So in the end, Ezra Levant didn’t even have the ‘nads to stand up and deliver his own apology for Slutgate, but instead, skulked off-camera while his Sun News employers ran a crawl-and-voiceover mea culpa for the little nudnik’s unhinged and erotically-charged attacks on Justin Trudeau, his dead dad and his sexagenarian mom.
Shurely, this cannot be the same Ezra Levant who, only a few days ago, claimed that Sun Media stood firmly behind him.
“No-one at Quebecor says they’ve received your complaint,” he tweeted at Trudeau bag-carrier Gerald Butts Sept. 24. “You didn’t make the whole thing up, did you?
By this time, even Ezra knew that Quebecor chairthingy Byron Muldoon had assured Justin a grovel would be forthcoming for the smear on his family.
What a call that must have been!
Byron despised Trudeau the Elder, confiding to Peter C. Newman’s ever-running tape recorder: “Pierre Trudeau was a coward and a weakling because when Guy Charbonneau, Pierre Sevigny and Paul Sauvé were fighting off Nazis on the battlefields of France, Pierre Trudeau was fighting off blackflies in Outremont.”
Still, our ruling class must stick together in the face of lèse-majesté from their inferiors in the vulgar press.
Muldoon had called Trudeau to commiserate about his own experience with “Trash Magazine.” He was referring, of course, to the terrible calumnies inflicted on him 23 years ago by the satirical press, that notorious Deflower Caroline contest–that depraved indignity (‘brilliant satire,’ shurely?!—ed.) that haunts him to this day. As usual, it’s all about Byron.
(For the record, Frank did indeed issue a note of regret/apology about its Deflower Caroline parody, in which editor Michael Bate said: “I don’t blame the prime minister for being angry. I wouldn’t want my daughter sleeping with young Tories either.”)
But it was Ezra’s appearance on a CFRA radio talk show, the day after the Liberals announced their boycott of Sun Media, that sealed his fate. In conversation with host Mark Sutcliffe, Levant doubled and tripled down on his earlier attacks, repeatedly calling PET a “slut,” and claiming it was sexist not to use the term in that context:
“I think we should use the word slut for a man who has sex with whomever he can and shows it off and treats women as conquests.
“I think this is a Rorschach test. I think what you see in this photo says a lot about what you think about women. If you think as Justin Trudeau and his father Pierre Trudeau think that younger women are something to be used, then this was great. He used this young woman as a campaign prop just like Pierre Trudeau used so many women in his political career and joked about it in his memoirs.
“Justin Trudeau grew up in a house [where] his dad was 52 when he married 22-year-old Margaret, and very soon he became promiscuous and unfaithful and she did too.
“But in such a public show-offy way, who’s the next conquest, so you’re a boy, Justin Trudeau growing up, you’re idolizing your father and you see how he treats women, just a notch on his belt, and I think that’s extremely appropriate. Because here you have a frat boy trust fund rich kid who really never has had a real job in his life and now he wants to be our prime minister.” (That psycho drivel in full: Ezra on CFRA)
Within hours, Quebecor had dropped the cone of silence on any Trudeau references at Sun News and Levant went into a secure, undisclosed location.
Meanwhile, the Liberals pushed for more than an apology from Ezra—they wanted Muldoon to sack Sun News supremo Kory Teneycke, who they hold responsible for allowing Levant’s wild-eyed rants and maintaining Sun News as the Tories propaganda arm.
A former President Steve operative, Teneycke maintains close ties with the PMO, particularly with key Harper adviser Jenni Byrne, with whom he holds daily discussions on the Sun News lineup.
Kory’s oblong noggin could still roll.
The half-assed apology from Sun News seems unlikely to be the end of the matter, and poor Byron must decide who he hates more: Trudeau or Harper.
That was an insulting apology at best, though Trudeau was smart to cut his losses by lifting the ban on the remaining stable of lesser tormentors at the Sun. I think he should cut to the chase sue Ezra directly for libel. It should be an open and shut case. Libel laws are often abused in Canada for purposes of libel chill. This would not be one of those cases. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to libel, especially in Levant’s sick fantasy manner, where the even the “facts” he cites are fiction. How about $10 million in damages? Whatever the figure, it ought to be enough to make Levant squirm – and PAY.
Not sure that Justin Trudeau would have a case for libel against Levant, even in relation to comments about him kissing the bride in that picture. His mother might have such a case, but if Levant chose to fight it (and he likely would), things would get very messy for both sides and I don’t think that Margaret Trudeau would be able to take that kind of stress. However, a libel case relating to things said against Pierre Trudeau would be tossed out of court very quickly, on the grounds that there is no such thing as libel against dead people – and that’s a well-established legal principle.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Ezra’s got some sort of hitherto unknown personality disorder that will undoubtedly make it into the next edition of “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” A hundred shrinks working for a thousand years …
Also, can we please have a deflowering competition for Ezra. A gay encounter may just be the thing he needs.
Speaking as one myself, about the only thing a gay man would want to stick into Ezra would be a syringe filled with a powerful personality-altering drug. Either that or the sedative from hell!!
Sun Media’s “apology” is as phony as a $3 bill. They’re only sorry that they were coerced by Mulroney into saying it at all.
I find the whole situation interesting. The ever loony Levant just going more than a simple step over the line, but company hacks apologising (poorly) and utter silence from Levant. What gives? Has Ez pulled a right wing Howard Beal and is now resting in a retreat tranqu’d up and incommunicado? Perhaps he can’t stand it that no-one is taking what he says seriously anymore, because the latest bit is sounding very personal and more deranged than ever. Some Lib tip him face first into a cow pie?
I’m also wondering what sort of hold E L has over his bosses….
Hey CFRA Ezra, can we go any lower ?
Levant doesn’t owe anyone any apologies.
Plea of insanity?
My reading of tax law is that you can only claim losses for three years before CRA considers it a hobby.
Notice that Postmedia didn’t buy Stunted TV.
I know a guy at Brietbart, Ezra. I’m sure they could toss you a few bucks to make the rent.