NEW: CNN insiders suggest that Jeffrey Toobin will ‘probably’ return to the network after his masturbation scandal dies down, saying he’s ‘too valuable of a commodity’ for CNN to let go. https://t.co/vErsuLrKsg
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) October 20, 2020
The New Yorker has suspended reporter Jeffrey Toobin for allegedly masturbating on a Zoom video chat with colleagues last week.
Vice News reports that the call was an election simulation that featured many notable members from the New Yorker’s staff.
“Jane Mayer was playing establishment Republicans; Evan Osnos was Joe Biden, Jelani Cobb was establishment Democrats, Masha Gessen played Donald Trump, Andrew Marantz was the far right, Sue Halpern was left wing democrats, Dexter Filkins was the military, and Jeffrey Toobin playing the courts. There were also a handful of other producers on the call from the New Yorker and WNYC,” according to Vice.
Sources say at one point, after a break in the simulation, when it seemed like Toobin was on a second video call, he lowered the camera. At that point people said they could see Toobin touching himself. He was seemingly unaware others were able to see him, they said.
“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers,” Toobin said. “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.”
“Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended while we investigate the matter,” New Yorker spokesperson Natalie Raabe said.
Toobin has long been a harsh critic of President Trump’s.
It has previously been reported that Toobin fathered a baby with the daughter of one of his colleagues, pressured her to have an abortion then told her she would regret it when she refused.