A major LGBTQ organization paid for its CEO to fly in for expensive flights, stay in luxury hotels and a summer home, and even spent nearly $20,000 to renovate his home office, according to an exposé published Thursday.
The spending on GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, 52, was so extravagant that it worried her former chief financial officer and may have violated IRS rules. According to a report from the New York Times: It examined payments and other documents dating from January 2022 to June 2023.
Ellis, who earns about $700,000 a year from the nonprofit, spent at least $18,000 of his $20,000 budget renovating his home office on the top floor of his Long Island home, including ivory pillows and a chandelier, the paper said.
A GLAAD spokesperson told The New York Times that the renovations make the space “suitable” for television appearances and virtual events.
The Washington Post has reached out to GLAAD for comment.
On the advice of its lawyers, GLAAD did not report the home improvement expenses as income on Ellis’ tax returns, so Ellis likely did not pay taxes on them, which nonprofit experts believe may have been an IRS violation, according to The New York Times.
Other lavish expenses reportedly included first-class airfare, hotel stays at the Waldorf Astoria, and a summer rental on Cape Cod (for $15,000).
A spokesman defended the seasonal homes as allowing Ellis to raise millions of dollars at a typically slow fundraising period and said the luxury rentals were a business expense.
The spending raised alarm bells last year for GLAAD’s then-chief financial officer, Emily Plausch, who believed the distribution of funds violated organization policy and had not been properly disclosed to the IRS, according to The New York Times.
After a law firm investigated her concerns, the organization changed its travel policy.
GLAAD defended the spending, and its board chair said the board “firmly supports” Ellis.
“I take my role as GLAAD’s financial steward very seriously and continue to update our procedures to keep up with the organization’s rapid growth,” Ellis, who has held the position since 2014, said in a statement. From The Hollywood Reporter.
“As attacks against the LGBTQ community escalate, our work is more urgent than ever.”
The group also criticized the Times for “devoting significant resources to spreading negative stories,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
GLAAD has criticized the New York Times’ reporting on transgender people.
According to the outlet, a Grey Lady spokesperson responded by saying the article was “fair and accurate, and based on objective information contained in GLAAD expense reports, employment contracts, tax returns, and other documents.”
