Advertisement

Nude on Zoom: Jeffrey Toobin and other embarrassing video meetings

  • New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin suspended while nude Zoom incident is investigated
  • Other people have bared more to their online chat participants without realising

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Zoom users are inadvertently baring more than their chat participants bargained for. Photo: Shutterstock

A top US commentator and author who exposed himself on a Zoom call isn’t the first case of unwitting nudity while video conferencing, but is arguably the most shocking.

Jeffrey Toobin, 60, apologised on Monday after he was suspended by New Yorker magazine for showing his genitals during a conference call with colleagues about the upcoming presidential election.

“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologise to my wife, family, friends and colleagues,” Toobin, who is also a legal analyst for CNN, said in a statement to Vice.

“I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.”

The incident was the latest example of Zoom users inadvertently baring more than their chat participants bargained for as video conferencing booms during the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, an Argentine lawmaker was suspended after he fondled his partner’s breasts during a parliamentary session being held by video conference.

Advertisement