Embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford has denied that a video of him smoking crack cocaine exists, and blasted media chasing the story as 'a bunch of maggots'.
In comments unlikely to improve Ford's rocky relationship with the city's press, the mayor suggested that good journalists were 'few and far between' during a weekly radio show he hosts with his brother, Doug Ford, a city council member.
The infamous, often-described video of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine has been released, three years after it sparked heated debate over the late politician's illegal drug use. Rob Ford smoking crack video. The short five second clip of rob ford smoking crack on the internet was taken from the fake video. Yet the picture of him with a drug dealer and then claims of him partying with a high school friend who lives in a crack house are very hard to ignore.
Rob Ford in 'crack cocaine' video scandal A cellphone video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine is being shopped around Toronto by a group of Somali men involved in the drug. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, the Chris Farley look-alike who admitted last year to smoking crack cocaine during a “drunken stupor,” is in trouble again. On Wednesday night, a video that appears to. Rob Ford crack video released after charge withdrawn against Sandro Lisi The infamous video of Toronto's deceased former mayor, Rob Ford, smoking crack cocaine is now public, and for the first time.
It came just days after the mayor was forced to again deny allegations that he uses crack cocaine. At a press conference on Friday, which broke days of silence over the issue, Ford described the claim as nonsense. 'I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,' he said.
But he refused to answer questions from journalists, and his denial fell short of outright denial that he had ever used drugs in the past.
During Sunday's broadcast, Ford again declined to confront allegations over any history of drug use but did address a question from a listener over a clip purportedly showing him smoking crack.
'Number one: there's no video, so that's all I can say. You can't comment on something that doesn't exist,' he said.
The alleged crack-smoking video has not been released publicly but reports on gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who said they sold drugs to Ford.
Journalists at the two organisations have written lengthy descriptions of a video they say they have watched, and Gawker even launched a campaign to raise $200,000 to buy the video and publish it.
As of Monday morning, the online appeal had raised $184,875. But even if the total is reached, plans to purchase the video could fall apart due to the unreliability of the sellers, Gawkers has cautioned.
'The last time we established contact with the people who are in possession of the video was this past Sunday, and we have not been able to reach them since,' posted Gawker editor on Thursday, adding that the website's confidence in getting the deal done had 'diminished'.
Reporters from the Star who have seen the video have said that it appeared to show Ford sitting in a chair, inhaling from what seemed to be a glass crack pipe. The Star also reported that in the video Ford allegedly made a homophobic slur and made a racist remark about high school football students he coached.
Ford has been embroiled in almost weekly controversies about his behaviour since he was elected in 2010. The Toronto Star reported earlier this year that he was asked to leave a gala fundraiser for wounded Canadian soldiers because he appeared to be intoxicated.
During his campaign for mayor, Ford vehemently denied a 1999 arrest for marijuana possession in Florida; he later acknowledged it was true, after confronted with evidence. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and failing to give a breath sample to police.
Yet the crack allegations have no doubt been the biggest scandal to hit Ford, creating headlines around the world and becoming the subject of endless jokes on late-night comedy shows. Last week, the executive committee of Toronto city council – which acts as sort of cabinet to the mayor – released a letter asking Ford to address the allegations 'openly and transparently'. That came a day after Canadian media reported that Ford's chief of staff, Mark Towhey, had been fired after telling the mayor to go to rehab.
But despite calls for him to step down amid the allegations, Ford has indicated that he intends to ride out the scandal and seek re-election next year.
Rob Ford Video
'I'll be the first putting my name on that ballot,' he said.
Meanwhile, brother Doug Ford used Sunday's broadcast to address separate claims that he sold marijuana for several years in his youth.
'I was not a dealer of hashish in the 1980s,' he told listeners.
A video showing Rob Ford, the late former mayor of Toronto, smoking crack has been made public for the first time, some three years after it engulfed the city in scandal and earned Ford international notoriety.
The video was published by numerous media sites in Canada shortly after a court lifted the publication ban. The short clip shows the former mayor holding a crack pipe and a lighter, inhaling as he speaks to his friend Elena Basso, who was previously convicted of drug trafficking.
Throughout their expletive-laced conversation, Ford appears red-faced and his speech is slurred. Much of what he says is inaudible, but he appears to bristle at being called right-wing and engages with Basso as she launches into a scathing attack on Justin Trudeau, Canada’s current prime minister. “I don’t know if that camera’s not on,” Ford says near the end of the short video.
Reports of the video first emerged in 2013, sparking one of the city’s biggest scandals in recent history. Ford, who had been mayor of the city since 2010, responded by saying he did not use crack cocaine and he wasn’t an addict of crack cocaine. “As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist,” he said.
Rob Ford Smoking Crack Video Youtube Song
It was left to Toronto police to determine whether the video actually existed and whether it had been accurately described by the handful of people who had viewed it.
Months later police said they had seized the video during a guns and gang investigation in the city. The city’s police chief at the time, Bill Blair, said he had seen the video. “I’m disappointed,” he told reporters. “This is a traumatic issue for the citizens of this city and for the reputation of this city and that concerns me.”
Ford later admitted to smoking crack in an apology heard around the world. Yes, he said to a reporter who asked if he had smoked crack cocaine. He continued: “But, no, do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Um, probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago.”
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Eventually he checked into a rehab facility for treatment. Ford was never charged.
Nearly two years later, the video was entered as evidence in a Toronto court proceeding, as Ford’s friend and former driver Alexander Lisi faced charges of extortion over his efforts to retrieve the cellphone video.
On Thursday, the court agreed to drop the charge against Lisi on Thursday, paving the way for the video to become public for the first time since its existence was reported. Months after his death at the age of 46, Rob Ford was again trending topic in Canada.
Ford died on 22 March. In 2014, after being diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer, the polarising politician was forced to withdraw from his bid for a second term as mayor of Toronto. He instead ran for the city council seat he had once occupied for a decade – winning by a landslide – and promised to run for mayor in 2018 if his health permitted.
Toronto residents lined up in droves to pay their respects to the politician as he lay in repose for two days at city hall. His funeral was held at a Toronto cathedral after his coffin was carried in a procession from city hall. The day ended with a public celebration of his life at the Toronto Congress Centre.
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