Vanity Fair magazine is taking a social media thrashing for publishing a lengthy profile of disgraced pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli.
The Conde Nast glossy devoted over 5,000 words to the former KaloBios executive and Twitter users are sick over the platform handed to the drug baron, who famously hiked the price of lifesaving HIV medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.
“What’s your publication’s integrity worth? Clearly not much. Shameful and pathetic. Unfollowing,” wrote user @tchuds of Bethany McLean’s story, titled “Everything You Know About Martin Shkreli Is Wrong — or Is It?”
“Jesus Christ, @VanityFair. Nice timing and all,” said @Chrisburlingame, presumably referring to Shkreli’s arrest on charges of securities fraud on Thursday, after which the Vanity Fair piece was published. It covers Shkreli’s rise to power in pharmaceuticals despite no background in chemistry, and the successful strategies he deployed in scooping up smaller, failing drug companies.
“That moment when you see how @VanityFair glamorises Martin Shkreli is when you should be grateful that they make it so easy to unfollow them,” wrote @shutuparturo.
Others weren’t so delicate.
“I see Vanity Fair will try and polish any turd,” said @brian_dneen.
Mean tweets would seem to be the least of Shkreli’s problems. The fraud charges stem from his time as a hedge fund manager and as head of the biopharmaceutical company Retrophin, with the Federal government seeking some $65 million in restitution.
Read some choice tweets over Shkreli’s write-up in Vanity Fair:
https://twitter.com/shutuparturo/status/678611756588138496
https://twitter.com/brian_dneen/status/678584004501774336
@VanityFair @MartinShkreli VF… What's your publications integrity worth? Clearly not much. Shameful and pathetic. Unfollowing.
— Tom C (@tchuds) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/chrisburlingame/status/678276925203202048
@VanityFair @MartinShkreli A scam artist – why are you even playing to this sack of masticated meat's ego?
— k., M.D.???????⚗️???♀️?? (@__kath) December 21, 2015
@VanityFair @MartinShkreli Why are you giving this little shit space?
— ???Karin??? (@KarinSocci) December 21, 2015
@VanityFair @MartinShkreli A disgrace to the human race.
— L R (@Love_matters108) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/JustW365/status/678727071682686976
Haha, of course Vanity Fair had a profile of Martin Shkreli in the works: https://t.co/NapugLYNwM
— David Sessions (@davidsess) December 19, 2015
@princetongb @MartinShkreli "Shkreli is unquestionably brilliant…"—Vanity Fair. Depends on definitions of "unquestionably" & "brilliant".
— the painted porch (@paintedporchorg) December 19, 2015
@VanityFair @MartinShkreli Please let's not make this bastard a celebrity by giving him the attention he so desperately craves. He's a crook
— amante2 (@AmeliaBee7) December 19, 2015
@VanityFair why are you keeping @MartinShkreli relevant by putting him in your Magazine? #PartOfTheProblem #MoralsOverMoney
— Clay's Staci (@StageTwit915944) December 19, 2015