Sarah Kate Ellis is under scrutiny after an article in The New York Times accused the GLAAD president and CEO of engaging in a pattern of lavish spending, including having the nonprofit pay for the renovation of her home office.

According to the Times, which analyzed months of the LGBTQ media advocacy organization’s  expense reports from January 2022 to June 2023, Ellis allegedly racked up charges for first-class flights, expensive black car services, stays at luxury hotels, a ski day that was part of a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a Provincetown summer rental, and nearly $18,000 in renovations to her home office, which was outfitted with a chandelier and other ornate accouterments.

That spending was on top of Ellis’s salary, which began at $441,000 following the renegotiation of a five-year employment contract in 2022, with automatic 5 percent increases each year.

The Times claims that as part of that final employment agreement, Ellis earned a $150,000 signing bonus, additional payments of up to $300,000 per year tied to GLAAD’s fundraising efforts, and a discretionary annual bonus of up to 40% of her salary. She is also slated to collect a “farewell appreciation bonus” of $225,000 in 2027 if she remains with the organization for the remainder of her contract.

The Times also looked at employment agreements, tax filings, audit reports, other financial documents, and internal communications and spoke with “current and former employees and others with knowledge of GLAAD’s operations.”

Michael West, a lawyer who advises charities at the New York Council of Nonprofits, told the Times that the pattern of spending revealed by its investigation could be viewed as “a potentially abusive use of charitable funds that would be surprising and insulting to a lot of their donors.”

Other legal experts cited in the Times article alleged that the type of expenses that Ellis reportedly incurred, while common at a for-profit business, would be considered “inappropriate” for a nonprofit organization of 60 employees and an annual budget of $30 million.

The lawyers also claimed that because neither GLAAD nor Ellis reported the money used for home office renovations as income on her tax forms, she may have violated Internal Revenue Service rules.

The Times alleges that the various expenses appear to violate GLAAD’s own rules for travel and entertainment, which require employees to fly economy, prioritize public transportation when possible, and try to keep costs to a minimum.

In one instance, the Times claims a lower-level employee who expensed a cup of coffee was chastised for taking money away from LGBTQ causes and forced to reimburse GLAAD.

While acknowledging Ellis’s success in rescuing the organization from near-financial ruin in 2014, and her success in attracting new donors, including media and tech companies and wealthy philanthropists, the Times alleges that the CEO’s expenses were not the best use of the organization’s money or a “proper and reasonable use of the charity’s assets.”

The article alleged if IRS regulators were to determine that Ellis’s compensation at GLAAD was excessive, the nonprofit could face financial penalties or even have its tax-exempt status revoked.

The article claimed that GLAAD’s former chief financial officer, Emily Plauché, reportedly warned Liz Jenkins, the chair of GLAAD’s board of directors, about what she felt was excessive spending that conflicted with the organization’s policies and was not being properly disclosed to the IRS or the public.

In response, the board hired outside law firm Sheppard Mullin to investigate those allegations.

Sheppard Mullin advised GLAAD to change its travel policies to align with those of other nonprofits, including provisions that would allow executives to upgrade flights to business class under certain circumstances, according to GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro.

Prior to reaching out to Jenkins, the Times claims Plauché accused GLAAD chief operating officer Darra Gordon of bullying her after she suggested disclosing Ellis’s spending in the organization’s IRS filings.

But Ferraro told the Times that “there was no harassment or bullying,” and that Gordon had “encouraged Ms. Plauché to seek advice from outside tax accountants, lawyers and auditors.”

Around the time that Sheppard Mullin completed its investigation and made its recommendations, Plauché left GLAAD, signing a financial settlement that barred her from speaking publicly about the organization. Ferraro told the Times that “GLAAD parted ways with Ms. Plauché due to her poor performance” — an assertion that Bruce Menken, a lawyer for Ms. Plauché, said was false, asserting that his client left the organization by mutual agreement.

A GLAAD spokesperson pushed back on assertions made by the Times that Ellis may be earning up to $1.3 million in salary, writing, in an email to Metro Weekly, “In practice, it is impossible for Sarah Kate to receive $1 million in a year, and she has not received anything near that under this contract. The easiest and most accurate way to report her salary is to look at the most recent 990 form filed by GLAAD, which is available to the public.

“It is an arbitrary and sensational hypothetical to say a $1 million salary is even possible to achieve,” the spokesperson continued. “The CEO would need to raise $60 million in new funding, in addition to our $20-$30 million annual operating budget, to achieve overall compensation near this amount. Raising $90 million total in one year is extremely unlikely.”

Regarding the stay at Davos, the spokesperson said that funds for the trip came directly from the Ariadne Getty Foundation, “which earmarks part of its annual grant to GLAAD specifically for this purpose.”

