The guy leading the commercial and nonprofit WordPress orgs (Matt) went on a crusade against one particular company (WPEngine) that he's accusing of not sufficiently contributing back to the ecosystem. He demanded they pay a lot of money to his for-profit company, and when they refused, he started calling them out in conferences and across the internet, then banned them from much of the WP ecosystem. They're now suing him.
The whole thing is a lot of popcorn and sadness, and it's pretty scary for the WP ecosystem (which had been relatively stable and reliable for decades). Suddenly every company is wondering if they're next in Matt's crosshairs, WPEngine customers don't know what to do, a bunch of Automattic employees quit, and the community itself is divided about who's in the right (if either of them) and it's been a whole WTF journey for everyone watching from the outside.
Just read some of the Wordpress stories from the last few weeks if you really want to see the play by play.
