The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against a woman from Queens who has been ‘posing as a reporter for the paper for at least two years’.
According to the New York Daily News, Contessa Bourbon in 2015 represented herself as a reporter for the Times at a Brookings Institute event asking questions and interviewing the Turkish ambassador, the suit claims.
Then in May of this year she attended another Brookings event and asked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos a question, again claiming she was a Times reporter, court papers say.
The suit claims Bourbon has a false business card and ignored demands from the paper to stop passing herself off as of its reporters.
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Contessa Bourbon, who it claims has been posing as a reporter for the paper for at least two years. She posted the photo on the right on Instagram and claimed she was covering a UN forum
The suit claims Bourbon has a false business card and ignored demands from the paper to stop passing herself off as of its reporters. She is pictured with former American Idol Contestant Jessica Sanchez, who she claims to have interviewed for the paper
Bourbon describes herself on Facebook and Twitter as a New York Times Journalist.
In fact, according to her Twitter profile, she has quite the journalistic experience and has worked for the Times, The Wall Street Journal, London Times, the Guardian and the Washington Post.
And on November 1, she wrote on Twitter: ‘News I wrote: PresTrump backs American victims of terrorism @ Supreme Court. W views of congress. Read NYT WSJ Wapo LondonTimes Watch TV news.’
It’s not clear what story she was referring to.
The suit claims that last month Bourbon contacted the office of a member of Congress and asked for an invitation to the Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony as a Times reporter.
Online transcripts show that Bourbon has identified herself as a Times reporter at different Brookings Events at least since 2013, according to the Daily News.
Bourbon describes herself on Facebook and Twitter as a New York Times Journalist
Bourbon is pictured in two photos she shared on Instagram, left in a Congress hearing with the Attorney General of Utah, and on the right ‘covering congress’. The New York Times alleges that her unprofessional conduct has been falsely attributed to the Times
The Times claims they are filing a lawsuit now because it asked her multiple times to stop referring to herself as one of its reporters. In a photo Bourbon posted on Facebook she wrote that she was covering a women’s panel at the UN. She is pictured on the far right, and it isn’t clear who the other women are
The Times has chosen this moment to file a lawsuit after allegedly asking her multiple times to stop, and have said her identifying as one of its reporters makes it confusing for someone who actually is.
‘Her conduct also creates confusion as to which reporter is representing The New York Times at an event and as to whether an event or interview is actually being reported for The New York Times,’ the lawsuit reads.
‘Ms Bourbon’s unprofessional conduct in dealing with congressional staff members was also inaccurately attributed to The New York Times, to its detriment.’
It’s not clear what unprofessional conduct the Times is referring to.
The Times seeks an order that will prevent Bourbon from posing as an employee if it wins.