Washington Post places reporter Felicia Sonmez on leave after she tweeted about Kobe Bryant’s rape case, resulting in death threats
- Washington Post said tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined work of colleagues
- Felicia Sonmez received tremendous blowback, including death threats and abuse
Reporter Felicia Sonmez’s tweet Sunday, amid widespread public mourning over Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash, drew considerable backlash on social media. The Post reported that Somnez received threats of death and rape and had to move to a hotel after her home address was published online.
The Post said Somnez deleted the original tweet at the request of a managing editor. She also received an email from executive editor Marty Baron saying: “A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. You’re hurting this institution by doing this.”
Somnez shared the email with an Associated Press reporter.
In a statement, The Post said Somnez had been placed on paid leave while newsroom managers reviewed whether the tweets violated the newsroom’s social media policy.
“The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues,” managing editor Tracy Grant said in a statement.
Kobe Bryant’s pilot may have got lost in fog before fatal helicopter crash
Members of the Washington Post Newspaper Guild protested Somnez’s suspension. They also noted that Somnez had “received an onslaught of violent messages” and “has gotten insufficient guidance from the Post on how to protect herself.”
“We understand the hours after Bryant’s death Sunday were a fraught time to share reporting about past accusations of sexual assault,” Guild members wrote.
“The loss of such a beloved figure, and of so many other lives, is a tragedy. But we believe it is our responsibility as a news organisation to tell the public the whole truth as we know it – about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely.
Somnez’s controversial tweet linked to a 2016 Daily Beast story titled “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession”.
Kobe Bryant’s death is China’s loss as kindred spirit is mourned in ‘second home’
Bryant was accused in 2003 of raping a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort. He said the two had consensual sex, and prosecutors later dropped the sexual assault charge at the request of the accuser. The woman filed a civil suit against Bryant that was settled out of court.
Journalist Matthew Keys subsequently reported that a source at The Post told him Sonmez’s managers cared less about her tweets and more about the screengrabs of her email inbox, which she shared on Twitter, displaying the full names of her critics. Such a move could have legal repercussions, he said.
According to Sonmez, Grant told her Sunday that the tweets didn’t “pertain” to her “coverage area” and were “making it harder for others to do their work as Washington Post journalists.”
“I’m a little confused,” Sonmez said Monday. “If The Post is arguing that letting those survivors feel seen makes other colleagues jobs harder, I’d appreciate an explanation.”
LA Times Beijing chief quits after sex harassment investigation
Sonmez, who previously worked in China for both The Wall Street Journal and Agence France-Presse, was one of two women who accused a Los Angeles Times reporter of sexual misconduct in 2018, while they were based in Beijing.
While The Los Angeles Times suspended him and he left after a lengthy investigation, the Guild says that The Post fundamentally hung her out to dry.
“This is not the first time that The Post has sought to control how Felicia speaks on matters of sexual violence,” the statement said.
“Felicia herself is a survivor of assault who bravely came forward with her story two years ago.
“When articles attacking her were published in other outlets, The Post did not release a statement in support of one of its respected political reporters.”
Although Sonmez has now deleted all her tweets, some Twitter users responded with disgust and screengrabbed the now-viral posts.
Associated Press, Tribune News Service, Business Insider
