Kobe Bryant: Washington Post reporter suspended after sexual assault case tweet

The Washington Post has suspended a journalist after she tweeted about Kobe Bryant’s historical sexual assault case shortly after the basketball player and his daughter died in a helicopter crash.

Felicia Sonmez was put on leave after posting a link to an article about the 2003 rape allegation against the former LA Lakers player, with the newspaper saying her “poor judgment” in sharing the story had undermined the work of her colleagues.

The incident raises questions about how to deal with the media legacies of much-lauded individuals and which aspects of their lives to highlight in the immediate aftermath of their deaths.

Sonmez did not write the piece, which was published by the Daily Beast in 2016 and is entitled “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession”. Nor does she cover sport – she writes for the Washington Post’s politics team.

However, her decision to share the article about the accusation that dogged Bryant early in his career – and ultimately resulted in him reaching a financial settlement with his accuser – drew a furious and widespread backlash, including death threats, from fans of the player. Many felt the tweet came too soon after the death on Sunday of Bryant alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

The backlash resulted in Sonmez’s post getting “ratio’d” – the term for when a tweet attracts substantially more replies than the number of retweets or likes, suggesting it has been divisive or badly received.

Those encouraging criticism of Sonmez included Donald Trump Jr, the son of the US president, who said: “You Washington Post reporters really can’t help yourselves, can you?”

The original accusation against Bryant was made by a 19-year-old receptionist at a Colorado hotel, who told local police she had been raped in the player’s hotel room but later declined to testify in a criminal case. The player always insisted the encounter was consensual but acknowledged that “she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did”. At the time he apologised for “my behaviour that night and for the consequences she has suffered”.

Sonmez justified her decision to share the article about the case on Sunday, saying: “To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story – which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me. Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality unsettling. That folks are responding with rage and threats toward me (someone who didn’t even write the piece but found it well-reported) speaks volumes about the pressure people come under to stay silent in these cases.”

Her bosses disagreed and suspended her. Tracy Grant, the managing editor of the Washington Post, said: “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. The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.”

On Monday, the Post’s own media reporter criticized the newspaper for its decision. “If journalists at The Post are prone to suspension for tweeting stories off their beats, the entire newsroom should be on administrative leave,” wrote Erik Wemple, who pointed out that the newspaper had previously covered the allegations against Bryant in depth.

The Washington Post Guild, which represents the newspaper’s employees, said that Somnez was being “censured for making a statement of fact” and criticized the Post for failing to support her in the face of threats of violence.

“Instead of protecting and supporting a reporter in the face of abuse, the Post placed her on administrative leave while newsroom leaders review whether she violated the social media policy. Felicia had to leave her home out of fear for her safety and has gotten insufficient guidance from the Post on how to protect herself,” the Guild said.