The Washington Post issued a correction after two sources accused columnist Taylor Lorenz of falsely stating she reached out to them for comment Friday.
The outlet posted two corrections to Lorenz’s piece, “Who won the Depp-Heard trial? Content creators that went all-in,” stating that the article falsely attributed two YouTubers, Alyte Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy, and Hollywood actor Johnny Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman.
Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy both said they never received an email or any form of contact from Lorenz in separate Twitter posts Thursday. She contacted the two internet users after the story had been published, they said in separate Twitter posts.
“Um. This says I didn’t respond to requests to comment? I know I’ve gotten a lot of email over the past two months, but I’ve just double checked for your name, @TaylorLorenz, and I see no email from you,” Mazeika tweeted.
Um. This says I didn’t respond to requests to comment? I know I’ve gotten a lot of emails over the past two months, but I’ve just double checked for your name, @TaylorLorenz, and I see no email from you.
Also, I didn’t suddenly pivot. I started covering this before trial began. https://t.co/7qHTrOsfHQ pic.twitter.com/yJzzqS8ggS
— Legal Bytes 🍽💙 (@legalbytesmedia) June 3, 2022
UPDATE:
I have now been (for the first time) reached out to for comment… After the piece was already published and I had to call it out.
This is so dumb.
— Legal Bytes 🍽💙 (@legalbytesmedia) June 3, 2022
ThatUmbrellaGuy said The Washington Post never reached out to him through email or Twitter direct messaging, then pointed to the alleged misrepresentation of Waldman’s quote about contacting Internet influencers. (RELATED: Washington Post Publishes Address Of User Behind Popular ‘Libs Of TikTok’ Account)
“I’d like to see proof that Washington Post reached out to me, bc I got no email or Twitter DMs,” he wrote. “The Washington Post HEAVILY misrepresented what Adam Waldman said, too, and its hilarious considering how they characterize their reporting versus others reporting on cases that didn’t sell out to CORP brands.”
The Washington Post HEAVILY misrepresented what Adam Waldman said, too, and its hilarious considering how they characterize their reporting versus others reporting on cases that didn’t sell out to CORP brands. pic.twitter.com/9qzoZFVx4p
— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) June 3, 2022
Lorenz reportedly contacted ThatUmbrellaGuy in an email over an hour after he called out the Post for never reaching out to him. The columnist sent the email at 9:44 p.m. asking about the YouTuber’s income, according to a photograph he posted to Twitter. In the article, she reported that he “earned up to $80,000” last month.
“The Washington Post LIED and DID NOT contact me before including me in their story on Johnny Depp, despite reporting they did so,” ThatUmbrella Guy posted.
The Washington Post LIED and DID NOT contact me before including me in their story on Johnny Depp, despite reporting they did so.
I noted this on Twitter today at 8:31p.
At 9:44p they decided to contact me, AFTER I noted this publicly. ( pic.twitter.com/gkGt0WuMKZ
— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) June 3, 2022
The Post issued an Editor’s Note stating the piece “incorrectly” reported that Mazieka and ThatUmbrellaGuy were contacted for comment, noting that Lorenz only contacted Mazieka via Instagram before the column’s publication. The outlet has since updated the piece to note that Mazieka “declined to comment” and ThatUmbrellaGuy “could not be reached.”
The newspaper then addressed the quote by Waldman, which originally claimed he “‘slid’ into big influencers’ DMs to provide information about the case and promote the notion that Depp was innocent,” according to a screenshot posted by ThatUmbrellaGuy.
“A previous version of this story also inaccurately attributed a quote to Adam Waldman, a lawyer for Johnny Depp,” the Editor’s Note said. “The quote described how he contacted some Internet influencers and has been removed.”
Lorenz claimed she contacted “dozens” of Internet users and creators posting and shaping public opinion on the defamation trial between Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Her name trended on Twitter after the users called her out.
“Circle of life,” she said, drawing a circle around a screenshot of her name. Lorenz did not respond to the Daily Caller’s multiple requests for comment.
Lorenz came under fire for publishing the name and real estate page of the Libs of TikTok owner, who intended to remain anonymous, in her April 19 article titled, “Meet the woman behind Libs of TikTok, secretly fueling the right’s outrage machine.”
The Drudge Report called out Lorenz after she alleged that they “relentlessly” harassed her and threatened to destroy her life. She doubled down saying she made an “objectively hilarious” joke.