Jeffrey Toobin is back after
disappearing from public view.
Finally, he should have the first
time disappearing from public view.
He is back after being caught
masturbating on a work Zoom call.
And that obviously has to be
addressed as he returns to CNN.
So he and Alisyn Camerota had to
talk about it, and boy,
I have some thoughts about this.
So, here's the introduction to
that admittedly incredibly
awkward conversation.
>> I feel like we should address
what's happened in the months
since we've seen you,
since some of our viewers may not
know what has happened.
So, I guess I'll recap.
I'll do the honors.
>> Help yourself.
>> Okay, in October, you were on
a Zoom call with your colleagues
from the New Yorker magazine.
Everyone took a break for several
minutes during which time you were
caught masturbating on camera.
You were subsequently fired
from that job after 27 years
of working there.
And you since then
have been on leave from CNN.
Do I have all that right?
>> You got it all right,
sad to say.
>> I'm getting mild Scott's Tots
vibes here.
So, Bridget,
they have to talk about it.
They can't just be like, so what do
you think about Joe Biden's jacket?
I mean, not jacket.
I'm not saying jacket,
I'm saying her coat.
What do you think about that?
They have to address it,
what did you think?
>> I mean, that was probably one of
the most awkward few minutes on
television I've ever watched.
I think you're right, I mean,
it would probably be even worse if
they didn't address it.
But I don't know that I've ever had
this kind of public secondhand
embarrassment before.
It was the cringiest thing.
Yeah, it was and there's,
get ready, hold on your butts.
There's several more videos coming.
That was just the intro.
And by the way, I'm not
necessarily, I can't predict what
the audience expects but I'm not
necessarily going to come out on
this exactly as they might expect.
That said right off the bat,
I wouldn't have had her half to
recap it.
That doesn't seem quite, maybe
that's the most minor part of the
story but make him say what he did.
Why does Alisyn Camerota have to
say and then have him
sort of smiling say, you got me.
I don't like that.
>> The point that it seems
a little unfair to make the woman
have to go through the incredibly
painfully awkward process of
breaking this down.
He doesn't even really have to say
it, he just have to sort of agree
that it happened.
I don't even think about that but
I think you're exactly right.
>> Yeah, so,
let's dive into the substance of
this.
Here's the next bit of their talk.
>> To quote Jay Leno,
what the hell were you thinking?
>> Well, obviously,
I wasn't thinking very well or
very much, and it was something
that was inexplicable to me.
I think one point, I wouldn't
exactly say in my defense because
nothing is really in my defense.
I didn't think I was on
the the call.
I didn't think other people
could see me.
>> You thought that you had turned
off your camera?
>> Correct.
I thought that
I had turned off the Zoom call.
Now, that's not a defense.
This was deeply moronic and
indefensible, but
I mean that is part of the story.
>> Second most minor part of this,
Bridget, he's doing a lot of like
this, don't just keep your hands to
yourself, visible, but to yourself.
Okay, so Bridget, did you doubt,
did anyone doubt that he thought
that he couldn't be seen?
>> I have a hard time believing it.
I mean >> Believing what?
>> Believing that he truly thought
that he couldn't be seen.
I mean, I don't know,
all I'll say is we've all been
using Zoom since the pandemic.
I think at this point you know that
when you go into a Zoom,
your camera is visible.
This is what he says is what
he's saying.
But I also think I really want to
push back on the way that he's
framed it, that like,
it was just a moronic thing.
This is a pretty serious workplace
misconduct thing.
It wasn't just a mistake,
a moronic mistake.
A moronic mistake is when you reply
all on a group email.
I really, am uncomfortable with
the way that he's framing this as
a kind of a silly whoops a moment
because it's pretty serious.
>> Sure.
So I think we part agree and
part disagree, but
let's dive into it and let's see.
I agree with you that to the extent
that he is framing it as not
being serious,
he's both I think objectively wrong
at all, so it's not up to him.
But I do think he needs to make
clear if it wasn't intentional,
then that's an important part of
the story that he needs to make
sure we focus on.
And I, maybe I don't, I'm trying to
figure out if we disagree on this.
I just assume obviously it's
a mistake.
Because, so
the alternative is he was on a work
call with a bunch of journalists
and purposefully masturbated where
they could see.
That seems like the quickest way to
cut, that's like a George Costanza,
I want you to fire me sort
of situation.
Like that, see he's done then.
So I just assume it can't possibly
have been on purpose.
There have been other people, there
have been Twitch streamers that
have been caught masturbating or
having sex because they forgot that
their camera was on or whatever.
I have a friend actually,
a journalist, who didn't know that
her partner was on a work call, so
she walked naked
through the background of a shot.
Obviously, accidental things
happen.
That's not to say that
it's not serious, but I assume it
had to have been accidental.
>> Yeah, I mean,
if it wasn't accidental,
the math we're never talking about
something completely, >> insane.
>> Right?
[LAUGH] >> If it wasn't accidental,
it's Louis CK at that point.
That's crazy.
I hate to say that I hope it was
accidental.
But yeah, it was purposeful, and
that's a whole different thing.
And I know that mistakes happen.
Certainly I have been on Zoom where
things happen,
where you wish it hadn't or
you're like, that was dumb.
But, I guess I feel like even if
his camera was off, even if things
had went the way that he was
thinking they were going to go,
it's still really unacceptable.
>> Yes, yeah, no,
I think we can all agree on that.
And even then, there are concerns
of potentially about well, did he
think that his camera was off but
he was still watching their cameras
because then that's kind
of uncomfortable in its own way?
Yeah, but
I think that's a core part.
[MUSIC]