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Rob Ford 'Fat' Globe and Mail Article Pulled From Online Edition

by Amy Judd | October 18, 2010 at 09:13 am

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An Online Globe and Mail Article With the Headline 'Rob Ford's Not Popular Despite Being Fat. He's Popular Because of it' Has Been Taken Down

The article by Stephen Marche still appeared in Saturday's print edition, but the link on the Globe and Mail website now leads to a 'page not found' message.

OpenFile muses that due to the outrage caused by the article, it was pulled off the website sometime on Saturday. Writer Craig Silverman has an e-mail explanation from the Globe:

"The piece was taken off the site either late Friday or early Saturday by senior editors," Sylvia Stead, the paper's associate editor, explained by email on Sunday night. "However we are running a number of letters to the editor complaining about the piece tomorrow and you will see the strong reaction. While we believe strongly in freedom of speech for our writers and our readers both we also felt the piece was offensive in its language. It's also not what the election should be about."

There are apparently no plans to publish an editor's note in the print edition, and there is no explanation on the original article page at the time of publication.

OpenFile has an embedded version of the original article, which contained statements such as how 'Ford's belly is invariably the first thing you notice about him' and phrases such as 'angry fat', 'chunky', and 'mounds of fat that encircle [Ford]'.

This is because, according to Marche, fat “is the bodily equivalent of the boarded-up factories in once-industrial powerhouses like Windsor and St. Catharines and Buffalo and Cleveland. Fat in North America is work that is not being done.”

Rob Ford has responded to the article by sending out an e-mail that has been posted in full on Canada Free Press; an excerpt reads:

As you may have already heard, an article was printed in today’s Globe and Mail that I feel is one of the most vile attacks I’ve ever seen in my ten years in politics. I’ve had a fair bit of mud thrown at me in this campaign, but I never thought I’d see a reputable paper like the Globe and Mail attack me for my appearance and my weight.

I am absolutely appalled, but not entirely surprised. These personal attacks are coming because of the success of my campaign. I expected attacks like this for the simple reason that there are still many people out there who are resistant to the change I want to bring to City Hall.

The election for Mayor takes place on Monday October 25th.

What do you think of the Globe and Mail's article? Did it go too far?

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David Cox (not verified)

at 11:51 on October 18th, 2010

A copy of my email to the editor of the Globe and Mail, sent October 17: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. Stackhouse: I am at a lost to understand how you could have permitted the publication of the October 16 article on Rob Ford by Stephen Marche? I could rant and rave about the lack of integrity and decency portrayed by your newspaper. Instead let me say that I don’t believe there is a single newspaper in the western world that would have stooped so low as the Globe and Mail.

Larry Tubaro (not verified)

at 13:17 on October 18th, 2010

The media & papers are filled with propaganda & sanitised in not telling the truth, one of the very reason I don't suscribe to the Globe & Mail or the Toronto (Red) Star The so called educated persons with their university education feel they kown how to run corporations & how people should vote in Toronto Municipal Election. The person who wrote such a nasty column on Mr Rob Ford must be a graduate of York University,who hires many professors who are socialist & communist. Read their books, that they force students to buy for their lectures or the Toronto Lower School union teachers who are telling their classes to convince thier parents to vote for Mayor & Councillors to protect their employment. Mr Miller, Mr Pantalone, Mr Smitherman, two former C.O. of Hydro One & many other with huge severance and pension funds before the age of 65. The uneducated people in France removed the King & the educated eltist who were governing their county. The Liberal Party is inidated with NDP members because they kown, they will never be electedwith power under the NDP Party. eg. Mr. Bob Raye , Mr. Kenndy & others Put many of these corrupt politian to pasture with no pensions, let them find employment & pay their fair share of taxes (not in civil services) eg. Barbara Hall & others The Globe & Mail should remove this person from their employment, who personally attacked Mr. Rob Ford, & hire impartial writer's Uneducated Tax payer in Toronto

sehgalviveka

at 11:17 on October 20th, 2010

Sure they did , especially when they are supporting Mr. smitherman who not only is a high school dropout but is also in the eye of the storm of a 1 billion dollar scandal