At a time when the entire world is mourning an icon, a journalist for the Washington Post decided to tweet a story about the infamous Kobe Bryant rape case and was subsequently suspended by her employer.
On Sunday, Felicia Sonmez shared a link from the Daily Beast on Twitter that featured the headline, “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.”
The story was originally posted in April 2016.
With Bryant fans still in shock of his and several others’ untimely deaths, sadness was turned to rage due to Sonmez’s callous response to the Los Angeles Lakers star’s passing.
After receiving venomous reactions which included death threats, Sonmez responded with disdain to her ill-timed tweet.
Sonmez eventually decided to delete her tweets after receiving overwhelming negativity from Twitter users who are now calling for her firing.
Washington Post managing editor Tracy Grant informed them of their decision regarding Sonmez.
“National political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated The Post newsroom’s social media policy,” Grant said.
“The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.”
In 2003, Bryant was accused of rape by a 19-year-old girl who was employed at a Colorado hotel. He denied the charges and the case was reportedly dropped upon a settlement of a civil suit, but the terms of the agreement between Bryant and the victim were never released.
Whether well-meant or not, Sonmez’s decision to share the “totality” of Bryant was uncalled for and she will have to face the consequences of her actions.
