New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended after he reportedly exposed himself and masturbated during a Zoom call with his co-workers yesterday. Toobin is also stepping away from his job at CNN, where he is a senior legal analyst. A CNN spokesperson said, “Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted.”
Staff writers at the New Yorker and WNYC radio were running a simulation for their election coverage. During a break, Toobin switched to a different call, but appeared not to realize his camera was still running. According to sources, Toobin left the call, then rejoined moments later as if nothing had happened.
In a statement to VICE, Toobin said, “I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers,” adding “I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.”
New Yorker writer Masha Gessen, who played Donald Trump in the simulation, said “I am quite sure that Toobin didn’t realize that the people on the New Yorker call could see him … I suspect he thought that when the breakout rooms started, he was disconnected and he didn’t realize we’d all returned to a live camera.”
Whether or not Toobin’s exposure was accidental or pre-meditated is beside the point. He should never have been exposing himself during a work call to begin with. But I guess Toobin couldn’t resist an erotically charged … election simulation? We’ve all been on Zoom work meetings since quarantine started, and I think we can all agree that they are the least arousing situations on the planet.
Not jerking it at work seems like the lowest possible bar, but dozens of fellow (white male) journalists jumped to defend Toobin.
When Occam’s Razor suggests someone humiliated himself through a combo of technological error, pandemic circumstances, bad judgment, & bad luck, it seems like we should react w/ empathy, politeness, & forgiveness, as we would want to be treated, rather than punitive mockery
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) October 19, 2020
The defense is so pervasive that “Occam’s Razor” is now trending on Twitter. Yet none of these men seem to realize the real issue: Toobin NEVER should have been masturbating during a work call to begin with. It’s the entitled behavior of someone who feels that their physical needs trump the comfort and safety of everyone else. It’s a deliberate action, not an accident, and anyone who pretends otherwise is exposing a fundamental lack of understanding of the concept of consent.
Occam’s Razor is deployed to avoid your tortured “through a combo” defense of a fellow elite white male.
The most simple explanation is “he wanted to jerk it at work.” The easiest solution is “don’t jerk off at work” with a chaser of “jerking off at work has consequences.”
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 20, 2020
Nah. If it was he was on the call in loose boxers and stood up thinking his camera was off, that’s one thing. Anyone comfortable enough to jerk off in a work meeting has done it before, and it’s not ok.
— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) October 20, 2020
BTW this 100% sexual harassment and the only people deserving of your compassion and understanding are his coworkers who he exposed himself to. I’m shocked at the amount of “hey it happens to all of us” comments on this story. https://t.co/4eKLOkudRF
— Christine Sydelko (@csydelko) October 20, 2020
Another hashtag currently trending is #MeToobin, where folks are calling out the rapid-fire defenses for Toobin, who was previously accused of sexually propositioning co-workers. In addition, the married Toobin fathered a love child with a colleague’s daughter, Casey Greenfield, after a years-long affair. Toobin pressured Greenfield to get an abortion, and later refused to acknowledge the child until Greenfield took him to court.
Toobin’s case is likely not the first Zoom-based sexual misconduct, and is far from the last. Even without a workplace, men find a way to keep up workplace sexual harassment.
In addition to his work at the New Yorker and CNN, Toobin has authored several books, including “The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson,” which Ryan Murphy and FX adapted for television in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. Toobin’s book about Monica Lewinsky, “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President,” is currently being adapted into American Crime Story: Impeachment by Murphy and FX, with Lewinsky producing.
(via New York Times, featured image: D Dipasupil/Getty Images for SAG-AFTRA Foundation)
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