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– They don’t teach you exactly in journalism education what to do if this happens, says former Bloomberg journalist Christie Smythe.
Top drug Martin Shkreli. Photo: Richard Drew / TT NEWS AGENCY
The journalist Christie Smythe revealed this Sunday in Elle magazine that she has left her husband in favor of Martin Shkreli, the drug trafficker who has been called the most hated man in the United States. The relationship is attracting a lot of attention and is featured in major newspapers in the United States, including The New York Times.
Smythe himself was one of the journalists of the renowned Bloomberg newspaper who revealed that Shkreli in December 2015 was going to be jailed for fraud. As a director of the pharmaceutical company Turing, he bought the drug Daraprim and increased the price by 5,000 percent.
It is used to treat infections in patients with HIV.
“Silly smile” in Congress
Shkreli did no better when he was questioned in Congress about the controversial decision. It was explained with a smile that the US media described as a “goofy smile.”
Smythe was not involved in covering the drug scandal, but followed Shkreli from charge to conviction in the fraud case against him. She says in the interview with Elle that she gradually fell in love with the man she was going to write about.
The revelation that the two have become a couple meets with mixed reactions in the United States. Several criticize Smythe for breaking press ethics, others praise her for revealing her love story.
Shkreli i Kongressen. Photo: JOSHUA ROBERTS / X01909
It was during prison visits in the fall of 2017 that the love between the two blossomed.
– I told Martin I loved him. And he told me that he loved me and It’s hard to come to a time when I was happier than then, Smythe tells Elle.
Stephanie Clifford wrote the Elle case. He also covered the case against Shkreli and met with Smythe several times in the press room of the courtroom.
– The more she (Christie Smythe) talked about him in the press room, the more I began to wonder if there was something more than a journalist-source relationship between them, he writes in a comment.
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– I did not do anything wrong
Smythe left Bloomberg in 2018. According to Elle, he resigned after bosses thought he was posting “troublesome” Twitter messages about Shkreli.
She divorced her husband the following year. Smythe says that he will wait for Shkreli until he finishes serving the remaining three years of his prison sentence.
– Going public with this is a huge relief, no matter what people think. You have no idea how difficult a story like this has been to maintain. So messy and complicated. I’m glad you communicated in a good way, he writes on Twitter.
No regrets
For The New York Times, Smythe says he doesn’t think he did anything wrong.
– I didn’t hide how much I communicated with him. In hindsight, I realize that I could have been a bit more proactive in the past. But honestly, I don’t think this has hurt anyone.
Bloomberg said in a statement to the same newspaper that “Smythes’s dealings with Mr. Shkreli were not compatible with the expectations of a Bloomberg reporter.”
– It became clear that the best thing for us was to separate teams. Em. Smythe submitted his resignation and we accepted it.
Smythe says he has no regrets about how he handled the case.
– They don’t teach you exactly in journalism what to do if this happens. I just tried to get over it and handle things in the best possible way, she says.
Shkreli is scheduled to launch in September 2023. Photo: Craig Ruttle / TT NEWS AGENCY
During the trial, the judge described Shkreli as a self-taught genius. In May, he asked to be released so he could investigate a coronary vaccine, but a judge rejected it, noting that it was precisely such lofty thoughts about himself that led him to end up on the wrong track in the first place.
In addition to the drug scandal, Shkreli has received attention for buying the rights to the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” and for promising a reward to anyone who could get her a Hillary Clinton hair.
Smythe shouldn’t have heard from Shkreli since last summer. According to the former journalist, he is upset that she wanted to make the relationship public. Due to the coronavirus, he has not been able to visit him in prison either. Now she hopes to hear from you.
“I love him and I am here for him,” he told The New York Times.
