Head of SXSW let go amid reports of layoffs

New SXSW leader appointed to take Hugh Forrest's place

A Penske Media Corp. executive in L.A. is taking over leadership of South by Southwest. In this story, we look at the executive's career background. We also share community reaction to the departure of Hugh Forrest. Many influential Austinites are upset.

Head of SXSW let go amid reports of layoffs

According to reports from the Austin American-Statesman, Hugh Forrest was terminated after only just coming on board as president last year.

SXSW, which began as a music festival in Austin, Texas, in 1987, has expanded to a two-week event that now features three programming tracks: music, film and interactive. Penske, who owns publications such as Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter and events such as the Golden Globes, invested for the first time in the festival in 2021. At that time, bought 50 percent of the company with a partner, MRC. The two partners took control of the fes…

SXSW Ex-President Says Penske Forced Him Out

Former South by Southwest President Hugh Forrest says parent company Penske Media forced him out during an executive shakeup.

☀️ SXSW Turmoil as Penske Cleans House

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY April 30, 2025.Where sure, companies like GM, JETBLUE, UPS, COLGATE-PALMOLIVE and most recently SNAP all pulled their financial guidance for Q2 (SNAP shares were -14% last night, as it was also down 1M users in North America) — but the cruise 🚢 community knows no bounds!Ye…

Penske Media laid off around 10 members of SXSW leadership, many of whom had been with the festival for decades, including its president, CTO, and head of comms

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