The New York Times accuses GLAAD of “wasteful” spending. GLAAD calls article “misleading.”

LGBTQ+ media organization GLAAD has been accused by New York Times report of “lavish” spending on salary, first-class travel, luxury hotels, a pricey chauffeured car service and $20,000 for CEO Sarah Kate Ellis’ home office. The publication claimed the spending may have violated IRS regulations and the organization’s own policies, which require employees to try to keep costs to a minimum.

GLAAD — which employs about 60 people and has an annual budget of about $30 million — called the report “grossly misleading” and said its externally audited economic reports reflect the honesty and transparency of the organization’s financial dealings (in compliance with IRS regulations and its internal spending policies). GLAAD also said the article’s author, Emily Steel, had previously signed an open letter criticizing GLAAD for repeatedly speaking out against Times’ problematic coverage of transgender people.

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This Times The report — based on “dozens of GLAAD expense reports and accompanying receipts from January 2022 to June 2023, as well as employment contracts, tax returns, audit reports, other financial documents, and internal communications” — claimed Ellis’ compensation could range from $700,000 to $1.3 million annually, “an amount that would far exceed what her colleagues at many similar organizations earn,” Steel wrote.

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In a statement for LGBTQ NationGLAAD Communications Director Rich Ferraro said, “It’s an arbitrary and sensational hypothesis to say that reaching the ($1 million) salary is even possible.” He said Ellis would need to raise between $60 million and $90 million in new annual funding to get that amount. According to GLAAD’s most recent IRS Form 990 filing, Ellis earned $603,285 in salary and additional compensation in 2022, Spokesman reported.

This Times said that — while attending the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January 2023 — Ellis flew first class, got into a chauffeured Mercedes, spent a day skiing and spent a week in a seven-room cottage that cost GLAAD nearly half a million dollars. Ferraro said the trip was funded by a donation from the Ariadne Getty Foundation to help increase LGBTQ+ visibility at the event. During the event, Ellis led discussions on HIV, inclusive business practices and international anti-queer laws with key global business leaders, NGOs and other forum participants.

The hut was used for some of those discussions, Ferraro added, and also provided lodging for GLAAD staff, staff from other organizations, and individual activists from Kenya and Uganda — two African countries that recently passed anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

He also said that GLAAD began using private car rental companies (at the most cost-effective or discounted rates) as part of its enhanced security procedures amid increasing threats of violence against GLAAD employees and its CEO, at the recommendation of security firm ETS. Ferraro also said that Ellis accidentally charged GLAAD for his day of skiing but later reimbursed the organization.

This Times the article mentioned that Ellis was charging about $30,000 to rent a house, a vacation home, and a hotel room in Provincetown, Massachusetts, for the summer of 2023. Ferraro said those costs were legitimate business expenses as a site for GLAAD’s summer meetings. Ellis is also working in the area for the rest of the season to meet with movement leaders and raise millions from potential donors (who are either local or visiting from the coasts) “during a traditionally slower time of year for fundraising.”

Ellis also spent at least $18,000 renovating the top floor of her Long Island home, using “everything from cotton wool paint and ivory throw pillows to a corner sofa and a chandelier,” Times wrote. Ferraro said the money was used to renovate Ellis’ attic — previously used as a warehouse — and turn it into a home office and a space to host virtual events for GLAAD staff and donors, record organizational videos and conduct more than 80 on-camera interviews in 2022.

GLAAD also spent more than $60,000 on flights and hotels while Ellis attended the 2023 Cannes Lions advertising industry festival on the French Riviera. GLAAD said the spending helped Ellis and three GLAAD staffers organize more than 50 festival events with key advertising, marketing and business leaders and launch GLAAD’s first annual Advertising Visibility Index of LGBTQ+ representation in advertising.

Ferraro said the actions were part of a “last-minute crisis decision” by GLAAD to convince business leaders to continue working with the LGBT community even as other companies withdrew their partnerships in response to right-wing boycotts and attacks.

Ellis began running GLAAD in 2014 and has ramped up fundraising efforts through appearances on television and at high-profile events — such as the annual Emmy Awards — and by soliciting donations from major companies like Netflix, Google and Disney. By 2022, she had increased GLAAD’s revenue fivefold to about $19 million from new donors and programs, Times recorded.

In a statement for LGBTQ NationGLAAD stated that Times author Emily Steel signed a 2023 open letter criticizing GLAAD for repeatedly speaking out against its publications’ coverage of transgender people, which GLAAD found to be biased, inaccurate, and routinely lacking in transgender voices — criticism echoed by the watchdog group Media Matters. Times instead, it focused its reporting on controversies questioning the legitimacy of transgender identities and gender-affirming care, according to a May 2023 Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting study.

GLAAD rented a truck with billboards to park in front of TimesHe visited the office eight times and published more than a dozen posts critical of Times‘ report on its website and social media. However, GLAAD stated that Times“GLAAD leadership continues to ignore GLAAD’s primary request: to meet with transgender leaders.

Charlie Stadtlander, Managing Director of External Communications at Timesdefended Steel’s article on GLAAD, calling it “fair, accurate, and based on objective information” contained in GLAAD documents. He also said his publication “fully and honestly reported on transgender issues, from the challenges and biases the community faces to the fight to expand rights and freedoms to open debates about care.”

A GLAAD spokesperson said: LGBTQ Nation“It is disappointing but not surprising, especially at a time of rising anti-LGBTQ violence and anti-LGBTQ legislation, that Times committed significant resources to present a negative story. The tabloid-style article omits much of our critical advocacy work and grossly mischaracterizes an organization that consistently receives top ratings from charity rating agencies. Times “should devote more time and resources to improving coverage of transgender events.”

GLAAD Board Chair Liz Jenkins wrote, “GLAAD’s mission to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance has never been more important. The Board and I stand firmly behind Sarah Kate Ellis, with respect and appreciation for how she and her team are leading the movement at a time when our community is under attack. We have full confidence that they do so with integrity and that they share the Board’s commitment to undeniably strong governance and business practices.”

In a statement, Ellis said: “Politicians, extremists and even mainstream media are undermining our efforts for equality and promoting dangerous narratives about our community… We will not stop fighting for acceptance and working as hard as we can every day to stand up for our community.”

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