Babylon Bee CEO Offers Dave Weigel Money to Repost Sexist Tweet: ‘Have Some Respect For Yourself’
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon offered Washington Post political reporter Dave Weigel three months of pay to repost a tweet that got him suspended by the publication.
Weigel retweeted a joke last week that ruffled the feathers of fellow Post reporter Felicia Sonmez. The tweeted was widely viewed as sexist.
YouTuber Cam Harless tweeted, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Weigel shared the post without comment, and Sonmez called him out.
Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed! pic.twitter.com/zs4dX4qprH
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 3, 2022
He took down the retweet and apologized.
I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm.
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) June 3, 2022
The tweet reportedly caused a great deal of internal strife within the Post. Weigel apparently apologized to Sonmez, but he will sit on the sidelines for the next four weeks during a number of crucial primaries.
CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported Monday that Weigel had been suspended for a month without pay.
Dillon, whose satirical publication is currently locked out of Twitter, propositioned Weigel to re-share the offending post.
“[The Washington Post] put @daveweigel on unpaid leave for a month because of a joke?” Dillon tweeted. “Dave, I’m offering you 3 months’ salary to retract your apology, repost the joke, and quit. Have some respect for yourself.”
Wapo put @daveweigel on unpaid leave for a month because of a joke?
Dave, I’m offering you 3 months’ salary to retract your apology, repost the joke, and quit. Have some respect for yourself.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) June 6, 2022
The Babylon Bee account cannot post until it removes a tweet that called transgender Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine “Man of the Year.”
Dillon vowed the Bee would never delete the tweet.
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