The New Yorker has suspended staff writer Jeffrey Toobin after he exposed himself during a Zoom call last week between staffers of the magazine and WNYC radio, Vice Motherboard reported on Monday.
In a statement to Motherboard, Toobin acknowledged the incident: “I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers.”
A New Yorker spokesperson, meanwhile, said that Toobin “has been suspended while we investigate the matter.” He is also the chief legal analyst at CNN, where he last appeared this past Saturday. A CNN spokesperson provided the following statement to The Daily Beast: “Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted.”
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Motherboard also reported that Toobin’s official Condé Nast email has been disabled and the famed attorney and author hasn’t tweeted since Oct. 13.
Per two sources to Motherboard, the call was part of an election simulation in which a number of prominent New Yorker staffers played various roles and Toobin acted as the courts. During a strategy session break, the sources said Toobin appeared to be on another call.
“The sources said that when the groups returned from their break out rooms, Toobin lowered the camera,” Motherboard reported. “The people on the call said they could see Toobin touching his penis. Toobin then left the call. Moments later, he called back in, seemingly unaware of what his colleagues had been able to see, and the simulation continued.”
