Peter Schorsch
Tampa Bay Times President and CEO Conan Gallaty appears to have “liked” a tweet from a hook-up promoter, as first noted by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Deputy Press Secretary, Jeremy Redfern.
The “like” on Gallaty’s Twitter page has since been deleted.
The screenshot shows a tweet from user @xKayla91 showing a photograph of a scantily clad busty brunette with a provocative hip tattoo with the caption “be honest…Would you mind it if I was your lunch today?”
The Twitter user’s profile links to an adult website for hook-ups. Her profile includes numerous photos, all of which prominently feature her bust. Her feed is exclusively used for propositioning others. Her profile states that she wants a “pervert boyfriend.”
Redfern shared the screenshot with his own inquiry.
“.@conanza, aka the CEO & President of the @TB_Times, what is you doin on Twitter this Easter Sunday?” he wrote.
Redfern, punctuating his point, drew an arrow in red on the screenshot from Gallaty’s “about” section declaring he is a “youth chess coach” to the adult entertainer’s tweet, circling that Gallaty had “liked” it.
.@conanza, aka the CEO & President of the @TB_Times, what is you doin on Twitter this Easter Sunday? pic.twitter.com/nj75RHEcs5
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) April 9, 2023
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ former Press Secretary who now works for his campaign apparatus, commented asking the Poynter Institute, which owns the Tampa Bay Times, how they “think female journalists feel when they see the CEO of their paper publicly promoting pornography on his Twitter account.”
At least one commenter noted Gallaty will likely claim he’s been hacked. So far, neither Gallaty nor the Times have commented.
Most of the comments though were various plays on “he is risen,” a reference to the “like” occurring on Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.
Other than the deleted “like,” Gallaty hasn’t tweeted since Jan. 16 and hasn’t liked a post since Feb. 23. His Twitter use is also very sporadic, with tweets spaced sometimes months apart.
Gallaty took the helm at the Tampa Bay Times in 2020, replacing long-time CEO Paul Tash.
He came to the Times after a 20-year career focused on digital media and said he would be leading the paper with an emphasis on growing its digital operations, including scaling back its print edition from daily to just Wednesdays and Sundays.
This isn’t the first time a high-profile Twitter user has faced trouble on the platform. Last month a Las Vegas area school official whose account was hacked liked several pornographic videos. Also last month, a Kentucky Republican who sponsored an anti-nudity bill came under fire for liking porn-related tweets.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz famously liked a porn tweet … on 9/11 in 2017. He blamed it on a staffer.
A Twitter report last year found that pornography was among the top growing topics on the platform, according to the New York Post.
One comment
tom palmer
April 12, 2023 at 8:23 am
It is well known Peter cannot resist any chance to criticize the TB Times
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