Gov. Murphy Calls Newspaper Photo Caption 'Incredibly Offensive'

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy criticized the Asbury Park Press on Monday over a photo caption published online with a photo of a woman giving a COVID-19 vaccination, calling it "incredibly offensive."

The photo caption, published Saturday and later removed from APP.com, referred to the woman in misogynistic terms and used a slur about Jewish women. It was first reported by the New Jersey Globe.

"I apologize deeply to women, the Lakewood Jewish community (where the photo was taken), all members of the Jewish faith, the Asian American community and all our readers," Asbury Park Press executive editor Paul D'Ambrosio wrote in a notice on the paper's website. "The words in the caption were totally unacceptable and in no way reflect the principles and practices of the staff of the Press and Gannett. The Press and Gannett have a long history of fighting for inclusiveness, diversity and women’s rights. We took immediate and significant action once we became aware of the issue, and we changed our online procedures to ensure such an event never happens again."

"It's unfathomable that someone could have written that, even privately, never mind that it was published," Murphy said when asked about the caption during Monday's coronavirus update. He called it "completely, utterly unacceptable" and "incredibly offensive."