Creator scandals have turned morality clauses into brands’ go-to exit strategy

Whether it was Edie Parker quietly scrubbing every trace of Summer House star Amanda Batula from its website days after she revealed a secret relationship with one of her cast mates, or ABC canceling an entire Bachelorette season after TMZ published footage of its star in a physical altercation with her then-boyfriend, the pattern is the same: when a creator becomes a liability, brands reach for the escape hatch. Experts believe that hatch has a name: the morality clause. 

Baked into the boilerplate of most influencer and creator contracts, morality clauses required talent to maintain broadly defined behavioral standards or face termination. In practice, they hand brands near-unilateral power to walk away from partnerships — no court, no arbitration, no explanation required.

“If they can’t control the situation, they’ll control the deal,” said Nima Tahmaseebi, founder of NT Legal, a creator-focused law firm. “They will make sure they have final say on how this goes, and that happens time and time again.”

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‘I’m playing the long game’: Journalists are striking out alone and discovering the business is toughest beat of all

Independent journalism is structurally viable for the first time. The infrastructure is there. The audiences are there. What’s lagging is business fluency, and journalists are learning it the hard way. 

According to CNTI’s latest research, only three of 26 “indie info providers” — the report’s term for people delivering factual information via personality-driven brands — interviewed fully fund their lifestyle from their work. Nearly half (12) of those interviewed can’t cover it at all. Fewer than one in three has a developed business strategy.

“It is not one-way traffic with journalists leaving to become creators,” said Laura Darcey, research analyst at Enders Analysis. “Journalists that have grown up within legacy media can find new freedoms and monetization opportunities by branching out alone, but we’re not about to see a mass exodus. Journalists will find themselves competing in the broader attention and subscription economy where challenges of subscription fatigue and limited discretionary spending apply.”

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