The Washington Post reporter at the center of a Twitter storm after she was suspended for tweeting about Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case in the hours after his death has been reinstated to her role – but not before the reporter and her colleagues launched an attack on the newspaper’s ‘handling’ of the matter.
In a statement Tuesday, the Post said that an internal review had determined that political reporter Felicia Sonmez was ‘not in clear and direct violation of our social media policy,’ but maintained that her tweets were ‘ill-timed’.
‘We consistently urge restraint, which is particularly important when there are tragic deaths. We regret having spoken publicly about a personnel matter,’ the statement signed by The Post’s managing editor Tracy Grant said.
Felicia Sonmez, a national political reporter for The Washington Post, has been reinstated following her suspension for tweeting about Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case in the hours after his death
Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna (pictured together) and seven others were killed when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning
Bryant (pictured with his family) was accused of rape in 2003 by a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado hotel prior to a scheduled knee surgery. He was never charged in the case
The announcement came as Sonmez, who said she received death threats following her tweet just after Bryant, 41, died in a helicopter crash, took to Twitter to slam her employer’s actions.
Sonmez tweeted directly to Marty Baron, the newspaper’s editor: ‘I believe that Washington Post readers and employees, including myself, deserve to hear directly from @PostBaron on the newspaper’s handling of this matter. My statement on The Post’s decision tonight:
‘Washington Post journalists endeavor to live up to the paper’s mission statement, which states, ‘The newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.’
‘My suspension, and @PostBaron’s Jan. 26 email warning me that my tweets about a matter of public record were ‘hurting this institution,’ have unfortunately sown confusion about the depth of management’s commitment to this goal.
‘I hope Washington Post newsroom leaders will not only prioritize their employees’ safety in the face of threats of physical harm but also ensure that no journalist will be punished for speaking the truth.’
Sonmez was reinstated after the Post said that an internal review had determined she was ‘not in clear and direct violation of our social media policy,’ but maintained that her tweets were ‘ill-timed.’ Sonmez slammed her employer’s handling of the case on Twitter on Tuesday (above)
Sonmez’s latest tweet again divided social media users
Some jumped to her defense agreeing with her initial post
Her tweet comes after reporters at The Post leaped to her defense and demanded their employer protect Sonmez after she received threats following her post.
Sonmez’s tweet again divided social media users.
Some jumped to her defense, with one person tweeting: ‘well said Felicia, truth is truth…in all of its ugly and pretty forms’
However others criticized the timing of the original post and applauded The Post’s decision to suspend her.
‘Quite honestly your suspension is warranted given the bad judgement and lapse of character you demonstrated in a sensitive time. You get no pity from me. The @washingtonpost was right to suspend you,’ said one tweet.
The saga kicked off when Sonmez, who covers national politics for The Post, took to Twitter shortly after the world learned of Bryant’s death along with eight others, including his daughter Gianni, aboard his private helicopter when it crashed outside of Los Angeles on Sunday.
She posted a link to an April 2016 story from the news site The Daily Beast which carried the headline: ‘Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.’
The tweet generated hundreds of shares and thousands of likes as well as many comments.
In follow-up tweets, Sonmez wrote: ‘Well, THAT was eye-opening.
‘To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story – which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me.
‘Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality unsettling.’
Sonmez (left) took to Twitter shortly after the world learned of Kobe Bryant’s (right) death and posted a link to an April 2016 story that recalled rape allegations made against the player
How it all started: Hours after it was learned that Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people who were killed in a helicopter crash, Sonmez tweeted a link to a 2016 story about the 2003 rape accusations against the basketball legend
In follow-up tweets, Sonmez writes: ‘Well, THAT was eye-opening. To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story – which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me. Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality unsettling’
Sonmez continued: ‘That folks are responding with rage and threats toward me (someone who didn’t even write the piece but found it well-reported) speaks volumes about the pressure people come under to stay silent in these cases.’
In another follow-up tweet, Sonmez wrote: ‘As an addendum: Hard to see what’s accomplished by messages such as these.
‘If your response to a news article is to resort to harassment and intimidation of journalists, you might want to consider that your behavior says more about you than the person you’re targeting.’
Sonmez deleted the tweets due to the overwhelming backlash, but others on Twitter screengrabbed the posts and responded with disgust.
The reaction on Twitter from Bryant fans was so severe that the hashtag #FireFeliciaSonmez was trending.
