Toronto Mayor Apologizes to Media

Facing a growing crack cocaine video scandal turning to farce, embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford on Monday had to apologize to the City Hall press corps after calling them “a bunch of maggots” on his weekly radio show.

The Hollywood Reporter says his attack on the media Sunday was also followed Monday by the resignation of George Christopoulos, Ford’s press secretary, and Isaac Ransom, the mayor’s deputy press secretary.

And earlier on Friday, Mark Towhey, Ford’s chief of staff, was reportedly fired and escorted by security out of Toronto City Hall after telling the mayor in private to resign and seek medical help.

That followed the U.S. gossip website Gawker and the Toronto Star newspaper both revealing they had viewed a smartphone video of a disoriented Toronto mayor allegedly smoking crack cocaine.

“I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,” Ford told the media Friday as he addressed the allegations against him for the first time.

That statement failed to quell the growing scandal, which includes reports that Toronto police detectives last week talked to a senior member of the Ford mayoralty staff about the crack video allegations.

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