ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Jeffrey Toobin returns to CNN after exposing himself on Zoom

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin leaves the Supreme Court after it finished the day's arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama in Washington on March 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin leaves the Supreme Court after it finished the day's arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama in Washington on March 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Share
LOS ANGELES -

CNN said it would bring legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin back to its roster of contributors after he was suspended from his main place of employment for exposing himself during a Zoom call with colleagues.

"I hope to be a better person off camera as well as on camera," Toobin told anchor Alisyn Camerota in one of the more bizarre segments CNN has broadcast in recent memory.

Toobin in October was fired from Conde Nast's The New Yorker after being spotted masturbating on camera during a business call on Zoom.

At the time, CNN said the writer had asked for time off, but made no mention of a suspension or termination. Toobin, an attorney, has become a celebrated writer over the years, and one of his books became the basis for a popular FX series about the trial of disgraced football great O.J. Simpson.

The decision is likely to spur mixed reactions. TV-news outlets have come under intense scrutiny in recent years for appearing to sanction cases of sexual harassment and even assault.

Prominent employees at CBS News, NBC News and Fox News Channel have left those outlets after complaints about behavior went public. Revelation of those incidents, meanwhile, has spurred the industry to look more deeply at how it maintains workplace norms and rules of behavior.

Toobin was ostensibly brought on air to discuss the legalities of a case in California where a federal judge has overturned a decades-old ban on assault weapons. But his appearance was largely devoted to an explanation of what he did last fall and reactions to it.

"To quote Jay Leno, 'What the hell were you thinking?'" Camerota asked.

Toobin called the incident "deeply moronic," and said of the incident, "It was wrong, it was stupid and I'm trying to be a better person." He said an investigation by Conde Nast found no other transgressions during his term of employment there. He also said he felt Conde Nast's decision to terminate him was "excessive."

He apologized to CNN staffers, former New Yorker colleagues and his family, and acknowledged he had become the subject of ridicule during his time off air.

"I am incredibly grateful to CNN for taking me back," he said. And, eventually, he and Camerota turned to legal matters.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.