The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Felicia Sonmez Strikes Again

Posted on | June 5, 2022 | 1 Comment

You may recognize the name Felicia Sonmez because she is the Washington Post reporter who got suspended two years ago after deciding that the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant was an excellent occasion to remind the world that Bryant was accused of rape in 2003.

Sonmez was quickly reinstated because, well, facts are facts, even if it’s tasteless to mention them when nine people have just died in a helicopter crash. Probably the reason the Post rushed to suspend Sonmez was because it might have seemed racist — “RAAAAACIST!” — for this white woman to be highlighting a rape accusation against a black man. “Thou Shalt Not Offend the Black Community” is sacred writ in much of the media establishment, and I could cite a thousand examples of the bend-over-backwards compliance to that commandment. Sometimes it’s silly, sometimes it’s actually dangerous, as when a violent criminal suspect is at large and newspapers refuse to mention the race of the suspect.

While I don’t think Sonmez should have been sacrificed to the cancel culture mob, it turns out that she is a problematic employee quite generally, who unsuccessfully sued the Post last year:

Sonmez in her suit alleged that the Post illegally discriminated against her when it temporarily banned her from covering stories related to sexual harassment or misconduct after she publicly identified herself as a sexual assault victim. But D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein on Friday ruled that Sonmez had failed to make “a plausible claim that The Post took adverse employment actions, or created a hostile work environment, because of her sex or status as a victim of sexual assault.”
Sundeep Hora, Sonmez’s lawyer, told the New York Times that they planned to appeal the decision, which they are “disappointed in” and “strongly disagree with.”
Sonmez failed to demonstrate that the paper showed “discriminatory motive” in temporarily blocking her from reporting on issues of sexual misconduct, Epstein said in a 28-page decision, restrictions that the Post’s editors had attributed to Sonmez’s public statements, not her victim status or gender. Sonmez’s own account of what happened, the ruling notes, was that “the Post did not want the external perception that it had an advocate covering an issue she experienced.” Sonmez’s suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.

Somnez destroyed the career of a former male coworker by claiming she was “pressured into having sex after a night of drinking.” The colleague denied wrongdoing and it doesn’t matter whether you think he was guilty or innocent. The point is that after that incident and then Sonmez’s attack on the recently deceased Kobe Bryant, her bosses at the Post seemed to conclude that Somnez was an ax-grinder whose reputation might damage the newspaper’s credibility. That she then sued the newspaper claiming discrimination ought to have been sufficient cause for termination. I’m sorry, but why would anyone expect to continue getting paid to work for a company after you dragged them into court?

So now this happened:

A Washington Post reporter has apologized after he was called out by a female colleague at the newspaper for retweeting a sexist joke.
David Weigel, who covers politics for the Jeff Bezos-owned daily broadsheet, tweeted on Friday that he had removed a post that he retweeted earlier in the day.\
Weigel retweeted a post by a Twitter user who wrote: “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Felicia Sonmez, who also covers politics for the Washington Post, was angered by Weigel’s retweet, writing: “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!”
Weigel later tweeted: “I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm.”
Washington Post COO Kris Coratti Kelly told the New York Post: “Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated.”
Weigel, 40, is a veteran politics reporter who has worked at Slate and Bloomberg. He joined the Washington Post in 2015.

(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.) The joke was “sexist” and “reprehensible”? No, I’m pretty sure it was inspired by Amber Heard, who is bisexual and afflicted with either bipolar or borderline personality disorder, depending on which expert you ask. The comedian whose joke Weigel RT’d, Cam Harless, says no one should be punished for retweeting his jokes. The people who really should be punished are “woke” tattletales like Felicia Sonmez, who remind me of Stasi informers, and certainly shouldn’t be employed as journalists in a free country.




 

Category: Media Bias

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One Response to “Felicia Sonmez Strikes Again”

  1. WaPo Suspends Dave Weigel WITHOUT PAY for a Month, in Effort to Appease Supreme Commissar Felicia Sonmez : The Other McCain
    June 7th, 2022 @ 7:18 am

    […] I said Sunday, Sonmez is one of those “woke” tattletales who remind me of Stasi informers. Any organization that hires such people is inviting destruction on itself. You can’t have a […]