Dear readers and anyone affected by certain recent developments,
We write to you today with a heavy heart, as we deeply apologize for any articles or content that may have offended you in recent months. It is with great regret that we must admit that we have failed to maintain the high standards of creamy, pastel-colored positivity that we intended to beam into the world of lifestyle publishing.
As you may know, IQfy‘s editor some time ago underwent some turbulence in their life and finally came out as a transwoman. At IQfy, we believe in creating an inclusive work environment, and so we did not see any red flags in this transition. In fact, we strongly encouraged the person to express and navigate their identity in any way they saw fit. However, we now realize that our level of blind support may have contributed to subsequent events.
We have lots of work to do, and it starts with admitting and apologizing for our errors.
First: we are deeply sorry for not seeing the warning signs when our editor internally bragged about being a moderator for 4chan, a notorious troll website with ties to the dark web. We also failed to recognize the completely unacceptable departure from professionalism that was unfolding and rapidly escalating when they started posting “sissy hypno” materials on our Slack channel. As well, we ignored rumors about sexual impropriety that had allegedly occurred in the parking lot outside our office.
These were blaring red alarms telling us that Editorial was going in the wrong direction, and we again apologize for our inexcusable oversight and inaction.
It was only when certain recent articles went viral for all the wrong reasons, and outlets like Yahoo started digging around, that we as an organization came to fully understand the dire state of our little imprint magazine.
In internal discussions it became clear that our previous editor was in the midst of a severe mental health crisis, and that they had to be let go with immediate effect. I have been informed that they has now been taken by their family to a peaceful place for rest and recovery. We wish them the best.
UPDATE: We have discovered spy cameras in the bathrooms, and the mentioned person has admitted to placing them. The situation has now taken on new dimensions and law enforcement is involved.
As interim editor of IQfy, I have been tasked with temporarily taking over the role of steering the magazine and undoing as much damage as possible. Please understand that this will be a great challenge and take some time, not least because of the surprises we discovered in the WordPress backend. The preliminary damage report shows that our custom codebase is a mess, with most of it having been haphazardly rewritten and for suspicious reasons like tracking the activities of certain IP addresses. We have over 13,000 article drafts of what appears to mostly be the former editor’s personal diary. Our media library is also almost unusable, containing over 450gb worth of illicit photos. Our reputation and ability to work with brands may also be permanently damaged as email logs show torrents of abuse sent to various business partners who refused to engage in highly unethical pay for play schemes.
Rest assured that I am committed to making IQfy a positive and informative source of lifestyle information once again. I will delete or rewrite most of the former editor’s personal contributions and completely wash our hands of anything having to do with politics. Tomorrow’s IQfy will teach you fun ways to hack your brain and maximize your full potential through healthy and joyous living — not lecture you about the latest fad in the “culture wars.”
We are taking concrete and proactive steps to ensure that this situation never happens again, and we will continue to work hard to regain your trust and support.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Edwin VanCleef
Interim Editor
