The New York Times released a statement Wednesday objecting to the Tuesday opening segment of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” in which host Tucker Carlson questioned reporter Taylor Lorenz’s claim that online harassment over her writing “ruined her life” and caused deep “trauma.”
The NYT statement called Carlson’s comments a “calculated and cruel tactic, which [Tucker Carlson] regularly deploys to unleash a wave of harassment and vitriol at his intended target.”
The NYT message called Lorenz a “talented New York Times journalist,” saying that reporters should not have to do their job while “facing harassment.”
Our response to Tuesday night’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” broadcast. pic.twitter.com/LkvaLjcRl5
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) March 10, 2021
The show opening that the NYT referenced in its statement was a monologue segment approximately a minute long in which Carlson criticized Lorenz for a post she made on International Women’s Day.
“For international women’s day please consider supporting women enduring online harassment,” Lorenz wrote on Tuesday. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that the harassment and smear campaign I’ve had to endure over the past year has destroyed my life. No one should have to go through this.”
For international women’s day please consider supporting women enduring online harassment. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the harassment and smear campaign I’ve had to endure over the past year has destroyed my life. No one should have to go through this.
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) March 9, 2021
Tucker criticized Lorenz for acting powerless despite being a young and prominent journalist at the New York Times, where “she’s at the top of journalism’s repulsive little food chain.”
“You’d think Taylor Lorentz would be grateful for the remarkable good luck that she’s had, but no she’s not,” Carlson continued, adding that Lorenz has “a pretty good life” if not “one of the best lives in the country.” (RELATED: House Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill, Heads To Biden’s Desk)
“You thought female Uyghurs had it bad — you haven’t talked to Taylor Lorenz,” Carlson concluded.
In the original Twitter thread by Lorenz, she described the year-long harassment she faced, writing, “It has taken everything from me. The only mild solace I’ve found is w/ other women who have had their lives destroyed in the same way. We’ve developed deep trauma bonds.”
I’m slightly open abt some of what I deal w/ but the scope of attacks has been unimaginable. There’s no escape. It has taken everything from me. The only mild solace I’ve found is w/ other women who have had their lives destroyed in the same way. We’ve developed deep trauma bonds
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) March 9, 2021
Lorenz said in reference to online harassment that “to tackle this problem we need technological change, cultural change, and a system of support for those going through it.”
Carlson was not the only critic of Lorenz’s tweets.
“Taylor Lorenz is a star reporter with the most influential newspaper in the US, arguably the west. Her work regularly appears on its front page,” independent journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote on Twitter in response.
“Her attempt to claim this level of victimhood is revolting: she should try to find out what real persecution of journalists entails,” he added.
Taylor Lorenz is a star reporter with the most influential newspaper in the US, arguably the west. Her work regularly appears on its front page.
Her attempt to claim this level of victimhood is revolting: she should try to find out what real persecution of journalists entails. pic.twitter.com/ZV0lm9CIqh
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 9, 2021