An editor of its product review division for The New York Times was fired Friday after leaving a profanity-riddled voicemail for a gun rights group.
Erin Marquis, an editor for Wirecutter since July, was fired after she left a voicemail for the Michigan chapter of the National Association for Gun Rights saying the group was a bunch of “fucking ghouls.” Marquis’s message was in response to a press release sent out by the group after a school shooting in Michigan, in which the group pushed back against demands for gun control.
“Hi I’m a journalist with The New York Times,” Marquis stated before asking the organization’s members how they “sleep at night.”
“Aren’t you just, like, a little bit worried that there might be a hell. And when you meet God, he will send you there?” Marquis asked.
The NYT suspended Marquis following the publication of the voicemail, pending an internal review of her conduct.
“Again, I am from The New York Times, and I’m letting everyone in The New York Times know what kind of fucking assholes you are. Congrats on being a laughing stock,” Marquis said, calling the group “f*cking ghouls” and saying she hoped “there is a God in heaven, so he who judges you when you die.”
The NYT has confirmed Marquis was indeed fired.
“The employee has been terminated from Wirecutter following our investigation related to inappropriate behavior,” a spokesperson said. “We expect our employees to behave in a way that is consistent with our values and commitment to the highest ethical standards.”
The NYT said her comments threatening to tell fellow NYT employees about the group’s alleged immorality damaged the newspaper’s reputation.
“Repeatedly invoking the New York Times’s name in an unprofessional way that imperils the reputation of Wirecutter, The Times, and all of our journalists is a clear violation of our policies and cannot be tolerated,” the spokesperson said.
