You may have forgotten by now but at the end of 2015, Martin Shkreli became one of the most universally disliked men on the planet by attempting to profit from AIDS-fighting medication.
Just a couple of months later the former pharmaceutical executive was also charged with unrelated fraud offences.
In case further proof was required that the 33-year-old is a creep-and-a-half, his Twitter account was suspended yesterday after he relentlessly trolled an award-winning writer from Teen Vogue.
Let us explain.
Last month, journalist Lauren Duca penned a scorching opinion piece claiming that president-elect Donald Trump was 'gaslighting' the American public. (If you haven't read it, it's very good.)
She then found herself in a heated exchange about it and her subsequent comments on Ivanka Trump with Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, who told her to "stick to the thigh-high boots. You’re better at that."
The outspoken feminist has since been trolled relentlessly on social media by Trump supporters, including Shkreli who contacted her on Twitter last week to invite her as his date to the upcoming inauguration.
"I would rather eat my own organs," she replied, posting a screen shot of his direct message for her 138,000 followers.
Apparently refusing to TAKE THE HINT, Shkreli then updated his Twitter bio to say he had "a small crush on @laurenduca".
He also doctored an image of Duca with her husband to include his own face and made his banner a collage of pictures of her with lyrics from John Michael Montgomery's 1994 single "I Swear".
"How is this allowed?" she asked the Twitterverse, again sharing screen shots of what she described as "targeted harassment".
"I don’t know how could this could possibly be allowed because this is an act of targeted harassment," she told Buzzfeed News.
"I know Twitter is struggling to figure out what makes the most sense [with its user guidelines]…but this is an entire profile dedicated to upsetting me."
As Duca's fans hit out at Shkreli, his began to fight back while he posted several more pointed jibes at the former Huffington Post writer.
In one direct reply he wrote: "dont [sic] disrespect the sovereignty of my love for you. your [sic] being unfair."
According to New York Magazine, Duca - and others - contacted Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey directly asking him to intervene.
Shkreli's account was subsequently suspended, though it's not clear how long the ban will last.
"He’s an entitled creep and absolutely deserves to have his account suspended —perhaps indefinitely," she told Buzzfeed News.
"I think Martin should know that under no circumstances would I touch him with a 10-foot pole.
"It has nothing to do with Donald Trump, but with the fact that he has committed an act of pharmaceutical terrorism."
Duca: 1, Shkreli: 0
Top Comments
This story attempts to spin Skreli as some sort of bad guy. If you had spent any time & knew much about Martin Skreli, you'd know 1) He defended the company's pharmaceutical costs quite well with factual information, 2) he was trolling her, and has a very non-chalant, relaxed demeanor and I'm sure he was picking at her for fun.
This is because these no-talent writers like Lucas are both arrogant and have little to no credibility. I've seen how they have attempted to demonize Skreli, and everyone failed miserably. However, these same reporters/writers don't want to be called to out on their lack of facts or lack of critical thinking. "Journalism" these days is a joke, and completely disregards facts & research in favor of emotional tirades and find a boogeyman to go after.
This is a non-story. It's basically a writer who can't handle extremely mild trolling by Martin running to tattle to Twitter that the "mean boy" is teasing her.
"He’s an entitled creep and absolutely deserves to have his account suspended —perhaps indefinitely," Another post-wall precious snowflake who thinks she's above criticism and harmless jabs online.
What he did, with the constant, unwarranted messaging and posting her photo all over his Twitter page, was harassment.
it's always "just a joke" or "mild trolling" or LOCKER ROOM TALKS. FFS this is EXACTLY the problem!!
I used to love the word 'snowflake'. It conjured up a few of my favourite things - things that stayed on my nose and eyelashes. Now it's less on the eyelashes and more on the nose, as is a lot of commenting lately. I wonder how many people are deterred from posting because something just seems a little bit off at Mamamia.
What a sad little man he is. All the maturity of a twelve year old.