‘Hot Ones’ Goes Independent: Buzzy Talk Show Owner Hatches New Investment
deadline.comHot Ones, the buzzy talk show where celebrities face questions and even hotter chicken, is under new management. First We Feast, the company behind the YouTube show, has been sold by Buzzfeed to a group of investors including host Sean Evans and founder Chris Schonberger, Pod Save America producer Crooked Media, Rhett & Link’s Mythical Entertainment and Soros Fund Management in an eight-figure deal.
The move means that First We Feast will now be an independent multi-platform media company. It comes after Buzzfeed sold Complex Media, where First We Feast started as an offshoot, to Live Nation-backed NTWRK but kept the Hot Ones producer.
Schonberger becomes CEO of the company with Evans as Chief Creative Officer as well as remaining host of the hit show. Sarah Honda remains SVP of Operations and Brand Strategy and Brendan Kelly is SVP of Client Partnerships.
Hot Ones has produced 350 episodes and First We Feast has over 14M subscribers with 4B views. The show ostensibly sees celebrities answer its deeply-researched questions while eating increasingly hot chicken wings.
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