CNN analyst and The New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin was caught exposing himself to a virtual room of some of the magazine’s biggest names in a Zoom call on Monday. He has since been suspended from the publication.

“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera,” the 60-year-old Harvard Law grad told Vice, in a stunningly candid interview. “I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video,’’ he said.

“I apologize to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers.’’

The Zoom call was part of a preparatory simulation ahead of the upcoming election and featured notable New Yorker names such as Evan Osnos, Jane Mayer, Masha Gessen, and Jelani Cobb as well as other important producers from the magazine and WNYC public radio. Osnos played the role of Joe Biden, Gessen was President Donald Trump, Mayer represented establishment Republicans, Cobb represented Democrats, and Toobin was supposed to be playing the part of the courts.

Two members of that call told Vice that at one point, Toobin lowered his camera and accidentally exposed himself to the people on the call. Sources say they saw Toobin pleasuring himself while there was a break in the simulation between the Democrats and Republicans. He then left the Zoom chat for a few moments before calling back in, unaware that his camera was kept on.

A spokeswoman for The New Yorker stated Toobin has been suspended while the incident is being investigated. The editor of the magazine, David Remnick, added in an email to staffers, “Please be assured that we take such matters seriously and that we are looking into it.”

CNN made a similar statement, saying that Toobin would be taking time off of the cable network, where he is a senior legal analyst.

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Article by Yati Sanghvi

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