Jeffrey Toobin to leave CNN after surviving masturbation scandal

The New Yorker fired him from his position at the magazine after 27 years following the incident

By Ben Whedon

Published: August 12, 2022 5:29pm

Updated: August 12, 2022 5:43pm

CNN's top legal analyst will leave the network following a decades-long career.

Jeffrey Toobin, who was temporarily suspended from the network after famously playing a solo on the Devil's clarinet on a Zoom call in front of his coworkers, made the announcement via Twitter on Friday.

Friends, I’ve decided that, after 20 years, I’m leaving [CNN] after my vacation. Was great to spend my last day on air with pals Wolf, Anderson and Don. Love all my former colleagues. Watch for my next book, about the Oklahoma City bombing, coming in 2023 from [Simon and Schuster]," he wrote.

The network suspended Toobin after he was caught masturbating on a Zoom call in 2020. He claimed he thought he had turned off his camera at the time.

"I think one point, I wouldn't exactly say in my defense, because nothing is really in my defense, I didn't think I was on the call, I didn't think other people could see me," he said. He returned to primetime with an apology in June of 2021, resuming his prior roll with minimal penalty.

The New Yorker fired him from his position at the magazine after 27 years following the incident.