New Yorker writer and CNN pundit Jeffrey Toobin suspended while nude Zoom incident is investigated
Jeffrey Toobin is trending on Twitter and not in a good way.
Toobin, The New Yorker writer and CNN legal analyst, has been suspended by the magazine while it investigates an incident that, according to reports, left his genitals exposed while on a Zoom call last week with colleagues and a radio station.
Toobin on Monday abjectly apologized in a statement to Vice, which was first to report the story.
“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers," the statement said. “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."
A spokeswoman for The New Yorker confirmed Toobin's suspension to USA TODAY, saying they were investigating the matter.
CNN confirmed Toobin is taking time off.
“Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted,” the cable news network said in a statement.
The particulars of what happened and how are still murky, but from Toobin's statement, it appears he may have exposed himself while on a Zoom call, thinking the video and audio were off.
He last tweeted on Oct. 13, an analysis of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing. He was last seen on CNN on Saturday, Vice reported.
Toobin, 60, has been a familiar face on TV for years, commenting on legal issues for CNN and reporting for The New Yorker.
He's also written numerous books, and promotes his most recent, "True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump," on his Twitter profile.
Doubleday, an imprint of Random House, which published Toobin’s latest book, had no comment.
Since the coronavirus pandemic forced millions to work from home via video phone conversations, accidental nudity has been a growing problem as users struggle to cope with an unfamiliar and sometimes balky technology.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker writer, suspended after nude Zoom incident
