# Jeffery Toobin flashed his junk on a Zoom call to other New Yorker staffers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363 "2020-10-19T22:33:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/101 "2020-11-14T00:48:33Z")
He’s a professional, who’s been on CNN for years. Always assume the camera is on and the mike is live. Always. Just like you always assume a gun is loaded. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/102 "2020-11-14T00:51:47Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Just like you always assume a gun is loaded. - He was making sure it was unloaded. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/103 "2020-11-14T00:52:44Z")
I knew it was a mistake to use that analogy, but too late now for an edit. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/104 "2020-11-14T00:55:01Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I knew it was a mistake to use that analogy, but too late now for an edit. - I just realized there’s been no mention if he was wielding a pump shotgun or just a derringer. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/105 "2020-11-14T01:38:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I just realized there’s been no mention if he was wielding a pump shotgun or just a derringer. Or merely a pea shooter… ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/106 "2020-11-14T01:57:09Z")
Well, they’re all pee shooters, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/107 "2020-11-14T08:20:29Z")
OK, thanks for the comments (the serious ones, I mean). I asked for 'em, I got 'em, I read 'em. 🙂 To be clear, I would never for a moment suggest that what he did was anything other than very, very stupid (or “stoopid”, if you prefer). Also gross and disturbing. But I still have to wonder if the _New Yorker_ lost more than it gained through what may arguably have been a disproportionate reaction. I think if I had been making the decision I would probably have suspended him as a disciplinary action and tangible symbol of disapproval, but then allowed him to return if he wanted to – which he may have not, out of sheer embarrassment, but at least would have had the option of redemption. Sometimes I can’t help but think that we as a society are in a kind of neo-Victorian resurgence. It irks me that Toobin was fired from the _New Yorker_ while Brett Kavanaugh sits on the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/108 "2020-11-14T08:48:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It irks me that Toobin was fired from the _New Yorker_ while Brett Kavanaugh sits on the Supreme Court. This. _This_. _ **THIS** _. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/109 "2020-11-14T11:53:33Z")
So _The New Yorker_ should be dragged down to the low moral standards of the United States Senate? Seems unfair. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/110 "2020-11-14T13:33:00Z")
I’ve never had to use zoom, but is it even possible to have two calls simultaneously use the camera as he claimed? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/111 "2020-11-14T14:25:34Z")
I have to imagine that market pressures played a much larger role than did ‘the right thing to do.’ The [New Yorker’s reader demographics](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/09/27/section-4-demographics-and-political-views-of-news-audiences/) seem to skew about as far left as I might have guessed, and while they may not be AOC’s base, they’re likely plenty sensitive to this sort of thing (ie, [Toobin’ … on a Sunday afternoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=falI0baGhBQ)). Then there’s the other side … who stand at the ready to scream “HYPOCRISY” at the top of their lungs if you _don’t_ fire Toobin. My guess is that the Powers That Be strongly considered giving him a public and formal flogging, but then letting him keep his job, but that the business pressures eventually demanded that he be fired. Because money. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/112 "2020-11-14T14:40:34Z")
Yeah, there was really no up side to keeping JT on staff. People won’t abandon the New Yorker if he’s no longer a contributor. Neither will they abandon CNN if he is no longer commenting on legal matters. Nobody is irreplaceable. It’s best to part ways with him and let him sink into quiet obscurity. I’ve no doubt he’d like to be forgotten as much as anyone who was on that Zoom call. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/113 "2020-11-14T14:41:57Z")
I agree that, accident or not, Toobin applied horrendously, inexcusably bad judgment even thinking about wanking during a work-related call. At some point the thought “What if I’m really NOT disconnected from that first call” should have registered. But I wish we could get away from the idea that one bad act or one embarrassing moment has to lead to the career equivalent of the death penalty. Unless he’s been caught engaging in offensive conduct in the past, he deserves a second chance, provided that he mitigates this incident by going to counseling or something along those lines. Maybe a 1-year suspension w/o pay and indefinite probation but the opportunity to redeem himself at some point. Firing’s just lazy, and I don’t believe that it’s justified simply as a business decision. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/114 "2020-11-14T14:49:21Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Yeah, there was really no up side to keeping JT on staff. I know I’m just _looking for it,_ but this story is just rife with opportunity for unintended puns. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/115 "2020-11-14T16:23:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > But I still have to wonder if the _New Yorker_ lost more than it gained through what may arguably have been a disproportionate reaction. Alas, sometimes a valuable employee has to lose their job, and the institution that fires them does lose more than it gains. I think that’s an inevitable result of having consistently-enforced rules and standards. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/116 "2020-11-14T17:13:56Z")
There comes a point where an employee’s personal life starts to interfere with how people view their work. I know I would have a tough time reading his stuff without having the image of his Zoom in the back of my head. Maybe given some time this will fade, but for now he’s lost a lot of respectability. People are already going back to some of his earlier opinions on sex scandals - Lewinsky, Weiner, Spitzer (he authored [a book on the Lewinsky scandal](https://www.amazon.com/Vast-Conspiracy-Scandal-Brought-President-ebook/dp/B009UAO1KQ)). He’d have a hard time covering any such scandal today while appearing to be objective. He’s got some history which has come under notice, too. He also had his paternity case in 2009 where he tried to deny being the father of his mistress’ child and tried to avoid paying any child support until she took him to court and DNA proved he was the father. And right or wrong, [he’s been rumored to be something of a predator for many years](https://harvardlawschoolisbogus.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/jeffrey-toobin/). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/117 "2020-11-14T17:20:56Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > And right or wrong, [he’s been rumored to be something of a predator for many years](https://harvardlawschoolisbogus.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/jeffrey-toobin/). Oh, Jeffy… what have you been up to? You’ve been a scummy little fucker. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/118 "2020-11-14T18:07:49Z")
Ref @asahi’s various reasonable points. Another issue is celebrity. Let’s say there was some anonymous administrative functionary in the bowels of the New Yorker who did the same thing and got caught by co-workers the same way. Maybe even somebody far enough up the food chain to have a lot of direct and indirect subordinates. The opportunity for the employer to take a broad view and place the offense in context with the employee’s history and value to the organization would be much greater. At least until the event becomes a media _cause celebre_. Bottom lines: - Celebrities live in glass houses. It behooves them to bear that always in mind as things seen cannot be unseen. - The employer owes duties to the shareholders, the management, and the other employees first and foremost. Their duty to any given employee is peanuts by comparison. Doubly so in an area subject to actual legal regulation of behavior. One “aw shit!” really does offset a vast number of “attaboys”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/119 "2020-11-14T22:00:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > …One “aw shit!” really does offset a vast number of “attaboys”. “But ye fuck _one_ sheep…!” > [@asahi](#): > > …But I wish we could get away from the idea that one bad act or one embarrassing moment has to lead to the career equivalent of the death penalty… On the other side of the ledger: the 45th President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363/120 "2020-11-14T22:21:17Z")
This might be a bad time to ask him about the meaning of happiness, especially if he likes the Beatles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeffery-toobin-flashed-his-junk-on-a-zoom-call-to-other-new-yorker-staffers/923363.md?page=7)