Crypto Influencer Tiffany Fong Blasts ‘Gross’ New York Post and Daily Mail for Sexist Coverage

Crypto journalist Tiffany Fong lashed out at the Daily Mail and New York Post this week for their reporting on her recent meeting with embattled FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, calling the right-leaning tabloids “quite inappropriate” for “sexualizing” her in their coverage. .

Fong confirmed Wednesday that she met with Bankman-Fried Tuesday night at his parents’ home. The onetime crypto kingpin, who was indicted this month on multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, is currently under house arrest after posting a massive $250 million bond and is scheduled to enter a plea next week at a Manhattan federal. court.

Fong, who had previously been able to get Bankman-Fried to open up to her about his political donations and polyamorous lifestyle, provided some details of her conversation with the disgraced former billionaire to both the Post and the Mail . At the same time, she noted that her interview with Bankman-Fried was all business.

However, when the Post’s story came out on Wednesday, Fong was furious with the way her meeting with Bankman-Fried was set up. She specifically took issue with the innuendos within the article, including suggestions that she had a relationship with the alleged cheater along with the inclusion of photos of herself in a bikini.

“The quiet house arrest of FTX bad boy Sam Bankman-Fried was boosted on Tuesday by a visit from a sexily single crypto influencer who said he seemed ‘surprisingly upbeat’ ahead of his trial on multiple fraud charges , The Post has learned. .

“[J]esus fuckin christ,” Fong responded to the newspaper’s tweet on Wednesday, which prominently featured a photo of her wearing a bikini.

She later tweeted that she “looked like she wasn’t wearing a bikini” during her date with Bankman-Fried, adding that Post had acted “very gross” after he “decided to go through old photos” of her Instagram.

On Thursday afternoon, Fong said a Mail reporter had contacted her and noted that she was “not happy with the photo used by the New York Post.” The reporter also emailed her that “it would get under their skin if you gave them an exclusive they don’t have on your meeting with SBF.”

“As soon as I offered a comment snippet in response to their questions, @DailyMail immediately changed their bikini pic,” she tweeted, adding the “vomit in the face” emoji.

Fong shared some of her email exchanges with the reporter along with screenshots of the Mail article at various times. One image featured was just a headshot of her with Bankman-Fried outside the courthouse in Manhattan. In the next look at the article, her original photo was swapped for an Instagram photo of her in a bikini. (In fact, the Mail’s piece includes several photos of her in a swimsuit.)

A few hours later, Fong noted that the Mail had finally removed the bikini image. She went on to post an email from the tabloid reporter complaining about how he “dragged” her on Twitter because “I had 100 percent nothing to do with the use of a bikini photo.”

After all, Fong wondered why another recent Bankman-Fried visitor wasn’t succumbing to the same insinuations about his meeting with the former FTX boss as she was.

“Michael Lewis actually ‘spent a few hours’ with Sam Bankman-Fried before I did,” she said, referring to the acclaimed author of The Big Short. “Is Michael Lewis being sexualized and bombarded with questions about whether they ‘hit’ or not?”

When reached for comment, Fong told the Daily Beast, “I don’t have a ton to add” outside of her tweets, adding that she is “trying not to comment further on the situation.” The Mail and Post did not immediately respond to requests for comment.