Hollywood actress and prominent #MeToo activist Rose McGowan sent a strongly-worded message against those “liberal intellectuals” who, she suggests, are eager to defend legal journalist Jeffrey Toobin in relation to a public masturbation scandal.
Toobin, a prominent analyst for CNN and The New Yorker, is accused of exposing himself and masturbating during a recent Zoom call with newspaper colleagues.
The 60-year-old apologized for his actions, which he called “an embarrassingly stupid mistake”, claiming that he had thought that he had muted the video call. The New Yorker later suspended the pundit while a review into the situation was still ongoing.
Many rushed to defend the accused over what they call an “accident”, with a #MeeToobin hashtag trending on Twitter.
Masturbation is not a crime. It was an accident that he was caught on zoom camera @NewYorker @cnnbrk @CNNPolitics @CNN @JeffreyToobin #meetoobin
— Ahmar Mustikhan (@mustikhan) October 20, 2020
I worked all day and attended multiple video calls yet didn't masterbate even once! 💪#meetoobin
— I am that 🌹 🌎🕉 ☯☮👽 (@Workingman711) October 20, 2020
I can't believe #meetoobin is trending. Both 😂 and 😢.
— Brian Portnoy (@brianportnoy) October 21, 2020
Some activists, however, were angrier with Toobin’s defenders than with the writer's actions. Young Turks host Adrienne Lawrence commented on the development that “masturbating at work is neither normal nor acceptable—it's sexual harassment”.
McGowan tweeted “Can you all imagine if a conservative woman was caught masturbating on an #zoom meeting like #MeToobin? If it had been a liberal woman? If it had been a WOC?”
“Do you think there’d be liberal ‘intellectuals’ rising to defend her?” the actress asked Lawrence. “She’d be burned at the stake”.
Lawrence agreed.
Can you all imagine if a conservative woman was caught masturbating on an @zoom meeting like #MeToobin? If it had been a liberal woman? If it had been a WOC? @AdrienneLaw do you think there’d be liberal ‘intellectuals’ rising to defend her? She’d be burned at the stake. https://t.co/MoTkmOF70T
— Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 20, 2020
Toobin's several decades with The New Yorker are now being scrutinized following his sexually explicit public act. The pundit has also taken leave at CNN following the scandal.
