BuzzFeed Fires White House Reporter Over "Inappropriate Message"

The company said that White House reporter Adrian Carrasquillo sent an inappropriate message to a colleague.

BuzzFeed fired White House correspondent Adrian Carrasquillo on Wednesday afternoon for sending an inappropriate message to a colleague, the company confirmed.

The termination followed a warning by the company to cease a pattern of sending inappropriate messages to colleagues, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. (Carrasquillo's termination was first reported by Business Insider.)

In a statement, the company said: "In responding to a complaint filed last week by an employee, we learned that Adrian violated our Code of Conduct by sending an inappropriate message to a colleague. This followed a recent reminder about our prohibition against inappropriate communications. We are saddened by these circumstances, but we take these issues extremely seriously. We're committed to ensuring that BuzzFeed remains a place where everyone is treated respectfully by his or her peers."

Carrasquillo, who has been with the company since 2013, sent the offending message to multiple BuzzFeed colleagues, the individual said.

BuzzFeed conducted an investigation into numerous allegations of inappropriate behavior cited in an anonymously authored list called "Shitty Media Men." Carrasquillo was named in the document. While the company did not uncover any cases of harassment, a history of sending inappropriate communications was addressed with Carrasquillo and he was warned against any future communications of this kind.

The company is not anticipating taking any further disciplinary action based on the information uncovered in the investigation.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Carrasquillo for comment.