Kushner severs ties with Observer

Jared Kushner's lawyers told CNN Monday he will be stepping down as Publisher of Observer, formerly New York Observer, and will be selling the property into a family trust.

Kushner's ownership created some sticky situations:

• The site was one of only a handful of publications to formally endorse Trump during the Republican primary, although it did not endorse any candidate during the general election.
• In an interview with Recode yesterday, Observer editor-in-chief Ken Kurson said Kushner gave the team ample editorial freedom, but Kushner still faced conflict-of-interest accusations during the election.
• Last July, Kushner received backlash from an Observer employee who wrote an op-ed on the website accusing him of ignoring anti-Semitic imagery in his father-in-law's campaign.

Kushner bought The Observer in 2006 for $10 million. He will be replaced as Publisher by Joseph Meyer, his brother-in-law and the current CEO of the Observer.