TV personality Carlos Watson testifies in his trial over collapse of startup Ozy Media
CTV
Former TV host Carlos Watson took the witness stand Monday in the criminal trial surrounding the collapse of his Ozy Media, insisting he hadn’t schemed to con the startup's backers.
Former TV host Carlos Watson took the witness stand Monday in the criminal trial surrounding the collapse of his Ozy Media, insisting he hadn’t schemed to con the startup's backers.
“Mr. Watson, did you conspire to commit securities fraud?” asked his lawyer, Ronald Sullivan Jr.
“I did not,” Watson said, and repeated it when asked about the other charges against him, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Watson, a former news and talk show host on networks including CNN and MSNBC, is the key defense witness in the federal trial. He and the now-defunct Ozy are accused of giving backers and lenders phony financial statistics, forged contracts and other false information that created a glowing image of a company that actually was on the rocks.
It disintegrated in fall 2021, after The New York Times raised questions about Ozy's audience size claims and practices, particularly a phone call in which company co-founder Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive to champion Ozy to some investment bankers.
Watson and Ozy Media have pleaded not guilty and sought to cast blame for any misrepresentations on Rao. He pleaded guilty, testified against Watson and is awaiting sentencing.
Watson, in his first day of testimony, put some distance between himself and the financial nitty-gritty at fast-growing Ozy. He said he focused on its content, vision, staff and partnerships, hosting multiple TV shows, dedicating “a ton of time” to ensuring that its productions and events were high-level, and traveling about four days a week to see key contacts. Rao and others largely took care of technology and day-to-day operations, Watson and others have testified.
