Staff writer for The New Yorker and CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin was allegedly caught masturbating on a Zoom call with New Yorker employees last month. Following a three-week investigation into the incident, Toobin has reportedly been fired by the magazine.
"I am writing to share with you that our investigation regarding Jeffrey Toobin is complete, and as a result, he is no longer affiliated with our company," read a memo Condé Nast’s Chief People Officer Stan Duncan to staffers said, according to The Daily Beast.
"I want to assure everyone that we take workplace matters seriously," the memo continued. "We are committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels respected and upholds our standards of conduct."
After news broke that coworkers allegedly saw the staff writer masturbating during a Zoom call, Toobin apologized and said he mistakenly believed his camera was turned off.
Toobin was suspended by the magazine, and CNN placed him on leave shortly after the incident.
Toobin acknowledged his termination from the New Yorker in a tweet on Wednesday.
I was fired today by @NewYorker after 27 years as a Staff Writer. I will always love the magazine, will miss my colleagues, and will look forward to reading their work.
— Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) November 11, 2020
Liberals in the media rushed to defend Toobin's actions, masturbating in front of coworkers, but such defenses fell flat in a post #MeToo-movement world. And the latest incident isn't the first scandal in Toobin's questionable past.
(Via Fox News)
A 2010 Gawker report outlined accusations of the married legal analyst whispering "disgusting" language to a prominent female member of the media, followed her to her hotel room, and tried inviting himself in.
In addition, Toobin fathered a child in 2009 with Casey Greenfield, the daughter of Toobin's one-time CNN colleague Jeff Greenfield.
Toobin urged Greenfield to have an abortion and was later taken to court after he denied the child was his. Toobin was forced to take a DNA test which proved that he was the child's biological father and was ordered to pay child support.
Eric Schiffer, brand and reputation management expert and chairman of the LA-based firm Reputation Management Consultants, insisted his latest offense is "worse" for him because "it was a real-time offense captured by the Zoomerati within his workplace."
"Today, a virtual digital space is your office. Toobin was on the clock with his colleagues, which makes his excruciatingly boneheaded behavior so disturbing to the public and led to a brutal backlash,” Schiffer told Fox News.
Schiffer said it will be "almost impossible" for Toobin to make a full recovery in the short-term, but left the door open for a potential comeback.
Toobin's fate at CNN is still unknown.