Jeffrey Toobin suspended by The New Yorker and is temporarily stepping away from CNN following report he exposed himself on Zoom

Author-commentator Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended by the New Yorker and is temporarily stepping away from his job as CNN’s senior legal analyst pending what the cable network is calling a “personal matter.” Vice reported earlier Monday that Toobin had exposed himself during a Zoom meeting with staffers of the New Yorker and WNYC radio. 

In a statement Monday afternoon, the New Yorker said Toobin had been “suspended while we investigate the matter.” It declined further comment. A CNN spokesperson said in a statement that “Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted.”

Toobin told Vice that he “made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera,” adding, “I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers.” 

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

The 60-year-old has been a New Yorker writer for more than 20 years and joined CNN in 2002. He is the author of several books, most recently “True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump,” published in August. His other works include “The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson” and “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.”