New York Times features writer Jacob Bernstein apologized after model and actress Emily Ratajkowski tweeted that an unnamed Times reporter called Melania Trump a “hooker.” The comment wasn’t made in a news story, but rather at what Bernstein said was a party.
Bernstein’s Twitter apology addressed his “stupid remark” on “unfounded rumors” and said he was “speaking at a party in what I thought was a personal conversation.” Bernstein added that “My editors have made it clear my behavior was not in keeping with the standards of the Times, and I agree.”
The Times declined to comment beyond its Feb. 13 statement on the matter, which it provided to iMediaEthics. It reads:
“At a party on Sunday night, a Times reporter who does not cover Washington or politics, referred to an unfounded rumor regarding Melania Trump. The comment was not intended to be public, but it was nonetheless completely inappropriate and should not have occurred. Editors have talked to the reporter in question about the lapse.”
While Ratajkowski’s Feb. 13 tweets calling the comment “slut shaming” didn’t name the reporter, Bernstein outed himself on Twitter. iMediaEthics tweeted Bernstein for comment.
Mrs. Trump’s @FLOTUS Twitter account responded to Ratajkowski’s defense of her. Trump recently settled a libel lawsuit against Maryland blogger Webster Tarpley after he published claims she worked as an escort. She is currently suing the Daily Mail for publishing similar claims.
Bernstein apologized for his comment in four tweets to “take ownership of a mistake.”
Bernstein, Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein’s son, previously caught iMediaEthics’ attention when he wrote an 2014 article about his former doctor, Dr. Gwen Korovin,who was in the room when Joan Rivers “stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.” Korovin was investigated after a medical examiner’s report revealed numerous lapses by the medical facility where Rivers died. Korovin, and her office, were sued by Rivers’ family for medical malpractice. Though Bernstein’s article reflected positively on the doctor, he offered only a brief disclosure that he had been a former patient of Korovin, and the Times didn’t respond to our questions about why a former patient was allowed to write about the doctor.
UPDATE: 2/15/2017 10:32 AM EST We’ve also tweeted Ratajkowski for further comment.