The foundation has previously stressed the importance of raising awareness of LGBTQ issues and encouraging world leaders and businesses to promote pro-equality measures in government and in the workplace, while advocating for the repeal of laws criminalizing LGBTQ identity. 

GLAAD also defended its presence at Davos, taking credit for programming and private meetings that raise concerns important to the LGBTQ community.

Regarding Ellis’s stay at a swanky lodge, Ferraro told the Times that it was used as a venue for receptions, programming, and other events that, if held elsewhere would have required GLAAD to spend even more money.

The lodge reportedly sleeps 16 guests, with multiple staff attending and staying there, along with activists and staff from other organizations.

Ferraro added that GLAAD paid for a day of skiing for Ellis “due to an administrative oversight,” claiming that Ellis later reimbursed the nonprofit for the cost.

Regarding the housing allowance for the Provincetown seasonal rental, a GLAAD spokesperson noted that the small town is a gathering place for the LGBTQ community, and Ellis’s presence there allows her to meet with movement leaders and court potential donors throughout the summer. She also participates in Family Equality’s annual Family Week events, including speaking engagements. 

With respect to the office renovations, the spokesperson said that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when GLAAD’s New York City office was closed, Ellis used her attic, which had previously been used for storage, as a home office where she hosted many virtual events and gave on-camera TV appearances, during which she was reportedly criticized for having attic lighting that was not conducive to on-air appearances.

The renovations included improved lighting, and Ellis does not use the office as an entertainment or personal space for herself, her family, or guests, the spokesman said.

Lastly, the private car services that Ellis used were recommended by a security firm, ETS, which reportedly conducted a risk assessment following a barrage of death threats or promises of violence leveled at Ellis and other GLAAD employees, including a letter hand-delivered to Ellis’s home.

ETS reportedly recommended — in keeping with best practices at other high-profile nonprofits — several preventative security measures, including using a secure car service, which GLAAD budgets for each year. In cities where she frequently works, Ellis uses individual drivers who give the organization a reduced rate. In other places, the spokesperson claimed, GLAAD selects car services with the best rates.

Both GLAAD and the Times noted that the timing of the article comes after the two entities have butted heads over the Times‘s reporting on transgender issues, which GLAAD has claimed are inaccurate and overwhelmingly favor views of individuals who don’t believe transgender identity is real or valid. 

GLAAD claimed in a release that the author of the article, Emily Steel, along with other Times journalists, signed an open letter criticizing GLAAD and other organizations who objected to the newspaper’s coverage of transgender issues.

A Times spokesperson contested that assertion, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the letter signed by Steel was not critical of GLAAD, but had expressed opposition to the NewsGuild of New York “engaging in or taking sides in public debates over internal editorial decisions” at the newspaper. 

About a week prior to the release of the letter from the Times journalists, GLAAD had launched a campaign urging the Times to improve its reporting on transgender issues.

Among its suggestions were that newspaper staff meet with transgender community leaders, or at least include transgender perspectives in their reporting — requests that have been dismissed offhand by the Times as delving too far into “activism” and compromising the ability of journalists to be “independent.”

As part of that campaign, GLAAD sent a truck with a digital billboard, bearing messages critical of the newspaper’s coverage, to park outside the Times office on eight separate occasions. The organization also participated in an open letter, written with other LGBTQ organizations and celebrity allies, criticizing the newspaper’s coverage; slammed Times articles for being “biased” in social media postings; and published, in conjunction with the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters for America, an analysis alleging that the newspaper frequently omits, or does not ask for, comment from transgender individuals when writing about trans-related topics.

Calling the most recent Times article on Ellis’s spending habit “grossly misleading,” GLAAD’s leadership team rallied around its current president and CEO.

“GLAAD’s mission of accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community has never been more important,” GLAAD Board Chair Liz Jenkins said in a statement. “The Board and I stand firmly behind Sarah Kate Ellis, with respect and appreciation for how she and her team are leading the movement at a time when our community is under attack. We have full confidence that they’re doing so with integrity, and that they share the Board’s commitment to irrefutably strong governance and business practices.”

Ellis responded to the controversy with her own statement.

“I take my role as GLAAD’s financial steward incredibly seriously, and we’ll continue updating our procedures to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth,” she said.

Four long-time staff members at GLAAD also sent the Times a letter objecting to the content of Steel’s piece, accusing the journalist of failing to reach out to GLAAD employees or corporate partners with favorable views of Ellis to balance out the article’s more incendiary claims.

They also accused Steel of using quotes from “a small number of disgruntled former colleagues who were at the organization for brief periods of time” for the purpose of maligning GLAAD and “spreading misinformation” about an LGBTQ organization that has been critical of the Times, potentially as a form of retaliation.

A Times spokesperson stood by the article on Ellis, saying, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “This article was fair, accurate and based on objective information in GLAAD’s expense reports, employment contracts, tax filings and other documents. As far as we are aware, GLAAD has not challenged any of the facts in the article.”