Gawker gotchas: a roundup of Toronto’s most embarrassing moments according to the gossip giant
Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail’s “Caption Writing Person” set off an online frenzy with a series of epic one-liners mocking Hollywood excess in the age of the Occupy Everywhere movement. But it wasn’t long before people began wondering—for no good reason, really—whether the Globe had been hacked. For its part, Gawker published a post saying the caption writer had gone “rogue” (an adjective we think remains best reserved for failed vice-presidential candidates). Of course, we’re just grateful that this Can Con moment was far less embarrassing than the usual appearances. Nonetheless, some Toronto Gawker headline highlights, after the jump.
• “Canadian G-20 Flash Mobs Hate Capitalism, Love Smartphones”
The G20 weekend was one embarrassment after another, but Gawker chose to rip on the seeming contradiction between smashing the window of a Starbucks before, uh, liberating a smart phone. They also made some jokes about Quebec.
• “Canadian Newspaper Runs Full-Page Anti-Gay, Anti-Transgender Ad”
Apparently, word reach New York about the National Post’s decision to run (and subsequent weak apology for running) an illogical and transphobic advertisement late last month. Millions of people around the world now know about the Post’s bad decision and the advertiser’s belief that sex education is warping the minds of children. Just don’t tell Gawker that the Sun ran a similar ad shortly thereafter.
• “Mayor’s Office Tries to Hide All Naked Portraits of Toronto Mayor”
We’re not sure who to blame for this one: Now’s editors for choosing to run a doctored image of half-naked Rob Ford, or the mayor himself, who, as Gawker put it, “turned a mildly embarrassing local event into an international story about freedom of the press.”
• “Moron Student Who Accused Jewish Prof of Anti-Semitism: I Am The Victim Here”
Earlier this year, a student at York University accused her professor of anti-Semitism after he uttered the words “All Jews should be sterilized.” The professor was using the statement as an example of an unacceptable opinion, but the student wasn’t paying attention. It was bad enough when the initial news made it to Gawker. It was even worse when the student’s insistence that she was the victim provided material for a follow-up.
• “Canada’s Jersey Shore Copycat Will Piss Off Every Ethnic Group at Once”
Gawker called Toronto’s failed Jersey Shore rip-off “the least important sociological experiment of our time.” That’s actually a pretty generous description, considering the program’s overt racism.
• “Canada Sprayed Teens with Agent Orange Until the ’80s”
The Toronto Star’s discovery that the government had used Agent Orange to clear-brush in Northern Ontario provided some of the paper’s most shocking investigative reporting to date. Of course, we should’ve known Gawker wouldn’t turn this into a story about the strength of Toronto’s newspapers.
“The Elaborate, Lucrative Cancer Lie of Ashley Kirilow”
According to the Star, Ashley Kirilow “shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes and starved herself to look like a chemotherapy patient.” She netted thousands of dollars in the process. On second thought, we’re glad Gawker jumped in on this one. Bless.
“Some Idiot Actually Got a Charlie Sheen Tiger Blood Tattoo”
And that idiot was a Toronto tattoo artist. Ugh.
. Of course, we’re just grateful that this Can Con moment was far less embarrassing than the usual appearances. Nonetheless, some Toronto Gawker headline highlights, after the jump.
• “Canadian G-20 Flash Mobs Hate Capitalism, Love Smartphones”
The G20 weekend was one embarrassment after another, but Gawker chose to rip on the seeming contradiction between smashing the window of a Starbucks before, uh, liberating a smart phone. They also made some jokes about Quebec.
• “Canadian Newspaper Runs Full-Page Anti-Gay, Anti-Transgender Ad”
Apparently, word reach New York about the National Post’s decision to run (and subsequent weak apology for running) an illogical and transphobic advertisement late last month. Millions of people around the world now know about the Post’s bad decision and the advertiser’s belief that sex education is warping the minds of children. Just don’t tell Gawker that the Sun ran a similar ad shortly thereafter.
• “Mayor’s Office Tries to Hide All Naked Portraits of Toronto Mayor”
We’re not sure who to blame for this one: Now’s editors for choosing to run a doctored image of half-naked Rob Ford, or the mayor himself, who, as Gawker put it, “turned a mildly embarrassing local event into an international story about freedom of the press.”
• “Moron Student Who Accused Jewish Prof of Anti-Semitism: I Am The Victim Here”
Earlier this year, a student at York University accused her professor of anti-Semitism after he uttered the words “All Jews should be sterilized.” The professor was using the statement as an example of an unacceptable opinion, but the student wasn’t paying attention. It was bad enough when the initial news made it to Gawker. It was even worse when the student’s insistence that she was the victim provided material for a follow-up.
• “Canada’s Jersey Shore Copycat Will Piss Off Every Ethnic Group at Once”
Gawker called Toronto’s failed Jersey Shore rip-off “the least important sociological experiment of our time.” That’s actually a pretty generous description, considering the program’s overt racism.
• “Canada Sprayed Teens with Agent Orange Until the ’80s”
The Toronto Star’s discovery that the government had used Agent Orange to clear-brush in Northern Ontario provided some of the paper’s most shocking investigative reporting to date. Of course, we should’ve known Gawker wouldn’t turn this into a story about the strength of Toronto’s newspapers.
“The Elaborate, Lucrative Cancer Lie of Ashley Kirilow”
According to the Star, Ashley Kirilow “shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes and starved herself to look like a chemotherapy patient.” She netted thousands of dollars in the process. On second thought, we’re glad Gawker jumped in on this one. Bless.
“Some Idiot Actually Got a Charlie Sheen Tiger Blood Tattoo”
And that idiot was a Toronto tattoo artist. Ugh.
• Photo caption writer goes rogue [Gawker]){kind=link}