Two YouTubers Accuse Taylor Lorenz of Falsely Claiming She Reached Out For Comment on Depp-Heard Story

Zachary LeemanJun 3rd, 2022, 2:44 pm
 

Taylor Lorenz

The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz was called out by two separate social media influencers over a new report on the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial.

Lorenz reported that the true winners of the trial beyond Depp — whose defamation suit proved mostly successful — were social media influencers, many of whom pivoted their coverage to the trial and amassed quick cash and big followings on various platforms as a result.

The trial offered “a potential glimpse into our future media ecosystem,” Lorenz wrote, pointing out that the most popular coverage was typically pro-Depp videos and posts. The coverage then, according to Lorenz, may have influenced the “online narrative” surrounding the trial.

At one point, Lorenz points to two social media influencers who have covered the trial extensively.

In the original version of the report, she wrote that both influencers declined to comment.

“The Washington Post LIED and DID NOT contact me before including me in their story on Johnny Depp, despite reporting they did so,” anonymous YouTuber ThatUmbrellaGuy tweeted.

He said Lorenz did end up reaching out for comment, but only an hour after publishing the piece claiming to have reached out.

The influencer also took issue with Lorenz’s reporting on his income. In the article, she cites Social Blade when saying the YouTuber “earned up to $80,000” last month.

“Social Blade says I made between $4.9k and $79.1k.They ADDED TO the highest estimate, overreporting for dramatic effect,” the YouTuber wrote.

Alyte Mazeika, who is behind Legal Bytes Media, also accused Lorenz of falsely claiming she contacted her, similarly saying she did end up being contacted after publicly complaining.

“Um. This says I didn’t respond to requests to comment? I know I’ve gotten a lot of emails over the past two months, but I’ve just double checked for your name, @TaylorLorenz, and I see no email from you,” Mazeika tweeted.

After both influencers complained, a line in the report that claimed the Post reached out to them was removed.

Lorenz addressed the attention in a Friday tweet, where she posted a meme joking about her name trending, once again, on Twitter.

“Circle of life,” she wrote.

Mediaite reached out to Lorenz for comment (seriously), but did not immediately hear back.

UPDATE: The Washington Post has added a correction to Lorenz’s story, saying the previous version of the piece “omitted or inaccurately described” attempts to reach ThatUmbrellaGuy and Mazeika.

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Zachary Leeman

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.