According to a new report, feminist and NYU Professor Lauren Duca left her job at the Huffington Post in 2015 after it was revealed that she had allegedly harassed coworkers from anonymous online accounts.
Social media influencer and recent visiting professor at NYU Lauren Duca may not be as against the harassment of women as her online feminist persona may lead you to believe. According to a report from Jezebel, Duca harassed her female coworkers from anonymous online accounts during her time at the Huffington Post several years ago. Users on Twitter also discovered old tweets in which Duca mocked fat people and community college students.
According to the report, Duca used an internal comment system at The Huffington Post to mock and ridicule her coworkers. One comment referred to a male Huffington Post writer as a “bald freak,” and another one referred to a female writer as an “overweight fake blonde.” The anonymous account even attacked Duca, perhaps as a cover, calling her a “feminazi.” Some staffers at the Huffington Post realized that Duca was likely behind the anonymous comments. Duca maintained that someone had just used her email in an effort to frame her.
According to accounts we’ve heard from 10 of her former co-workers, all of whom insisted on anonymity because they continue to work in media and wanted to be able to freely discuss a sensitive work situation and because they were concerned about professional repercussions, Duca left the company in November 2015. Her departure came after an internal investigation found reason to believe that she’d sent several inappropriate emails to and about her coworkers—and herself—from what was meant to be an anonymous account, many said to be in the space of one disastrous night in October. One email apparently referred to a male writer as a “bald freak.” Duca was referred to as a “feminazi.” The very first—and most damaging—referred to a Huffington Post writer as an “overweight fake blonde.”
One person who was specifically targeted by the emails sent that night in October confirms that she saw the one about her, was hurt by it, and that the hurt lingers.
Since the Jezebel report was published, Twitter users have searched Duca’s Twitter history for controversial tweets. Users found several tweets that mocked people for their weight. “A chubby girl w/ a sack of candy & wings tied to her back fat just rolled into the gym. Has my cardio sesh induced Diabetes Fairy delusions?” one tweet from 2013 reads.
“I swear to Jillian Michaels, there’s a girl at the gym EATING on the elliptical. She must be on the new Nonstop Carbs diet. #Fatkins,” she wrote in a tweet from late 2012.
In another tweet from 2012, Duca seemingly mocked community college students. “This grad ceremony is being held in the community college auditorium. Nice and convenient for the stupid kids,” Duca wrote.
She mocked community college students again in 2015, this time in reference to a scene in the movie Whiplash where a character complains about attending Fordham University, Duca’s alma mater. “What the hell is this Fordham shade, “Whiplash?” Duca wrote. It’s not like “it’s some backwoods community college,” she added.
Duca addressed the tweets in January. “Hey! I’ve radically changed since those tweets were posted, many in 2012. I’ve definitely said things in the past that were idiotic, offensive, or both. I’m sorry I hurt you. I would never say any of those things now, and I promise to continue working to evolve all the time,” Duca wrote.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
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