Who founded The Smoking Gun website?
The Smoking Gun was founded in 1997 by William Bastone, his wife Barbara Glauber, a graphic designer, and Daniel Green, a freelance journalist formerly of The Village Voice and the son of Stephen L. Green.
Questions about The Smoking Gun
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What kind of material does The Smoking Gun publish?
The Smoking Gun posts legal documents, arrest records and police mugshots on a daily basis, drawing on Freedom of Information Act requests and court records covering historical and current events.
Who owns The Smoking Gun?
The cable network truTV, formerly Court TV, purchased The Smoking Gun along with the website Crime Library in 2000, then sold The Smoking Gun back to William Bastone in June 2014.
How did The Smoking Gun expose problems with James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces?
In 2006, The Smoking Gun uncovered widespread fabrication in the book, which Frey had presented as a memoir. The exposure led talk show host Oprah Winfrey to publicly rebuke Frey after previously endorsing the book through her Oprah's Book Club.
What did The Smoking Gun reveal about Wyclef Jean's charity Yéle Haiti?
In 2010, The Smoking Gun revealed financial irregularities at Yéle Haiti, including unfiled tax returns and funds diverted for the personal use of Jean and his family. Jean admitted the irregularities in 2019.
What was Pranknet and how did The Smoking Gun expose it?
Pranknet was a virtual community whose members tricked hotel and fast-food employees into setting off fire alarms and other humiliating acts. The Smoking Gun outed its members in August 2009, revealing that the group also engaged in threatening harassment.