O Magazine to 'Reimagine' Print Edition as Oprah Winfrey Says 'I'm Proud of This Team' (original) (raw)

The publication will become more "digitally-centric" but plans to publish some form of print media beyond its December 2020 issue

Published on July 27, 2020 04:06PM EDT

Oprah Winfrey . Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty

Oprah Winfrey’s namesake monthly O, The Oprah Magazine is restructuring after 20 years of circulation.

On Monday, a rep for O Magazine confirmed to PEOPLE that the brand will become more “digitally-centric” but denied reports that Hearst — the media company under which O Magazine is housed — will completely cease the publication’s print edition at the end of 2020.

“As the brand celebrates twenty years of O, The Oprah Magazine, we’re thinking about what’s next, but again the partnership and the brand are not going away,” the rep said. “This is a natural next step for the brand, which has grown to an online audience of 8 million, extending its voice and vision with video and social content. We will continue to invest in this platform as the brand grows and evolves into one that is more digitally-centric.”

O Magazine says it plans to publish some form of print media beyond its December 2020 issue, but the brand has not yet decided what exactly that will entail.

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey on the cover of O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine. Ruven Afanador

Reflecting on the success of her women's magazine (which boasts a print audience of 10 million, according to Hearst) Winfrey, 66, tells PEOPLE, "I’m proud of this team and what we have delivered to our readers over the past 20 years,” adding, “I look forward to the next step in our evolution.”

O Magazine editor-in-chief Lucy Kaylin says the publication will continue to "lean into moments" that have kept readers coming back for more since Winfrey launched the publication in April of 2000.

“Twenty years ago O, The Oprah Magazine launched as a personal growth guide to help women live their best lives,” Kaylin said. “As we embark on this next chapter, we will lean into moments that are central to the brand’s DNA and deepen the connection with our loyal readers.”

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Chief Business Officer of Hearst Kristen O’Hara added: "Hearst is honored to be working with Oprah and her team to reimagine the future.”

Business of Fashion was the first to report on Saturday that O Magazine "will end after the December 2020 issue," stating that the staff members were informed on Friday.

The news comes after Hearst president Troy Young resigned in response to employees accusing him of harassment, bullying and creating a "toxic" work environment in a bombshell New York Times article published last week.

"Troy Young and I have agreed that it is in the best interest of all of us that he resign as president of Hearst Magazines, effective immediately," Hearst president and CEO Steven R. Swartz wrote in an email to staffers, which has since been posted on the company's website.