BYE Felicia ... literally: WaPo suspends reporter who tweeted story about Kobe Bryant rape allegations shortly after his death

Sam J. | 8:20 AM on January 27, 2020

As Twitchy reported, WaPo reporter Felicia Sonmez was front and center in the Twittersphere reminding the world about Kobe Bryant’s rape allegations just hours after he and his daughter died tragically in a helicopter crash.

When the media show you who they really are, believe them.

Welp, it sounds like WaPo has suspended Sonmez:

#BREAKING: Washington Post suspends reporter Felicia Sonmez over Kobe Bryant tweets, launches investigation into whether tweets – which were posted a few hours after Bryant’s death – violated the Post’s social media policy. https://t.co/Pew8jwnN0D

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) January 27, 2020

But not for the tweets about the rape allegations.

UPDATE: A person who works at the Washington Post says @feliciasonmez was NOT suspended for linking to the Daily Beast story on Twitter. Her suspension was related to a follow up tweet that contained a screen shot of her work email inbox, which revealed full names of emailers.

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) January 27, 2020

Oops.

Full story: Felicia Sonmez suspended after posting screen grab of Post email inbox showing full names of Twitter critics https://t.co/66EyVcPsex

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) January 27, 2020

From The Desk:

But a person familiar with the suspension said it was not Sonmez’s tweet linking to the Daily Beast article that triggered the suspension, nor was it two follow-up tweets where she said the thousands who criticized her in the hours since was an “eye opening experience.” It was the third tweet that showed her email inbox that landed her in hot water with the company, in part because it contained the purported full names of those who sent her an email, according to a Washington Post employee who spoke with The Desk on condition of anonymity.

“Her managers don’t care about the Daily Beast tweet,” the Post employee said. “But there’s a concern that the screen shot (of her email inbox) might create some legal issues and could violate Twitter’s terms (of service).”