Len Downie's (WaPo Editor) Lap Dance With Drag Queen (Coverup/Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Washingtonian ^ | December 21, 2006 | Harry Jaffe

[abb]

The Post's editor had a R-rated encounter with a drag queen during a Post party this month—but so far the photos have stayed private.

Journalists get the occasional juicy and anonymous letter. Most are titillating but not worth publishing or broadcasting.

The letter in large type about a party hosted by the Washington Post photography staff seemed to fit the second category: It mentioned in paragraph three that Post executive editor Len Downie was “the recipient of a lap dance and breasts in his face” by one of the party’s entertainers—who were drag queens!

Too good to be true?

A second anonymous letter said word had gone out at the Post to kill any pictures of Len’s lap dance.

I started making a few calls, figuring that if such an event had taken place, photos and videos probably would be on YouTube or some other website. If it had indeed taken place.

I got eye witness accounts. I wondered: Could a monthly magazine, with a lead time of several weeks, actually break a story about the Post’s top editor caught in an amusing, if not compromising, situation?

Here’s the scoop:

The Washington Post is not known for throwing lively parties, especially under staid executive editor Leonard Downie.

When the photo department decided to bid farewell to retiring staffers, it did not intend to get racy. Photo editor Joe Elbert booked Perrys, a sushi restaurant in DC’s Adams Morgan, for a Saturday afternoon. Owner Saied Azali promised to do something special because he was friends with well-known Post photographer Lucien Perkins.

Would the something special be free champagne? Special sushi? Not exactly.

Azali invited male dancers dressed as women who perform at Perrys’ Sunday “drag brunches.” Len Downie made an appearance just as the queens began to mingle. According to eye witnesses, one performer sat down next to Downie and wrapped him in a big hug.

Downie seemed at bit shocked, but one photographer says: “He took it in good humor at the time.”

But apparently Downie was less amused by the photos and videos being shot, and he asked that they be kept private.

No leaked pictures, so far, but many of those retired staffers would dearly love a picture of Downie in the embrace of a drag queen.

Please keep those anonymous cards and letters coming. Photos welcomed, to: hjaffe AT washingtonian DOT com.

[abb]

Looks like the FreeRepublic crack investigative team should take a look at this...

[abb]

Ping

[Red Badger]

Lap Dance with Drag Queen? You can't make this stuff up!.........

[abb]

IIRC, wasn't it another WaPo editor who made famous the observation, "It isn't the crime, it's the coverup?"

[Rembrandt_fan]

While no fan of the WaPo, I think this has all the makings of a nonstory and a non-scandal. The guy was more or less ambushed by the entertainment, pictures were taken, and he behaved as well as just about anyone would in a similarly awkward, uncomfortable situation. So what?

[abb]

So what?

Substitute the name "Rush Limbaugh" or "Sean Hannity" in place of Len Downie and tell me what the Drive-By Media would be doing now? The earth would cease rotation until pictures of said event were found and broadcast worldwide for days...

[SmithL]

Did he get a pole dance?

[Tribune7]

The Post's editor had a R-rated encounter with a drag queen during a Post party this month

Doesn't this party violate a whole host of HR rules? Or would that only apply if the dancers were actually female?

[abb]

Doesn't this party violate a whole host of HR rules? Or would that only apply if the dancers were actually female?

But one of a plethora of questions that won't be answered until the coverup is undone...

[roses of sharon]

Absolutely, American's should know their "news" comes from the NY bathhouse boys.

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, in response to my 'so what?' comment, "Substitute the name "Rush Limbaugh" or "Sean Hannity" in place of Len Downie and tell me what the Drive-By Media would be doing now?"

It's a matter of milieu, I think: the consensus of one's peers regarding decorum, taste, and mores. For someone in Downie's crowd, the appearance of lap-dancing drag queens has the feel of a prank, a bit over-the-top, but not shocking, so the MSM would (probably) view it as I do: no conflict, no scandal, no story. However, the deliberate introduction of transvestites at a conservative gathering would be so contradictory, so implausible, that it couldn't help but be newsworthy. I can't imagine a possible world where Limbaugh or Hannity would attend a party or dinner or function where drag queen entertainment, booked by staff, would be acceptable.

[Doctor Raoul]

The public has a right to know...

[Doctor Raoul]

If nothing else, Woodward and Bernsteen taught us, "IT'S NOT THE CRIME, IT'S THE COVER UP!"

[Rembrandt_fan]

Turn down the volume, willya?

The Watergate comparison simply doesn't hold up. Downie is not an elected official, for one thing. For another, no crime was committed. A Washington Post editor can have a thousand drag queen lap-dancing moments--and even attempt to squelch dissemination of photos taken while engaged in such flamboyant, outrageous behavior--with no legal charges pending and no effect on the body politic.

Again: no crime, no cover-up, no conflict, no story. You're simply not going to get traction from this.

[abb]

We think it's important. News is what the editor says it is unless the publisher says it isn't. Dr. Raoul and I, in all modesty, qualify as editors here at Free Republic...

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, "Dr. Raoul and I, in all modesty, qualify as editors here at Free Republic..."

I have no idea what 'qualify as editors' means on a forum like Free Republic, but sure, okay, by all means, go right ahead. Throughout my freelance career, I have written the occasional newspaper article and magazine piece, and based upon my experience--as a writer, mind you, not as an editor--this cover-up story of yours is going absolutely nowhere.

[Rembrandt_fan]

One more thing: Carl 'Bernstein', not 'Bernsteen'. If you're going to try your hand at journalism, at least get the names right.

[Doctor Raoul]

Evan Thomas spiked Monica, which made Drudge a millionaire.

The Post is spiking this photo, so "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"...

The media are losers who were too dumb to qualify for the a job in the military.

[Doctor Raoul]

I have no idea what 'qualify as editors' means on a forum like Free Republic,...

As opposed to the smarmy. self centered critics?

[abb]

As opposed to the smarmy. self centered critics?

I wouldn't edit a thing in your reply...