‘What a disgusting post from Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez immediately after Kobe Bryant and his daughter’s death,’ tweeted one Twitter user.
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘It takes immense skill and stupidity to find a way to play the victim, in a moment where 9 people lost their lives in a helicopter crash.
‘Again, delete your account.’
One Twitter user demanded: ‘Hey @washingtonpost, do the right thing and show the world that irresponsible journalism is unacceptable.’
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘There’s a time & place for everything. Bringing up dirt on someone that just died only a few hours ago is neither the time or place. Felicia is a f***ing disgrace to her profession.’
Grant told DailyMail.com on Sunday that The Post had placed Sonmez on administrative leave and was looking into its policies on the matter.
‘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,’ said Grant.
‘The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.’
The decision to suspend Sonmez led to a backlash against the paper from her fellow reporters who leaped to her defense.
Bryant (seen above in Eagle County Justice Center in Eagle, Colorado, in January 2004) was arrested and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment after a 19-year-old woman alleged he raped her in a local hotel room
Reporters at The Washington Post had come out in defense of Sonmez
Reaction on Twitter was scathing, with some viewers referring to Sonmez as ‘garbage’
Twitter users slammed Sonmez for the timing of her tweet, which was posted hours after it was learned that Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles
One Twitter user called Sonmez a ‘heartless reporter’ for posting the tweet when she did
Another Twitter user demanded that Sonmez post messages like the one posted by former President Barack Obama
Another Twitter user referred to Sonmez as a ‘garbage human’ on Sunday
‘Are y’all trying to get him to pay for his ‘crimes’ in the afterlife?’ one Twitter user asked
At least one Twitter user, however, sympathized with Sonmez, writing: ‘The minutes someone passes people try to completely erase their wrongdoings’
‘The age and status of the others who unfortunately passed do not negate his crimes and homphobia,’ wrote one Twitter user
The reporters, all members of the newspaper’s union, said Sonmez has received death threats after posting the tweets and demanded the newspaper provide protection for the journalist.
‘Felicia received an onslaught of violent messages, including threats that contained her home address, in the wake of a tweet Sunday regarding Kobe Bryant,’ the Washington Post Newspaper Guild wrote on behalf of the reporters in a letter to Baron and Grant.
The union protested against Sonmez being placed on administrative leave while newsroom leadership reviewed the paper’s social media policy.
‘Felicia had to leave her home out of fear for her safety and has gotten insufficient guidance from The Post on how to protect herself,’ the letter says.
The reporters coming to her defense noted that the hours after Bryant’s death Sunday were ‘a fraught time to share reporting about past accusations of sexual assault’.
‘The loss of such a beloved figure, and of so many other lives, is a tragedy. But we believe it is our responsibility as a news organization to tell the public the whole truth as we know it — about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely.
The letter also mentions that ‘this is not the first time that The Post has sought to control how Felicia speaks on matters of sexual violence. Felicia herself is a survivor of assault who bravely came forward with her story two years ago.
‘When articles attacking her were published in other outlets, The Post did not release a statement in support of one of its respected political reporters. Instead, management issued a warning letter against Felicia for violating The Post’s vague and inconsistently enforced social media guidelines.’
The reporters urged the Post to immediately assign Sonmez a security detail ‘and take whatever other steps are necessary to ensure her safety, as it has done in the past when other reporters were subject to threats.’
Additionally, the reporters said the company should issue a statement condemning abuse of its reporters, allow Sonmez to return to work, rescind the sanctions she was facing over the tweet, and provide her with ‘any resources she may request as she navigates this traumatic experience’.
Bryant was accused of rape in 2003 by a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado hotel prior to a scheduled knee surgery.
The crash on Sunday which claimed the lives of the former NBA star and eight others
The coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that rescuers have recovered all nine bodies
Although he denied the charges, which were dropped when the accuser refused to testify, Bryant did admit to cheating on his wife Vanessa and reportedly settled a civil suit with the alleged victim.
Terms of the agreement were never released.
Bryant, who was 27 years old at the time, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment – crimes which could have landed him in prison for the rest of his life.
The accuser agreed to drop the charges on condition that Bryant issue a formal apology in court. Bryant accepted the terms and had his lawyer read the apology.
Sonmez posted a link to an article by The Daily Beast which included details about the alleged rape, including statements to police made by the accuser.
