Rob Ford (partially lost crack-smoking videos of Toronto mayor; early 2010s)

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Photograph given to Gawker and the Toronto Star showing the mayor with drug dealers.

Status: Partially Lost

Rob Ford was the mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 2010 to 2014. He was subject to a couple of scandals involving videos of him smoking crack and making various racial and homophobic slurs. To this day, only two of these videos have been released, though there are reports of at least one more.

First Video (Released)

On May 16, 2013, the website Gawker said it had been offered a video recording of Ford smoking crack cocaine and making homophobic slurs towards then Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn.

Gawker editor John Cook reported that he viewed the video and described that it features Ford holding a clear glass pipe in one hand and a lighter in the other. According to Cook, Ford subsequently lights the pipe and inhales. On May 3, two Toronto Star reporters wrote that they had viewed the clip on a smartphone in the backseat of a car. They noted that they have "no way to verify the authenticity of the video" but that it "appears to clearly show Ford in a well-lit room" and "inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe."

On May 17th, Mayor Ford denied any allegations of smoking crack and also denied the existence of the video. Gawker posted that it had lost touch with the video owner on May 23rd. On October 31st, 2013, however, Toronto Police announced that they had discovered a deleted version of the crack video on a computer hard drive that was seized during a drug raid. Rob Ford finally admitted to smoking crack on November 5th, 2013.

After being in the possession of Toronto police for almost 3 years, the video was made public on August 11th, 2016 by a court official.

The first video.

Second Video (Released)

On November 7th, 2013, The Toronto Star purchased another video of Rob Ford for $5000. This video depicts the mayor in a tirade in which he shouts "I need fuckin' ten minutes to make sure he's dead!" among other threats. The context of the threats in the video is unknown.

Mayor Ford came out and said that he was "extremely inebriated." He also went on to say, "All I can say is again I've made mistakes. It's extremely embarrassing. The whole world's going to see it. You know what? I don't have a problem with it. But it is extremely embarrassing, but I don't know what to say, but again I am apologizing. Again, when you're in that state ... I hope none of you have ever or will ever be in that state." Although he isn't smoking crack in the video, many have argued that he isn't inebriated, because he shows signs one would show after smoking crack.

The video second video shown by the Globe and Mail.

Third Video (Unreleased)

On April 30th, 2014, the Globe and Mail had received a thumbnail of a video that had allegedly been recorded on April 26th.[1] The video shows the mayor smoking crack in his sister's basement from a long copper-colored crack pipe. The seller of the video demanded six figures for the release of the video.[2] The following day, Ford's lawyer announced that Ford would be taking a leave of absence from his duties as mayor to temporarily enter rehab.[3] The video has still not been released to the public.

References