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Transphobic Breitbart Editor Claims Zoey Tur Assaulted Him On-Air
Transphobic Breitbart Editor Claims Zoey Tur Assaulted Him On-Air
An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department has taken a report, in which Benjamin Shapiro claims he is a victim of battery, but it does not name the transgender journalist.
The right-wing columnist who called transgender TV reporter Zoey Tur "sir" during a cable news shoutfest last week isn't about to let it go. He filed a report Sunday with the Los Angeles Police Department calling her grab of his shoulder and neck "battery."
Tur is not named in the police report, nor is there any mention of this being a crime "motivated by hate or prejudice." Instead, the report lists Benjamin Shapiro as the "victim" and recounts the incident as such:
"[Suspect] & [victim] became involved in a verbal argument over TG issues on the Dr. Drew on Call show on CNN. Susp. became angry and reached/grabbed vict's neck stating "You cut that out or you will gone home in an ambulance."
Responding to an inquiry from The Advocate, an officer with the LAPD confirmed that the police report was filed but declined to offer additional information about the name of the suspect in that filing. See the report, uploaded by Breitbart News to Scribd, below. The Advocate has reached out to Tur for comment but so far has received no response.
Shapiro Police Report by bnndocs
Video of that late-night discussion between Tur and Breitbart editor at large Shapiro on Thursday's episode of HLN's Dr. Drew on Call has since gone viral.
The six guests on Dr. Drew Pinsky's show were discussing Caitlyn Jenner's speech at Wednesday night's ESPYs, where she received the Arthur Ashe Award for courage. In what was already bound to be a contentious conversation, Pinsky asked his guests to debate whether Jenner deserved the award.
Inside Edition reporter and helicopter pilot Zoey Tur -- the only out transgender person on the panel -- said she wasn't sure that Jenner deserved a sports-related award so many years after her legendary 1976 gold medal in the Olympic decathlon, but she applauded Jenner's courage nonetheless.
"Being brave is being yourself," says Tur. "And being transgender is about the bravest thing you can do."
That's when the noted right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro interjected -- and the trouble started.
"Why are we mainstreaming delusion?" asked Shapiro, before referring to Jenner by her old name and male pronouns.
"It turns out that every chromosome, every cell in Caitlyn Jenner's body is male," Shapiro declared, though he presumably has not obtained a genetic analysis of the Olympian's chromosomes (which aren't inherently gendered, anyway).
As Tur attempted to explain that fact, Shapiro interrupted, asking Tur, "What are your genetics, sir?"
Tur's tone shifted, and she placed a hand behind Shapiro's neck. "You cut that out now," she said. "Or you'll go home in an ambulance."
"That seems mildly inappropriate for a political discussion," Shapiro replied.
The rest of the the commentators laid into Shapiro, calling out his inflammatory comments as clearly intended to be insulting.
But Shapiro continued, apparently unfazed. "It's not a matter of aggressively insulting, he said, returning to his initial point. "The entire discussion is whether we are embracing mental illness and delusion as a society."
After returning from a commercial break, Pinsky gave Tur the floor, to speak about the personal, human cost of being at the center of a media firestorm over one's transition. Stating that such media saturation isn't sustainable, she speculated that "at some point, this all comes crashing down."
"Eventually you find out that you're really in an existential crisis," she continued. "You have to deal with people like [Shapiro], the hatred, that come out against you."
"I don't hate you," Shapiro retorted. "I have sympathy for you."
"No, no, you do hate," Tur replied. "You're consumed with hatred. That's who you are. You're a little man."
Watch both segments below.
Sunnivie Brydum contributed to this report.