An American TV analyst who was caught masturbating on a Zoom call with bosses at The New Yorker has resigned from his job. Jeffrey Toobin was a reporter at CNN.
Toobin, who worked as a legal analyst, was working with the weekly magazine and previously said that he thought his computer's microphone and camera were switched off at the time. He released a statement after the incident came to light, reports the Daily Star.
He said: "I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. 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. I apologise to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers."
Toobin lost his job at the New Yorker after the incident. He had worked with it for 27 years. He was also suspended by CNN.
The 62-year-old has now posted on Twitter to confirm his job news, writing: "Friends, I've decided that, after 20 years, I'm leaving @CNN after my vacation. Was great to spend my last day on air with pals Wolf, Anderson and Don. Love all my former colleagues. Watch for my next book, about the Oklahoma City bombing, coming in 2023 from @simonandschuster."
He returned to CNN in June 2021 and delivered an awkward interview, during which he apologised for his "deeply moronic" behaviour.
He told Alisyn Camerota: "They were shocked and appalled. I think they realised that this was not intended for them, I think they reakised that this was something that I would immediately regret, as I certainly did. It was then, it was that day that I began apologising and that is something that I have tried to continue to do both publicly and privately."
According to reports, the Zoom call was a simulation of the then-upcoming US election, with different members of staff playing specific roles. For example, journalist Evan Osnos was playing Joe Biden, Masha Gessen was Donald Trump, and Toobin was playing the courts.
On the line were also some producers from The New Yorker and local radio station WNYC. At some point, there was a break in the call, with Republican and Democrat groups going into different rooms.
The two people claim that it was then that Toobin appeared to be taking a separate call. When the groups returned, Toobin's camera seemed to have been lowered and they could see him touching himself.
