Twitter bans Martin Shkreli for harassing acclaimed Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca
Over the past month, Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca has gained national acclaim for her political reporting, including her critical coverage of Donald Trump. Along with it, she’s faced a disturbing level of harassment on Twitter from those who support Trump, and those who are simply misogynist pricks. Leading the pack has been widely hated “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli – infamous for massively increasing the price of his drugs just because he could – who has been stalking Duca in depraved fashion. But as of today, Twitter has banned Shkreli over the matter.
Shkreli had asked Duca to be his date for the inauguration, which she turned into a punchline, declaring “I would rather eat my own organs” and pinning it to the top of her Twitter page. But her willingness to defend herself merely prompted Shkreli to take things further. He grabbed a photo of Duca and her husband in an embrace, and photoshopped himself in the husband’s place. He also loaded his own Twitter profile with pictures of Duca, declaring “til death do us part.” Duca publicly asked Twitter why such behavior was allowed. Turns out it wasn’t.
Twitter responded by suspending Martin Shkreli’s account, which has now vanished. But now that Shkreli can no longer harass Lauren Duca online, he’s apparently moved on to picking fights with the media, threatening to beat up the reporter who tried to ask him about the suspension. Meanwhile, Lauren Duca’s political columns have become an absolute must read.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report