BuzzFeed News panned for suggesting CNN's Toobin 'can't be the only one masturbating on Zoom calls'

BuzzFeed News drew backlash Tuesday for suggesting that what CNN star Jeffrey Toobin was allegedly caught doing this week was actually more common than people think. 

The New Yorker magazine said Monday it had suspended Toobin -- also CNN's chief legal analyst -- over an alleged incident that involved nudity during a Zoom call with his magazine colleagues and members of WNYC radio. Vice later reported, citing two sources, that Toobin was seen masturbating on the call. 

However, BuzzFeed News insisted such an incident likely occurs frequently in the era of the coronavirus, running the headline, "Jeffrey Toobin Can’t Be The Only Person Masturbating On Work Zoom Calls."

The outlet specifically pointed out "how bizarre it is that we haven’t read a thousand stories like this during the pandemic."

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"We’re almost finished with our seventh full month of quarantine, a hellscape of endless Zoom happy hours... and Zoom work calls," BuzzFeed senior culture writer Scaachi Koul said before acknowledging that she often doesn't wear pants during Zoom calls. "Haven’t we all done something on a work call that, in normal circumstances, we’d never do during a meeting? Let he without sin cast the first stone; the benefit of working from home is in the comfort to do whatever you want. Endless snacks without judgment, cigarette breaks at your leisure, Real Housewives on all goddamn day."

Koul wrote that "it would be naive to think that most people aren’t engaged in some f---ery during a work Zoom" when the video is off whether it's taking a "big, hearty pull off a joint" or even pleasuring oneself. 

"You’re going to tell me you’ve never taken a quick three minutes midday to crank your hog? To mash your meat? To butter your own muffin? There’s so little joy left in our lives; are we not at least owed the time to toot our own horns?" Koul wrote. "I mean, maybe not during an active Zoom call where your video is still on. Time and place, I suppose."

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The BuzzFeed News reporter elaborated that in quarantine living -- where people try to decide whether they "work at home" or "live in their office" -- "it was inevitable that someone might slip" and "let their colleagues witness them at their most primal."

"Maybe this speaks volumes about where we are — where I am — in terms of global despair. It’s a wretched thing to force a colleague into an unwanted sexual act, but in this context, replete with what sounds like a junior high play about the election, it’s extraordinarily funny," Koul continued. "Every day that the news makes us moan in mirth instead of groan in despair is a gift. Take this gift while you can, buy a webcam cover, and learn to watch porn on your phone in private mode like all the teens are doing."

BuzzFeed News was dragged on social media as critics suggest that the report was "normalizing" Toobin's misconduct. 

"What fresh hell is this???" BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales reacted. 

"He probably isn't but let's not do this!" journalist Yashar Ali exclaimed.

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"I knew someone would write this and I expected Buzzfeed to be the one to do it," Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross wrote.

"This is so gross. If it's supposed to be satire, it missed the mark completely. Elite media trying to rally around one of their own is..." USA Today writer Hemal Jhaveri tweeted before using the nauseous emoji. "If you wonder how men who do gross things get to stay in power it's because people are quick normalize it with humorous 'satire' when it's clearly sexual harassment."

"Media people/outlets normalizing what Toobin did is further proof that people will go to great lengths to defend a respected white man. This is not normal, it’s not acceptable, and I feel for the people on that call," journalist CiCi Adams similarly expressed. 

Vice reported Monday that the Zoom call, which was described as an "election simulation," included Toobin's New Yorker colleagues Jane Mayer, Masha Gessen, Andrew Marantz, Jelani Cobb, Evan Osnos, Sue Halpern and Dexter Filkins playing various roles including President Trump, Joe Biden, "establishment Republicans," 'establishment Democrats," and "the military." Toobin was playing "the courts."

According to two sources, Toobin was seen masturbating in what was supposed to be a 10-minute "strategy session," though the report added that it "seemed like Toobin was on a second video call."

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"The sources said that when the groups returned from their breakout rooms, Toobin lowered the camera," Vice said. "The people on the call said they could see Toobin touching his penis. Toobin then left the call. Moments later, he called back in, seemingly unaware of what his colleagues had been able to see, and the simulation continued."

The detail about Toobin's alleged masturbation was added to the report after it was initially published, as noted by Vice: "This piece has been updated with more detail about the call and the headline has been updated to reflect that Toobin was masturbating."

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Toobin, one of CNN's biggest stars, offered an apology for his "embarrassingly stupid mistake" and attempted to explain what led to the incident.

“I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers," Toobin said in a statement to Motherboard. “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."

CNN said in a statement, "Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted.”