Woman Shamed For Santa Monica Cleanup Pic Blames 'Cancel Culture'

SANTA MONICA, CA — A woman excoriated on Twitter by the likes of LeBron James and Ava DuVernay for a viral video that appeared to show her posing with a drill as part of a Santa Monica cleanup effort that she really didn't participate in says that she was misrepresented by "cancel culture."

In the video, Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin is posing for a picture with a drill in her hand while her father takes her photo from the street. She then hands the drill back to a worker and steps inside a Mercedes Benz and they both drive off.

Moriarty-McLaughlin says she was with her father documenting the damage and recovery in downtown Santa Monica when they started talking to a worker outside a store.

“I thanked him for his effort,” she wrote, according to LA Mag. “As we discussed the cleanup, he handed me the drill in a joking and friendly manner. I went with it, and in the spur of the moment, a photo was snapped. There was absolutely no malicious intent, no big master plan. The accusation it was some sort of so-called ‘influencer’ photo op or attempt to appear like I was cleaning up is completely false.”

She's sharing what happened after the photo was taken and says she felt threatened.

“I noticed two activists who had been watching and filming me nearby. They heckled me, called out ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘boyfriends of Instagram.’ I felt threatened, quickly thanked the worker for his efforts, and left. The thought of publishing that photo never crossed my mind.”

Millions of people have now watched and shared the video. Moriarty-McLaughlin is wearing a mask and told LA Mag that she faced threats and people used her father's license plate to dox her.

The journalism student apparently lost her internship with The Washington Examiner, she said. She also deleted all of her social media accounts.

“The social media mob posted my name, home address, phone number, and more,” she said. “Within hours, my social media accounts were bombarded. Threats engulfed my feeds, telling me to kill myself or that I would be killed. Harassers said they knew where I lived and they were coming to get me.”

You know what? I’m... I think I’m gonna put Twitter away for a few minutes before I throw this phone across the room. pic.twitter.com/IfbFv1HvR2
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) June 2, 2020

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