She told investigators that after she gave a tour of the lodge to Bryant, he cornered her in his room and started choking her.
‘We were talking and [Bryant] asked me to open the Jacuzzi for him,’ she told police.
‘I told him that my shift was over and I was gonna go home.
‘He proceeded to try and convince me to come back in fifteen minutes, which I told him I would just so I could get out of there and then I was just gonna leave and not come back.
‘Um, I stood up to leave, he stood up, asked me to give him a hug. I gave him a hug and he started kissing me and I let him kiss me.
‘And the kissing continued then he took off his pants. And that’s when I tried to back up and leave. And that’s when he started to choke me.’
The accuser then told police that Bryant started to grope her.
‘[He started] [p]utting his hands on me, grabbing my butt, my chest,’ she said.
‘Trying to lift up my skirt. Proceeded to take off his own pants.
‘Trying to grab my hand and make me touch him.’
She continued: ‘I told him once that I needed to leave.
‘He didn’t say anything. If he did [hear me] he didn’t make any gestures or anything that would let me know that he did.’
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (center) during proceedings in his sexual assault case
The alleged assault took place in the Cordillera Lodge & Spa (pictured on a hill side above Edwards) on June 30, 2003
The charges against Bryant were eventually dropped after he agreed to the accuser’s demand to read an apology in court. The two sides also settled a civil lawsuit filed by the accuser. Bryant is seen above following his arrest in Colorado in July 2003
The accuser then told police that Bryant started to get rough with her.
‘When he took off his pants that’s when I started to kinda back up, and try to push his hands off me and that’s when he started to choke me,’ she said.
‘He wasn’t choking me enough that I couldn’t breathe, just choking me to the point that I was scared.’
The woman alleged that Bryant then used force to pin her against two chairs.
He then ‘lifted up my skirt, took off my underwear and, and came inside me.’
The woman alleges the vaginal penetration lasted ‘five minutes’ during that time she says she was crying.
When police asked her when she began crying, she said: ‘When he was coming inside, or started having sex with me.’
The woman told police that Bryant warned her not to reveal what happened.
She said: ‘[This] is just between the two, the two of us nobody is gonna know about this, you’re not going to tell anybody.
‘Not asking me just telling me.’
Bryant denied raping the woman. He told police the sex was consensual.
Initially, however, he denied there was any sexual contact.
‘Um, she showed me around the pool, showing me around, um, we went to my room, she showed me the back view where the bears come up to the window, and that’s about f***ing it, we shot the s*** and that was it,’ Bryant told police.
When he was told that the woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Bryant, he told the officers: ‘Is there any way I can settle this whatever it is, I mean…?’
Bryant told police: ‘If my wife, if my wife found out that anybody made any type of allegations against me she would be infuriated.’
According to the report, Bryant admitted to having sex with the woman, but denied the assault.
Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna (pictured together in December) and seven others were killed when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning
A detective testified in a preliminary hearing that the accuser underwent an examination at a local hospital.
‘[The nurse] stated that there were several lacerations to the victim’s posterior fourchette or vaginal area, and two of those lacerations were approximately one centimetre in length,’ testified Detective Doug Winters of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
‘And there were many, I believe, 2 millimetre lacerations. Too many to count… [The nurse] stated that the injuries were consistent with penetrating genital trauma. That it’s not consistent with consensual sex.’
Winters also testified that the nurse told him the vaginal injuries took place within ’24 hours’ of the woman undergoing the exam.
Investigators also found ‘blood excretions’ on Bryant’s t-shirt ‘to about the waistline.’
Winters testified that the blood found on his shirt ‘had the same DNA profile as the victim in this case.’
Bryant’s lawyers, however, said that the accuser had a troubled past, pointing out that she had been hospitalized as a ‘danger to herself’ four months before the alleged sexual assault.
Lindsey McKinney, who lived with the accuser before the two had a falling out, said her friend tried to kill herself at school at least twice.
She said the woman tried to overdose on sleeping pills.
Eventually, the accuser agreed to have the charges dropped after Bryant’s lawyer read an apology in court.
The apology read: ‘First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident.
‘I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year.
‘Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure.
‘I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colorado.
‘I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman.
‘No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case.
‘Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.
‘After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.
‘I issue this statement today fully aware that while one part of this case ends today, another remains.
‘I understand that the civil case against me will go forward.
‘That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado.’