Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Accused Of Deleting Negative Posts About Her Husband

The link-sharing website Reddit has grown more popular over the years, with users sharing viral news stories, videos, memes and more — oftentimes with biting and funny commentary on the happenings.

However, it’s interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao who has seen her name on the front page of the internet over the past week. That’s because the Reddit leader underwent an intense cross-examination regarding her $16 million lawsuit against her previous employer, and later faced controversy from Reddit users who claimed posts about Ellen’s husband’s lawsuit were being deleted from the site, as reported by News.com.au.

More than 5,000 upvotes have poured into Reddit on the Pao-critical link shares that haven’t been deleted, with users comparing post deletions to pouring more gasoline onto the controversy that only puts Ellen under a larger microscope.

“Yup. Nothing draws more attention than dozens of deleted posts or hundreds of deleted comments.”

Alphonse “Buddy” Fletcher, Jr. is Ellen’s husband, a man who previously ran a hedge fund, but is accused of running a Ponzi scheme and committing civil fraud with his now-bankrupt Fletcher Foundation, a $140 million scandal. One highly upvoted posts stated,

“‘Buddy’ Fletcher, who is married to the CEO of Reddit, is currently accused of running a big [P]onzi scheme worth millions of dollars — why haven’t you heard of it? Because it is being deleted off most subs.”

As reported by the Inquisitr, Ellen’s trial surrounded the controversial topic of gender bias in tech-based Silicon Valley, with Pao suing Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for $16 million amid accusations of deep sexual discrimination. As a result, a judge ruled that Pao can claim damages in the lawsuit, as reported by San Jose Mercury News? — an update that serves as a positive outcome for Ellen, who is also a lawyer, during a time when she is embroiled in other controversies. A big payout for Ellen could be especially timely considering the dire financial strains her husband has recently experienced.

While the case is expected to go to the jury as early as Wednesday, back on Reddit, users are celebrating the fact that their comments are seemingly no longer being deleted on the site.

“I guess they’ve learnt though, because I haven’t seen a comment graveyard in a while – those draw the most attention. Now they just remove the whole post on some pretext.”

“Collusion, censorship, and general shadiness perpetrated by Reddit moderators? Well I for one am shocked!”

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]