TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns after Trump threatens to ban app

TikTok Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mayer resigned from his post on Thursday, days after the popular short-form video-sharing app sued the Trump administration over an executive order banning transactions in the United States.

General Manager Vanessa Pappas will replace him on an interim basis, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

“In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” Mayer said in the letter.

“Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.”

TikTok, in an emailed statement, confirmed the departure and said that the political dynamics of the last few months had “significantly changed” the scope of Mayer’s role.

ByteDance’s founder and CEO Yiming Zhang said in a separate letter that the company was “moving quickly to find resolutions to the issues that we face globally, particularly in the US and India."