The Daily Beast reported late last month that Barron Trump will likely attend New York University (NYU) when he heads off to college next year.

Yet according to the Intelligencer, some Daily Beast staff members have serious doubts over whether the story is accurate. What's more, they think the website could be headed for a tragic end. 

"We will see how it does. Let’s hope it’s true!"

The Intelligencer cited unnamed Daily Beast sources as saying that the Barron Trump article originated with new chief creative and content officer Joanna Coles, who claimed to have received a tip from a friend.

She then reportedly insisted that the story be published despite it being unverified, shouting, "We will see how it does. Let’s hope it’s true!"

Joanna Coles has taken over Barry Diller’s Daily Beast with her business partner, Ben Sherwood, making for an uneasy marriage with the scoop machine. https://t.co/d1GLCjzrVd

— Intelligencer (@intelligencer) May 2, 2024

Coles also allegedly assigned reporters to write a story about a rumor that former President Donald Trump passed gas after falling asleep during his New York criminal trial.

Meanwhile, an article published on April 30 was titled "The Look-Alike Women in Donald Trump’s Orbit," and suggested that he has a preference for being surrounded by brunettes.

Staffers complain of "warped version"

In another controversial move, Coles is said to have assigned a story called "Is Protesting the New Sex for Gen Z?" which speculated that anti-Israel demonstrators have thrill-seeking motives.

The Intelligencer claims none of this has gone over well among those who work at the Daily Beast, with one staffer quoted as saying that its publishers want "to install some warped vision of the Daily Beast that is not what we do."

The staff member complained that Coles' "version of news is trend pieces and listicles," adding, "On their first day, they delivered their speech and they lost the newsroom almost immediately."

Another staffer told the outlet, "If I survive and stay, do I work for the editor-in-chief or Joanna? Everyone who grew up in a newsroom is confused by what a creative director does."

"What's going to happen to the journalism?"

The Intelligencer went on to report that some staff members have begun crying at work while others fear being laid off or otherwise unable to continue at the publication.

"The big question is, what's going to happen to the journalism?" one employee asked. reportedly said. "Everybody that's ever worked for the Daily Beast is down to do the news with a sense of fun and a subversive feeling."

"Those people are also stone-cold reporters and that’s what they love to do, and that’s what has differentiated the Beast," the employee added.