Jeffrey Toobin Suspended from New Yorker After Masturbating on Zoom Call

Jeffrey Toobin was suspended from the New Yorker for masturbating on a Zoom call. The story was first reported by Vice.

“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers,” Toobin told Vice in a statement. “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.”

The Vice report adds that this occurred during an election simulation in which Toobin was playing the courts. Many of the New Yorker's other star writers were playing roles in the call, including Jane Mayer, Evan Osnos, Jelani Cobb, Masha Gessen, and Andrew Marantz.

Two anonymous sources spoke to Vice to say that they saw Toobin masturbating on the Zoom call. "The two sources described a juncture in the election simulation when there was a strategy session, and the Democrats and Republicans went into their respective break out rooms for about 10 minutes," the report says. "At this point, they said, it seemed like Toobin was on a second video call. The sources said that when the groups returned from their break out rooms, Toobin lowered the camera. 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."

Toobin has been at the New Yorker for over a quarter-century -- he started writing there in 1993. The New Yorker said Toobin is suspended while they investigate the matter. Toobin has also been a legal contributor at CNN since 2002; they said in a statement that Toobin has asked for time off to address a personal issue and they granted it.