The Washington Post suspended a reporter Sunday after she sent a series of tweets about NBA star Kobe Bryant’s rape case following his death.
Felicia Sonmez, a national politics reporter for the Washington Post, tweeted out a story from the Daily Beast about Bryant’s rape case shortly after reports of his death. Sonmez faced massive backlash after her tweet and subsequently posted images of her inbox to show the threats she was receiving.
“National political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated The Post newsroom’s social media policy,” WaPo’s managing editor Tracy Grant said in a statement to the Daily Caller.
“The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.”
The reporter’s image of her work email included the full names of those who were sending her threats, according to reports. (RELATED: BBC Apologizes After Airing LeBron James Footage During Kobe Bryant Tribute)
UPDATE: A person who works at the Washington Post says @feliciasonmez was NOT suspended for linking to the Daily Beast story on Twitter. Her suspension was related to a follow up tweet that contained a screen shot of her work email inbox, which revealed full names of emailers.
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) January 27, 2020
Bryant, 41, died Sunday when his helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California. His daughter Gianna Bryant, 13, also died in the crash, which killed a total of nine people. The cause of the crash is still unknown.
In 2003, a 19-year-old accused Bryant of sexually assaulting in a hotel room in Colorado. The sexual assault case was dismissed after Bryant issued an apology in court. Bryant said he believed that the encounter was consensual, but understood later that the woman did not feel the same way.