Washington Post CEO in a ‘state of hiding’ as staffers joke about his rumored drinking amid low morale

Amid an ongoing exodus of talent from the Washington Post as staffers have grown increasingly demoralized with the direction of the legendary paper, embattled chief executive officer and publisher Will Lewis has been described as going into a “state of hiding” as his apparent drinking has become a “joke” among employees.

In a damning and comprehensive story by The New Yorker, reporter Clare Malone dives into the “identity crisis” occurring at the post while wondering if mega-billionaire owner Jeff Bezos is “selling out” the publication as he cozies up to Donald Trump following the president’s return to the White House.

“In some ways, this is all a story about Jeff and how he changed over the course of his ownership and really became a different person with huge implications for the institution,” one former top editor at the Post told Malone.

During Trump’s first term, Malone notes, Bezos suffered through the media-bashing president’s relentless attacks on him and his paper before welcoming Joe Biden into office. However, “Bezos felt a sense of betrayal” after the Biden administration sued Bezos’ cash cow Amazon in 2023 for illegally maintaining monopoly power.

In the runup to the 2024 election and in the first months of the second Trump administration, Bezos made a number of moves at the paper that raised the ire of Post staffers and its readers, who took the outlet’s “Democracy Dies in Darkness” motto to heart.

Notoriously, the owner’s last-minute decision to block the editorial board’s endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president led to hundreds of thousands of canceled subscriptions and the resignations of several board members. Bezos’ mandate that the opinion section only concentrate on free market principles and personal liberties left staffers outraged and prompted the opinion editor to quit. Meanwhile, there has been a steady exodus of talent over the past few months, many of whom have jumped ship to The Atlantic.

Though Bezos and Lewis have implemented these changes while insisting the staff “needs to be disciplined,” both leaders of the paper have largely been missing in action despite calls from employees for meetings. Lewis’ leadership, or lack thereof, has been cited as a key reason why many reporters and editors have left.

“In exit interviews, meanwhile, staff members have attributed their departures to Lewis’s lack of a discernible plan for the paper,” Malone pointed out.

“The idea that the newsroom is the reason for the Post’s struggles is unfair,” a former editor told the New Yorker. “The newsroom is not always its own best friend, but Will somehow convinced Jeff that it is the problem, when really there is no business strategy.”

Lewis has also apparently had a falling out with the paper’s executive editor Matt Murray, the former Wall Street Journal editor who was initially supposed to just temporarily replace Sally Buzbee but was permanently given the role when no other candidates took the offer. Much of his anger with Murray, according to Malone, is due to the paper’s coverage of Lewis’ scandal-plagued tenures at both the Post and the British tabloids.

“I know Will [Lewis] was very upset with Matt [Murray] for the Post’s coverage and for some period of time wouldn‘t talk to Matt,” a former senior editor said. Both Murray and Lewis denied this to Malone, but in the end, Murray did institute a policy discouraging reporters from covering the paper itself.

“Since last June, Lewis has gone into what a number of Post staffers described as a state of hiding,” Malone added. “Rumors began circulating about Lewis drinking heavily in social settings. ‘One thing that has damaged him internally is that his drinking is widely known in the newsroom,’ the former senior editor said. ‘It’s literally something his employees joke about.’ (Lewis declined multiple requests to speak with me.)”

The New Yorker additionally noted that during his time at the Telegraph, Lewis had a “a clique of mannish guys” and a “reputation for hard drinking.” While the Guardian reported at the time that “no one has ever seen him drunk” or late for work, he picked up the nickname “Thirsty” Will Lewis. “A person who has known Lewis for decades described him to me as a ‘wide boy’—British slang for someone who survives by his wits, often on the wrong side of right,” an associate of Lewis’ told Malone.

Lewis’ absence at a number of staff-wide events has been notable, such as the recent Pulitzer Prize celebrations for the paper and a screening party for a documentary on the Post’s legendary publisher Katharine Graham. Murray and Bezos also skipped the documentary screening.

In fact, Bezos has been incredibly hard to reach for the Post’s leadership team. When the opinion editors attempted to set up an opportunity to talk with the billionaire in August, Lewis told them that “Bezos's schedule was full until late September.” Despite other requests from staff, and Bezos’ edicts demanding change in coverage, the owner hasn’t visited the paper since before the election.

A Post spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.