Washington Post CEO Will Lewis in hiding from newsroom as morale sinks and staffers joke about his drinking: report

Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis has reportedly gone into a “state of hiding” as fury within the newsroom grows over the massive overhaul by the paper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.Lewis, who took the reins of the Beltway broadsheet in 2023, has been noticeably absent since last June, several Washington Post staffers told The New Yorker in a lengthy feature published on Monday.

Staffers — already frustrated by an exodus sparked by Bezos’ decision to kill an endorsement of Kamala Harris shortly before the election — also told the outlet that they had concerns about the British-born Lewis’ drinking.“One thing that has damaged him internally is that his drinking is widely known in the newsroom,” a former senior editor claimed.“It’s literally something his employees joke about.”The absence of Lewis — who previously served as CEO of the Wall Street Journal — has fractured his relationship with executive editor Matt Murray, whom he appointed to the job earlier this year, the report said.Part of the discord was related to how the newspaper covered his own volatile tenure at the paper, The New Yorker said. The publication has since mostly stopped covering itself.“I know Will [Lewis] was very upset with Matt [Murray] for the (Washington) Post’s coverage and for some period of time wouldn‘t talk to Matt,” the former senior editor told The New Yorker.Last week, Lewis skipped celebrating the paper’s multiple Pulitzer Prize wins at its DC newsroom, which was led by Murray, according to The New Yorker.

Lewis’ absence was attributed by Murray to a long-planned trip.A rep for the Washington Post denied that Lewis and Murray had a falling out.When asked about Lewis’ absence, the spokesperson told The Post that the exec respects the line of the newsroom but regularly attends news and opinion meetings.

The rep did not address Lewis’ alleged drinking.Late last year, Lewis had raised eyebrows when he ditched the pape...