner, Rolling Stone’s chief executive, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
“It’s the right decision Gus Wenner and I made after many discussions about the direction of the brand,” Mr. Shachtman said in the letter.
Mr. Wenner told employees in a separate memo that Mr. Shachtman would be replaced in the interim by Sean Woods, the magazine’s associate editor, and Lisa Tozzi, the magazine’s digital director. The magazine will begin a search for a new top editor in the coming weeks, he said. Mr. Shachtman will continue as a contributing writer for the magazine.
“I want to thank him for all the work, passion and dedication he has put into our publication over the last few years,” Mr Wenner wrote.
The Daily Beast’s former top editor, Mr. Shachtman, brought the news site’s hard-hitting, investigative sensibility to Rolling Stone. During his tenure, the magazine published investigations of prominent musicians and actors, including Jonathan Majors and Marilyn Manson. The publication also won a National Magazine Award for digital design and was nominated for its first interactive media Emmy under his leadership.
In recent years, Rolling Stone has focused on expanding beyond its roots as a traditional magazine, emphasizing ventures that include events, licensing, online commerce, film, television and podcasts.
Rolling Stone was mired in controversy last year when Jann Wenner, one of the magazine’s founders, made comments in an interview with the Times that were widely viewed as racist and sexist. Jann Wenner, who is Gus Wenner’s father, retired from the publication in 2019, but remained influential in the music world as a board member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which he also helped found. After his comments were published, he was expelled from the institution and denounced by the Black Rock Coalition, a firestorm that Mr. Shachtman had pushed Rolling Stone to cover.
