As Twitchy reported earlier, the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel deleted his retweet of a joke about women and issued an apology on Twitter, saying he didn’t mean to cause any harm. Weigel’s retweet started some infighting in the Washington Post newsroom, with colleague Felicia Sonmez posting a lengthy thread on why it mattered. Jose A. Del Real noted Sonmez’s “targeted harassment” of Weigel, and she tweeted that he had publicly attacked her. By the way, here’s the joke:
Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.
— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) June 2, 2022
CNN hall monitor Oliver Darcy is reporting Monday afternoon that Weigel has been suspended without pay.
>> @oliverdarcy's scoop: "The Washington Post has suspended reporter @daveweigel without pay for retweeting a sexist joke." https://t.co/TAkq8O6SjE
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 6, 2022
Darcy reports:
Sonmez, according to messages obtained by CNN, also confronted Weigel in an internal company Slack channel, tagging him and writing, “I’m sorry but what is this?” Sonmez said in the Slack channel that the retweet sent “a confusing message about what the Post’s values are.”
Others joined the discussion in the Slack channel, ultimately resulting in national editor Matea Gold writing, “I just want to assure all of you that The Post is committed to maintaining a respectful workplace for everyone. We do not tolerate demeaning language or actions.”
The Post’s chief spokesperson, Kris Coratti, also issued a statement that said, “Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated.”
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So much drama!
Taylor Lorenz just got caught repeatedly lying in her article such that WP had to revise it 3 times as an "Editor's Note," and it still contains a lie: nothing happened.
Dave Weigel immediately apologized for RT'ing a joke and is suspended without pay:https://t.co/fmtFNy78XN
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 6, 2022
The reason this matters is because the people at these media corporations who constantly reveal themselves to be deranged sociopathic freaks and neurotics — as is happening now at the WPost — are the ones demanding the right to declare Truth and Falsity and censor in its name.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 6, 2022
The difference is he admitted he made a mistake and apologized.
I'm not sure that's the lesson to take away from this, but. Here we are.
— Matthew Sablan (@lucentile) June 6, 2022
Glad they're assigning the correct weight to the respective issues there at WAPO.
— Ray Richards (@MindspanCanada) June 6, 2022
WaPo is acting real bi-polar
— Shawn Wylde (@wyldeAF) June 6, 2022
The old sanctimony of the church has found a new home but the results are still the same.
— Lance Aksamit (@AksamitLance) June 6, 2022
But there is no cancel culture
— Alan Blake (@alangblake) June 6, 2022
Jokes. Those no longer exist. Everyone offended has the right to cancel. Please post a joke that is funny that no person, place, or animal can be offended by.
— Tim Seymore (@TimSeymore) June 6, 2022
Pretty inoffensive joke. Eating their own.
— Rootinforthe9since85 (@Rootinforthe9s1) June 6, 2022
The joke he retweeted was funny: "Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it's polar or sexual".
The sort of miserable prig who would be offended by a joke like that isn't the kind of person that other people want to be around.
— Andy Wilcoxson (@AndyWilcoxson) June 6, 2022
Exactly why you never should apologize.
— John Schroeder (@thejwschroeder) June 6, 2022
The cry bullies are in charge
— CJ (@UnderSneege) June 6, 2022
Yep.
By suspending Dave Weigel for a joke while letting the locker room cancers Taylor Lorenz and Felicia Sonmez discredit its editorial practices and standards and publicly attack colleagues, respectively, with impunity, the Washington Post is sending an unmistakable message.
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) June 6, 2022
The faster you submit the harder they will come down on you. That’s the only thing you need to know about cancel culture.
— Hoe-Style Takeover (@neutspec) June 6, 2022
“Weigel did not respond to a request for comment, but an out-of-office email said that he would return on July 5.”
Related:
Slow CLAP (lmao!): Glenn Greenwald recaps WaPo’s Taylor Lorenz and Felicia Sonmezes’ Twitter drama AND insanity in brutally hilarious threadhttps://t.co/ukW6z2LwXd
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 6, 2022
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