Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly and The New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell discussed the firing of Jeffrey Toobin over his masturbating during a Zoom call, and they did not see eye to eye.
“I totally disagree with you on him…,” Kelly explained. “He [Toobin] was at The New Yorker, got fired for now we all know, masturbating on the Zoom call. And let me ask you why you don’t think he should have been canned, because I’ve definitely got some strong thoughts on this.”
“If someone wants to do something, even something I disagree with, or ask me to do something, even something I don’t want to do, I’m perfectly happy to entertain that particular request, but I require an explanation…,” Gladwell shared. (RELATED: Clay Travis Calls Out CNN For ‘Masturbating’ Jeffrey Toobin After Banning Travis For The Word ‘Boobs’)
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“If you would like to fire him, for whatever reason, that’s your prerogative… but you got to give a reason…,” he added, insisting that Conde Nast, Toobin’s employer, never articulated why. “They did not say why, and that really, really bothered me.” (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Defends Piers Morgan, Says ‘In An Era Of Free Speech Being Stifled’ We ‘Need More’ Like Him, Not ‘Fewer’)
“Well, but we do why,” Kelly blasted back. “Have you ever heard the saying, ‘oh, a picture speaks 1000 words?’ Just someone hit play, hit rewind.” (RELATED: Meghan McCain Blasts CNN Over Toobin: ‘You Can Do Absolutely ANYTHING At CNN And Not Be Fired’ If You’re ‘Liberal’)
“I am one of those people who believes that there is a clear ethical difference between an intentional and unintentional act… ” Malcolm responded. “And what he did was completely unintentional, and that makes a big difference.”
“Even if [Conde Nast] didn’t think it was intentional, we could all see how reckless that was,” the former Fox News host shared. “You masturbate, you know, half your colleagues have seen your penis because you masturbated in the middle of a work Zoom call in the middle of the day while you’re rehearsing for the election coverage.”
Gladwell argued because of the pandemic and people being forced to work from home, we are in this “gray area” where people are “stressed out…and they’re working on an unfamiliar technology…” there’s a need for new ground rules.
“I’ve got one: don’t jerk off in the middle of a work call….”Kelly replied. “There is not an exception to this rule.”