Scandals

TheWrap has been looking into the suicide of Virginia Quarterly Review managing editor Kevin Morrissey, and it would appear that Morrissey had to contend with an extremely hostile working environment — so hostile, in fact, that some surviving family members and colleagues are wondering whether this ill-treatment may have been a factor in his death.

At the center of the speculation is the literary magazine’s editor in chief Ted Genoways, whose treatment of Morrissey has been described as “egregious.” From the TheWrap:

Shortly before 10 a.m. on July 30, Genoways sent an e-mail to Morrissey “accusing him of jeopardizing the life of a writer,” according to one account reported by The Hook, a local newsweekly. At 11:30 a.m., Morrissey called 911 to report a shooting near a coal tower in Charlottesville, Virginia. When police arrived, they found Morrissey dead, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The University of Virginia, which operates the magazine, has launched an internal investigation into Morrissey’s death and the allegations of bullying against Genoways. “The untimely death of Kevin Morrissey has raised questions about the university’s response to employees’ concerns about the workplace climate in the VQR office,” UVA president Teresa Sullivan said in a statement late last week. “We will be undertaking a thorough review of VQR’s operations.”

Genoways, for his part, attributes Morrissey’s death to an ongoing battle with depression, and wrote in a memo to staffers that he “cannot accept the final blame he laid on me.” It had been rumored that Morrissey mentioned Genoways in his suicide note, but a look at the legible portion of the letter does not seem to make any mention of him.

Morrissey’s lawyer appeared on the Today show and said his client had indeed been depressed at the time he took his life, but did not rule out “unhappiness at work” as a possible contributing factor.

For those of you who were stricken with fear and considering taking to the streets over news that the Time Warner corporate officers had been plagued with a bed bug infestation, you may rest easy. The company released a statement explaining that “as part of a routine cleaning and preventive process, it was discovered that there were bed bugs present in a small contained area within Time Warner’s offices” but that “the problem was treated by professionals and is no longer an issue.” The offending critters had not been found in areas accessible to the general public.

The bed bugs will now resume terrorizing or, at least, mildly inconveniencing various Bushwick-area loft dwellers. And life goes on.

GQ‘s Jason Zengerle recently published a story (“Rand Paul’s Kooky College Days (Hint: There’s a Secret Society Involved”) digging into the life and times of Rand Paul, the Libertarian who is vying to fill Kentucky’s Senate seat, and he uncovered some interesting little anecdotes about the politician’s alleged extracurricular activities during college. The standout story claims that Paul, as a student attending Baylor University in Texas, once kidnapped a young woman with the help of a fellow classmate, forced her to take hits of marijuana from a bong and made her “worship false idols” such as “Aqua Buddha.” The Paul camp is, predictably, less than enthused about the article and has threatened to pursue legal action against the magazine.

GQ, for its part, insists that it thoroughly researched and vetted the story before running it.

The Week highlights other major revelations in the GQ story including the allegation that Paul “decided to join a banned and decidedly liberal secret society” during college known as the “NoZe Brothers,” that Paul and his fellow NoZe members routinely mocked Christianity, and that Paul once attempted to drunkenly dig up a decades-old time capsule at the school.

Paul has dismissed the allegations, telling “Your World” host Neil Cavuto that “I think I would remember if I kidnapped someone, and I don’t remember. And I absolutely deny kidnapping anyone ever.” He added that “I think they deserve a lawsuit,” before lamenting the diminishing state of journalistic ethics in the U.S.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel has resigned on the heels of issuing a public apology for statements he made regarding Drudge Report creator and siren enthusiast Matt Drudge.

Yesterday afternoon, Weigel posted an apology and an explanation for statements he had written on Journolist, an off-the-record listserve that Weigel describes as an outlet he had “come to view as a place to talk bluntly to friends.”

Weigel, he explains, was angry because a story insinuating he was on board with Rep. Bob Etheridge acting violently towards a young man was linked to on the Drudge Report. This was then followed by a gossip item about Weigel dancing (?!) appearing in the Washington Examiner. So he lashed out via an email to Journolist, writing “This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire.”

Our very own FishbowlDC then broke the news that Weigel is resigning from his position at the Washington Post, adding that, beyond his innovative but probably ill-advised plan for improving the state of the world, Weigel issued “a slew of his anti-conservative comments and emails,” which surfaced on FishbowlDC and Daily Caller over the last two days.

You may recall that bicyclist Lance Armstrong was quite upset with his recent Outside magazine cover, wherein “38. BFD” (his age, followed by the phrase “big fucking deal”) was Photoshopped onto what was in reality a plain t-shirt. He took to Twitter to call the resulting altered image “lame bullshit.”

