Controversial Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz found herself at the center of yet another firestorm after two YouTubers whom she claimed to have reached out to for her story on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial denied that she had contacted them.
After a Virginia jury brought the sordid affair that hung out the dirty laundry of a celebrity marriage gone horribly awry to a merciful close, Lorenz wrote a story about the influence of online content creators who “offered a glimpse into our future media ecosystem, where content creators serve as the personalities breaking news to an increasing numbers of viewers — and, in turn, define the online narrative around major events,” portraying the competitors of the discredited establishment media in a negative light.
Noting that such content creators “bring in major personal profits in the process” allowing them to “amass followers, money and clout” Lorenz went on to cite two YouTubers who intensely followed the Depp-Heard legal circus, Alina “Alyte” Mazeika of Legal Bytes who “earned $5,000 in one week by pivoting the content on her YouTube channel to nonstop trial coverage and analysis,” and ThatUmbrellaGuy, an anonymous user whom she wrote “earned up to $80,000 last month, according to an estimate by social analytics firm Social Blade.”
However, Lorenz’s report stated that “Mazeika and ThatUmbrellaGuy did not respond to requests for comment,” a claim that was quickly rebutted by the two content creators who called her out for lying that they had been reached out to.
“Um. This says I didn’t respond to requests to comment? I know I’ve gotten a lot of emails over the past two months, but I’ve just double checked for your name, @TaylorLorenz, and I see no email from you,” Legal Bytes wrote on Twitter. “Also, I didn’t suddenly pivot. I started covering this before trial began.”
Um. This says I didn't respond to requests to comment? I know I've gotten a lot of emails over the past two months, but I've just double checked for your name, @TaylorLorenz, and I see no email from you.
Also, I didn't suddenly pivot. I started covering this before trial began. https://t.co/7qHTrOsfHQ pic.twitter.com/yJzzqS8ggS
— Legal Bytes 🍽💙 (@legalbytesmedia) June 3, 2022
Mazeika then provided an update that WaPo did reach out to her only AFTER the story was published and the fallout began.
“I have now been (for the first time) reached out to for comment… After the piece was already published and I had to call it out,” she wrote. “This is so dumb.”
She also disagreed with Lorenz’s assertion that she “pivoted,” saying that it was a “misrepresentation” of the story about her that WaPo cited.
UPDATE:
I have now been (for the first time) reached out to for comment… After the piece was already published and I had to call it out.
This is so dumb.
— Legal Bytes 🍽💙 (@legalbytesmedia) June 3, 2022
ThatUmbrellaGuy also contradicted Lorenz’s reporting, saying “The Washington Post LIED and DID NOT contact me before including me in their story on Johnny Depp, despite reporting they did so.”
“I noted this on Twitter today at 8:31p,” he wrote. “At 9:44p they decided to contact me, AFTER I noted this publicly.”
The Washington Post LIED and DID NOT contact me before including me in their story on Johnny Depp, despite reporting they did so.
I noted this on Twitter today at 8:31p.
At 9:44p they decided to contact me, AFTER I noted this publicly. ( pic.twitter.com/gkGt0WuMKZ
— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) June 3, 2022
He added that Lorenz also misrepresented his income in what he called “her obvious hit piece” in a scathing rebuttal to the paper’s “blatant attempt at backtracking.”
Social Blade notes a low of 4.7k to 79.1k; not only did she omit the low end, she ADDED to the highest. This from someone claiming to be better than Youtubers. If she wanted a real story, she'd ask domestic abuse survivors why they back Johnny Depp. But hey. MONEY right?" Fin
— ThatUmbrellaGuy (@ThatUmbrella) June 3, 2022
Under pressure to defend its star internet culture reporter as the backlash consumed her, The Post was forced to add a correction to the story.
WaPo has added a correction to a Taylor Lorenz story after two people said they were not contacted for comment as the initial version of the article stated. The correx says "previous versions" of the story "omitted or inaccurately described" the attempts to to ask for comment. pic.twitter.com/DqHK86iyxu
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 3, 2022
It is the second time in less than a month and a half that Lorenz’s antics have sent her employer into damage control mode. In April, she drew harsh criticism for doxing the woman behind the popular “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account that has been instrumental in outing classroom groomers and other assorted perverts by posting videos of their sexual depravity in their own words.
With many viewing Lorenz as a thoroughly unsympathetic if not downright loathsome character, both she and The Washington Post were given no quarter.
How many times does the same NYT/WPost reporter have to be caught lying before her frightened colleagues cease defending her or remain silent?
Again, media employees love lamenting that they lost the trust of the public, but *never* look in the mirror to ask why this happened. https://t.co/wGgfKjef6G
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 3, 2022
Remember, @washingtonpost is the paper that printed Amber Heard’s article that a jury just determined was DEFAMATION. So now Washington Post has deployed Taylor Lorenz to smear creators who covered the case factually. https://t.co/O1yG9Us2F4
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) June 3, 2022
In light of the brutal correction just added to Taylor Lorenz's article, is the WaPo going to look into the "dozens" of people she allegedly contacted? Or any of her past articles?https://t.co/Hvc8afeW6O
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) June 3, 2022
Taylor Lorenz & Amber Heard are the same kind of evil.
— Chase Geiser (@realchasegeiser) June 3, 2022
Washington Post is what happens when you let terrorists take your news outlet hostage.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 3, 2022
Taylor Lorenz is a journalist like Joe Biden is a President.
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) June 3, 2022
Taylor Lorenz is the Jussie Smollett of Jim Acostas.
— Joe Has Dementia (@RokerGlasses) June 3, 2022
Taylor Lorenz is to journalism what Michael Avenatti is to the legal profession.
— The Only Gary Johnson Stan (@colorblindk1d) June 3, 2022
Ever since she jumped from The New York Times to The Washington Post, Lorenz has been a raging dumpster fire for the once-venerable newspaper which could already be experiencing a serious case of buyer’s remorse although they are reluctant to admit it despite the damage that she continues to inflict on its already tarnished reputation.
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6 thoughts on “Famous WaPo ‘crybully’ reporter Taylor Lorenz called out over false claim about Depp-Heard trial”
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All these fake news reporters should be fined 500,000 for each falsely reported news item.
The Washington Post has now reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Juvenile Fiction.
Journalism we know is dead. It Is astounding how a writer believes they can just write anything with zero credibility and sources and get away with it. But this one does it over and over and keeps her job. And they wonder why no one trust a thing they say anymore.
“It is the second time in less than a month and a half that Lorenz’s antics have sent her employer into damage control mode.”
Said Lorenz, “This would never have happened if the Ministry of Truth was a reality, and I was in charge. Everything I said would be deemed the truth, and any contrary statements would have been regarded as disinformation and prosecuted.”
She wishes she had as many followers.
Any one that reads/believes anything this woman writes is just plain stupid.