Published 11:48 IST, June 4th 2020
Who is Fiona Moriarty-Mclaughlin? Why did LeBron James react? Journalist clarifies stance
Who is Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin? LeBron James has hit out at a reporter for executing a photo op pretending to help the looted community in Santa Monica.
Editor's note: Almost 3 weeks subsequent to the publishing of this story, Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin wrote an opinion piece in USA Today in which she clarified the sequence of events that took place before and after what she dubbed as her '17 seconds of infamy'.
Moriarty-McLaughlin primarily clarified the following claims:
- That she was not posing for an Instagram photo to portray herself as a volunteer
- That the denunciations of her behaviour by US publications and celebrities like LeBron James and Pink were based on incorrect facts.
- That the person who recorded the video of her attempting to help - not pose - was her father and not her boyfriend.
- The quote attributed to her - “Good job guys, BLM” - was by one of the hecklers off camera.
The full clarification may be found here.
LeBron James has hit out at Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin, an intern with the Washington Examiner, for her reported fake activism in a bid to click Instagram pictures. The UC Santa Barbara senior has deactivated her social media accounts after a video of her during George Floyd protests went viral. Here's a look at who is Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin and the reason behind LeBron James attacking her on social media.
Who is Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin?
Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin is a Washington Examiner political commentary writer and a UC Santa Barbara senior. In addition to writing for the Washington Examiner, she also contributes with content for the Spoon University. According to her Muck Rack profile, her latest article published was 'Six Things to do with the avocado in your Dorm room'. Describing herself as an avocado connoisseur, she shot to fame after her staged community service video went viral on Twitter, which caught the attention of a host of Hollywood stars and NBA star LeBron James.
Who is Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin? Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin deletes social media
In a viral Twitter video, Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin could be seen with an electric drill in her hand while a man took a photo of her. While it seemed like the UC Santa Barbara senior was helping out the community in Santa Monica affected by the lootings during the George Floyd protests, it was wrongly reported that the entire operation was a planned photo op, for her Instagram account. McLaughlin was called out by American filmmaker Ava DuVernay, actor Johnny Sibbily and NBA star LeBron James for alleged fake activism. Incidentally, the Santa Monica promenade had been looted a day for her Fiona's photo op, with violent protests grabbing as much merchandise as they could hold in their hands before jumping into getaway cars.
Who is Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin? Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin deletes social media accounts
After facing massive backlash, McLaughlin deleted her accounts on social media but that did not stop the video from going viral on Twitter. According to Bro Bible, she was sacked by the Washington Examiner less than 24 hours after the post went viral online. While reporting for Campus Reform, Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin joined the conservative Joe Pags Show to discuss a new ‘Social Credit Score'.
Pags had incidentally praised McLaughlin for her work at Campus Reform and had spoken about how young reporters like her put the legacy media has created, 'to shame' each and every day. Moriarty-Mclaughlin in reply had stated that everyone at Campus Reform including her were always chasing the facts.
Updated 16:23 IST, July 2nd 2020