New York Times Fires Editor Who Left Profane Voicemails for Gun Group

(Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

The New York Times has fired the editor accused of leaving profane voicemails for a Second Amendment group in Michigan.

The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr was first to report the news.

“The employee has been terminated from Wirecutter following our investigation related to inappropriate behavior,” a Times spokesperson said in a statement, referencing the paper’s “Wirecutter” product-review website. “We expect our employees to behave in a way that is consistent with our values and commitment to the highest ethical standards. Repeatedly invoking the New York Times’s name in an unprofessional way that imperils the reputation of Wirecutter, The Times, and all of our journalists is a clear violation of our policies and cannot be tolerated.”

The editor, Erin Marquis, made news this month when the National Association for Gun Rights posted voicemails on YouTube left for its Michigan affiliate, the Great Lakes Gun Rights Group, after a November shooting in the state.

“Hi, I’m a journalist with The New York Times,” Marquis said in one message. “I’m just calling to wonder — I have two questions. How do you sleep at night? Aren’t you just, like, a little bit worried that there might be a hell, and when you meet God he might send you there? The only people politicizing this seems to be you, because you’re the only people I got a f*cking press release from. Again, I am from The New York Times, and I am letting everyone in The New York Times know what kind of f*cking a**holes you are. Congrats on being a laughingstock.”

The Times sought to distance itself from Marquis in an initial statement by citing her employment at Wirecutter. “We are currently reviewing this matter, which involves an employee of Wirecutter, our product recommendation site,” spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said at the time, saying Marquis “does not work in the The New York Times newsroom.”

This story has been updated with further information.