Washington Post reporter calls out employer after colleague shared tweet mocking women, paper responds
Felicia Sonmez blasted a retweet from fellow reporter David Weigel, who has since apologized
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez put her paper on blast after one of her colleagues shared a tweet mocking women.
Sonmez shared a screenshot of a tweet written by YouTube host Cam Harless, who said, "Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual."
That was retweeted by fellow reporter David Weigel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!" Sonmez reacted.
Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez called out both her colleague David Weigel and the paper itself over a tweet he shared mocking women. (Twitter)
Washington Post's Chief Communications Officer Kris Coratti told Fox News, "Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demanding language or actions like that will not be tolerated."
Weigel also removed the retweet from his Twitter page and issued an apology.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm," Weigel wrote.
Harless, the original author of the tweet, reacted to Weigel's apology, writing, "it’s weird to see someone else apologize for something you tweeted," also calling it "grim af."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last year, Sonmez filed a lawsuit against the Post as well as several editors over claims of discrimination, alleging they prohibited her from reporting on stories on sexual misconduct.
Sonmez claimed this resulted from her outspokenness on being a survivor of sexual assault herself, and she was kept off stories such as the growing #MeToo movement as well as the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
While the ban was lifted earlier in 2022, the lawsuit alleged Sonmez had already suffered "economic loss, humiliation, embarrassment, mental and emotional distress, and the deprivation of her rights to equal employment opportunities" as a result. Her lawsuit was later dismissed in court.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington Post reporters Felicia Sonmez and David Weigel (Eric McCandless via Getty Images)
The Post was also in hot water after two YouTube personalities called out Taylor Lorenz for falsely claiming she had reached out to them for a report published Thursday about their coverage of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial that concluded this week.
The paper then stealth-edited Lorenz's report to remove the erroneous remark.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After Fox News published its story, the Post issued a two-pronged correction, reading "A previous version of this story inaccurately attributed to [Depp representative] Adam Waldman a quote describing how he contacted some Internet influencers. That quote has been removed. The story has also been amended to note The Post’s attempts to reach Alyte Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy for comment. Previous versions omitted or inaccurately described these attempts."
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.