Ed wrote about this story yesterday. Briefly, the Post published a 3,000 word piece about two women who were offended that someone came to a Halloween party two years ago in blackface. The woman, who was trying to satirize Megyn Kelly with her costume, left the party in tears and apologized to the host the next day. But the two women who were offended weren’t satisfied. They “felt compelled” to write to the host of the party, who is a Post cartoonist, asking that he reveal the woman’s name so they could drag her in public. The cartoonist refused but the post put two reporters on it who generated the story revealing the guest’s name. And for the record, she’s not some stock conservative villain. She’s an anti-Trump progressive who has already apologized.
A lot of people on the right are citing this absurd article as a new low in the history of journalism. I’m somewhat relieved to say that a lot of Post readers seem to agree. The comments section is overwhelmingly full of people who think the article was a mistake. I’m leaving out the names.
- An appropriate Post followup to this personal attack might be an apology on page 1, above the fold, in the Washington Post print edition together with a job offer at a salary 10% or so above that of the job the article cost her.
- A manufactured witchhunt on stale news. Free pub!
- Black Lives Matter … Blackface a party two years ago with an explanation of the character does not matter.
- What a terrible thing to do to a private person, for no discernible reason. Awful lapse in judgment by the Post.
- I have to admit, the more I let this article sink in, the more disgusted I become with it. My comments were fairly mellow at first in the sense of ‘people make mistakes…move on’. Now, I’m really actually very angry at these two women and the WaPo for publishing this as news as opposed to a gossip column. Dear Editors of the WaPo, please print an apology or retraction. This is TERRIBLE journalism.
- To have some random woman dragged in your pages over a 2-year old insensitive action at a party, then lose her job (so casually mentioned in the article) is not the mission of this, or any, news organization. Examine not only the last step in this path (the publishing), but also all the previous steps that led to so many people at your company thinking this was a good idea.
- I am black. This article is cruel. A big mistake. I don’t care if some private person made an ill attempt at satire by wearing black face to a Halloween party. This was a private incident between private people who have little to no power. Shame on the Washington Post for publishing this.
- If the point of the story is too demonstrate insufferable self righteousness, it was a success.
- Wow – have read probably hundreds of comments here and don’t ever remember seeing them as one-sided as this. Deservedly so.
- When I started reading this story I was ready to be mad at the lady in the racist costume and her lack of judgment, but now I am really mad at everyone involved publishing this tabloid garbage.
- This is democracy dying in the darkness of editorial ineptitude.
- This story made me sick to my stomach. I am disturbed that the Post would give a national platform to these two self righteous, thin-skinned, vindictive people.
- Blackface is bad, yet somehow this article is worse.
- Seeing the Post publish this ridiculous article is like watching someone you respected and admired stumble out of a door naked and drunk, to then defecate in the street.
- May I suggest changing your paper’s name to Teen Washington Post?
- Hold on a sec. I’m a progressive and an activist. I have attended numerous recent marches, and have been involved in numerous social causes that matter to me. But this is absurd.
- As usual, the demand for hate in the newsroom of The Post far exceeds the supply…
- Wow, Post, this is a new low. I hope that the journalists and editors involved have enough remaining integrity to feel deeply ashamed.
- Absolutely disgraceful that the Post published this wicked piece of McCarthyist heretic burning.
Early on a lot of people were complaining their comments had been deleted, so I think the Post initially tried to fight the tide on this and finally gave up when it became clear everyone hated this story. Anyway, that’s a pretty representative sample of what got published. A lot of upset conservatives in the recent hours but also quite a few people who identify themselves as being on the left but who still think this story is a disgrace to the paper, the authors, the editors and the two women who pushed to make this news.
What’s really astounding here is that, without intending to, the Washington Post has published a piece of woke-scolding agenda journalism so stupid and tone deaf that it is actually uniting people on the left and right against this type of public struggle session.
The Post has created the Cats of cancel culture.
It’s actually giving me hope for the country’s future that there are still some things everyone on every side can look at and say ‘That’s just hot garbage.’