BuzzFeed strikes deal to sell Hot Ones company for $111.3 million

NEW YORK – American media company BuzzFeed said on Dec 12 it had reached a deal to sell the company behind the popular interview show Hot Ones for US$82.5 million (S$111.3 million), easing a cash crunch that has loomed over the media company for months.

The buyer is a consortium of investors led by an affiliate of Soros Fund Management that also includes Sean Evans, the affable host of Hot Ones, and Mr Chris Schonberger, founder of First We Feast, the show’s parent company.

Mythical Entertainment, the media company created by the YouTube duo Rhett & Link – Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III – is also an investor.

The deal will allow BuzzFeed to pay down tens of millions of dollars in debt that was scheduled to come due this month. The company is reducing its debt load of nearly US$124 million by US$88.8 million, using proceeds from the sale and funding from its operations, leaving the company with more cash than debt on its books.

The deal is also a new chapter for the company behind Hot Ones, a show in which Evans stoically interviews celebrities while they eat progressively spicier chicken wings.

Popular actors and musicians like Blackpink’s Rose, Scarlett Johansson, Megan Thee Stallion, Sydney Sweeney, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have all appeared as guests.

The sale unwinds the vestiges of a deal, struck three years ago, to acquire Complex, a rival company that owned First We Feast and is known for its coverage of pop culture. The deal helped BuzzFeed go public, but the company’s stock has since fallen, as investors grew increasingly bearish on digital media.

BuzzFeed has since pared back its investment in expensive original content, telling investors that it is focusing on using technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to create and deliver content to users. The company shuttered its news division in 2023. In 2024, it sold Complex for US$108.6 million, though it held onto First We Feast.

Mr Jonah Peretti, the founder of BuzzFeed, said in a statement that selling Hot Ones would help BuzzFeed transform into “a media company positioned to fully benefit from the ongoing AI revolution”.

The deal is another high-profile investment for Soros Fund Management, which has backed media and entertainment companies in recent years. In 2022, the firm, founded by billionaire George Soros, invested an undisclosed sum in Crooked Media, the company created by former United States president Barack Obama’s administration staff members behind the podcast Pod Save America.

First We Feast, which has more than 14 million subscribers on YouTube, will be led by its existing team and continue to publish episodes of Hot Ones without major changes. The company is planning to use its investment from the consortium of investors to create new shows and strike deals with other creators.

“I’m excited to continue hosting ‘the show with hot questions, and even hotter wings’ for years to come,” Evans, who will become chief creative officer of First We Feast, said in a statement. “The future is spicy, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.” NYTIMES