Former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle should “enjoy a foot long in jail,” according to the New York Post‘s Thursday cover, which features a photograph of Fogle leaving the courthouse amid child pornography charges.
The controversial cover comes a day after Fogle said he will plead guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography, as well as engaging in an unlawful sex act with a minor, but it did not sit well with all of the paper’s readers.
Joking about the sex scandal turned the Post into a top Twitter trend, sparking outrage from some users of the social media platform who thought it was insensitive to joke about the sensitive subject.
“At least do an *original* prison rape joke on your cover, you toilet newspaper,” comic actor Rob Delaney wrote, while another user tweeted: “It’s no surprise the NY Post ran that cover. It’s essentially NY’s Enquirer. Sad thing is, they probably take that as a compliment.”
However, one user liked the paper’s blunt approach, writing: “NY Post tells it like it is! Hope he squeals like a pig!”
It is far from the first time the Post has made its readers squirm with hard-hitting headlines. A 2012 cover sparked outrage for running an image of a man moments before he was fatally struck by a subway train accompanied by the headline “Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die. DOOMED.”
Many readers were disgusted that the photographer who shot the incident took pictures instead of helping the man before his imminent death.
Another controversial cover featured a murdered Jewish landlord in 2014, which read: “Who didn’t want him dead?” New York politicians were quick to condemn it as the most hateful Post cover yet.
As for the paper’s latest subject, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap, Fogle will admit to “distributing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct” and traveling “in interstate commerce to engage in unlawful commercial sexual acts with minors” with attempt to do so.
The first charge carries a potential penalty of imprisonment between five and 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised release that could last between five years and the rest of Fogle’s life. The second charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised release that could last between five years and the rest of Fogle’s life.
Fogle also agreed to pay $100,000 to each of his 14 victims, for a total of $1.4 million. That number may increase should more victims surface over the course of the investigation.
Fogle came under suspicion after the May arrest of Russell Taylor, then-executive director of Fogle’s charity, The Jared Foundation.
See tweets about the cover below.
https://twitter.com/PhillyD/status/634367267367550976
lol prison rape. Excellent job NYPost pic.twitter.com/sSaygT0hRw
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) August 20, 2015
It's no surprise the NY Post ran that cover. It's essentially NY's Enquirer. Sad thing is, they probably take that as a compliment.
— Keith Plummer (@XianMind) August 20, 2015
The NY Post front page and its "joke" about prison rape is shameful.
— Tracy Connor (@TracyConnor) August 20, 2015
At least do an *original* prison rape joke on your cover, you toilet newspaper. https://t.co/ym0oSJN7Cw
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) August 20, 2015
The NY Post creates controversey yet again with their innapropriate #JaredFogel cover http://t.co/hhiWfgZ5fT pic.twitter.com/nGXu1b9QZJ
— Perez Hilton (@PerezHilton) August 20, 2015