Disgraced political figure Anthony Weiner expressed interest in selling the infamous 2011 tweet he sent of his own penis that crippled his political career.
“Cashing in would be nice,” Weiner said in an interview with New York Times columnist Ben Smith in a conversation about selling the nonfungible token transfer (NFT) of the infamous post he accidentally posted on his public Twitter account in 2011.
Creators of several viral social media posts, videos, and images have earned hundreds of millions of dollars by selling the NFTs of their work.
“If you do believe in this butterfly effect, I’ve got the butterfly’s wings and its antennas,” Weiner said about the value of viral images.
In May 2011, Weiner mistakenly posted the image on his Twitter account before quickly deleting it and joking he was hacked.
Tivo shot. FB hacked. Is my blender gonna attack me next? #TheToasterIsVeryLoyal
— Anthony Weiner (@repweiner) May 28, 2011
Andrew Breitbart famously published screenshots of the lewd photo on his website.
Weiner denied sending the photo and in subsequent interviews suggested his political opponents had hacked his social media account.
“I know for a fact that my account was hacked,” he told Fox News reporter Brett Baier.
Breitbart pressed forward on the story even after many corporate media outlets accepted Weiner’s claim that he had been hacked. (Andrew Breitbart published his lengthy first-hand account of the scandal on his website)
On June 6, Andrew Breitbart posted an additional photo of Weiner that he had sent to a second woman, prompting the congressman to call a press conference.
Andrew Breitbart also famously hijacked Weiner’s press conference, to defend publishing the photo after the disgraced congressman was late.
“Everything that I’ve said so far has come to be true,” Breitbart said at the press conference, and added, “I’m here for some vindication.”
When Weiner ultimately took the stage, he admitted he had sent the lewd photo but resisted calls for his resignation until several days later.
He even apologized to Andrew Breitbart during the press conference.
“I apologize to Andrew Breitbart, I apologize to the many other members of the media that I misled,” Weiner said.
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