The magazine’s editors have since responded to Armstrong’s measured analysis and resulting articulate critique on the matter, noting that the cover itself featured a disclaimer about the offending t-shirt:

We understand that our July newsstand cover, featuring Lance Armstrong, has caused a bit of a ruckus. (Thanks, Twitter!). Yes, it’s true that, following our cover shoot with Lance, we had some Photoshop fun on the T-shirt he was wearing. BFD. We cop to it right there on the cover — see the line reading, “Note: Not Armstrong’s real T-shirt”. We wanted to create a provocative image and make a bold statement about the fact that, because of Armstrong’s age, many cycling fans are skeptical of his chances in this year’s Tour de France. Read what we think his odds are.

– The Editors

While altering a cover image with Photoshop is par for the course, it’s understandable that Armstrong’s ire, however (arguably) poorly handled it may have been, might stem from the fact that being depicted wearing a certain phrase or slogan or visualization of an idea might incorrectly insinuate an endorsement of his part — the visual version of an entrufflment, if you will.

Of course, it can’t be that he minds being associated with a swear word, because, well. That’s bullshit.

Professional bicyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong thinks it’s a pretty B.F.D. that Outside magazine Photoshopped a t-shirt reading “38. BFD.” onto him for their cover photo. For those not yet aware, “BFD” stands for “Big Fucking Deal.” Or possibly “Bipedal Foxtrotting Disaster.” The “38″ refers to Armstrong’s age.

Armstrong called the photo manipulation “lame bullshit” — which is totally ableist, Lance — via Twitter:

Personally, we’d be more concerned with being juxtaposed alongside the words “MAJOR SHRINKAGE,” but to each his own.

The lowdown horrible no-good totally weaksauce cover appears after the jump.

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It would seem that M.I.A.’s ongoing mission to straighten out various truffle-infused inconsistencies in Lynn Hirschberg‘s New York Times piece (she’s even written a song about it) has proven successful. The Times has issued a correction, or, really, more of a clarification, to the original article.

You can read it in its entirety after the jump:

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Won’t stop. Can’t stop. M.I.A. has taken her ongoing… or, alternately, mushrooming… feud with the New York Times (and with writer Lynn Hirschberg in particular) by creating a song about the whole incident. A sample lyric: “And the story’s always fucked by the time it hits / Why the hell would journalists be thick as shit.” So, you know. Kind of a love ballad.

Have a listen to “I’m a Singer (Haters)” and let us know what you think. Song of the summer?

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Singer M.I.A, you’ll likely recall, was recently embroiled in something of a controversy with New York Times contributor Lynn Hirschberg over an article Hirshberg wrote for the paper. The article in question sought, it seemed, to analyze M.I.A.’s dual status as both a celebrity and an activist.

M.I.A. was unhappy with several aspects of the article and decided to express her disappointment by posting Hirschberg’s number on Twitter and inviting her fans to call it, giving them the impression that it was her own. Hirschberg responded by calling the singer’s actions “unethical.”

Over the weekend, M.I.A. again took control of her image and what she perceived as a dishonest portrayal into her own hands, posting two audio clips from the interview — which she apparently recorded without Hirshberg’s knowledge — to her blog. The clips serve to clear up some portions of the article. The singer, for instance, never ordered truffle french fries as Hirschberg had written she did. In reality, the reporter suggested and ordered the dish. The Observer has a helpful synopsis of the conversation:

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UPDATE: Duin clarifies that she was “laid off,” not “fired,” adding, via Poynter, “The Post got it wrong. Of all the mistakes they could make, this was a whopper.”

A delicious, delicious whopper.

Julia Duin had been at the Washington Times for 14 years when she agreed to be interviewed by rival paper the Washington Post in an article about the Unification Church’s impending sale of the paper. Duin was remarkably candid, even telling interviewer Ian Shapira that, in her opinion, the paper was like “a rudderless ship.”

Now, Duin finds herself without a job and wonders whether her outspoken interview might have had a little something to do with that. Early last month, she wrote the following in an email to Shapira:

Apparently I nearly got fired Monday morning for talking with you and I was spared only because they want to let a few weeks go by before they do me in… Apparently what I said about the snakes caused the asking price to drop several million… The imminent end of my 14-year stint at TWT would be bearable were there a decent job waiting for me out there, but they’re not lining up to hire religion writers these days. Plus I’m a single mom with no convenient husband as back-up.

The “snake” incident to which she is referring is this:

We have snakes in the newsroom — the real live variety, at least. One of the security people gallantly removed it.

This was, again, said during an interview at a time when — and specifically about — her employer’s financial troubles and impending sale.

Adding to Duin’s obvious distress over her job determination was the fact that her five-year-old daughter was visiting her at work when she was given the news, and she had to pack up her desk while on crutches. Duin says that the reason she was given was that the paper was cutting costs and doing away with its coverage on religion — Duin’s beat.

The moral of the story? Lie with snakes and wake up with an article in hand about snakes in conference rooms. And also a pink slip. Or something.