New York University has accepted the resignation of Nir Rosen after he made disparaging remarks about Lara Logan. Image: Wikimedia Commons
CBS reporter Lara Logan has spoken out about a violent sexual assault she experienced while reporting in Egypt. Fellow reporter Nir Rosen has resigned from his fellowship at NYU after his reaction raised eyebrows — and ire. Nir Rosen has since apologized to Lara Logan, but the damage from his remarks appears to be done.
CBS reporter Lara Logan’s assault
While she was reporting on the protests in Egypt, Lara Logan was repeatedly hassled as a possible Israeli spy. In the crush of people in Tahrir Square on Friday night, Lara Logan was separated from her crew. According to a CBS statement, Logan was “surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating.” Logan was eventually saved by a group of women and soldiers. She is back in the United States and plans to return to work within weeks.
Nir Rosen’s attacks on Lara Logan
Nir Rosen is a freelance reporter and author who was, until today, a fellow at New York University’s Center on Law and Security. On his Twitter account this week, Rosen repeatedly attempted to make light of Lara Logan’s sexual assault. First, Nir Rosen accused Logan of trying to “outdo” Anderson Cooper, who was hit in the head while reporting in Egypt. After some of his Twitter followers responded negatively, Nir Rosen continued to dig himself deeper by saying:
“Yes yes its wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don’t support that. But, it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too”
“Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger”
“Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women, which is still wrong, but if it was worse than [sic] I’m sorry”
Aftereffects of Rosen’s comments on Logan
The reaction to Nir Rosen’s comments about Lara Logan has been near-immediate. Rosen resigned from New York University and deleted the messages, saying he was “too ashamed of how i have hurt others and the false impression i gave of who i am.” Though Rosen has lost his job and is being lambasted for misogyny and insensitivity, many are wondering why New York University wasn’t more swift and harsh in its reaction to Nir Rosen.
Sources
Washington Post
Politics Daily
