‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli kicked off Twitter for harassing female journalist

Prior to Dec. 10, Lauren Duca was unknown to most of America.

But then Republican Donald Trump was elected, and the Teen Vogue writer penned a fiery editorial proclaiming that Trump “is gaslighting America.”

The editorial generated shock across the internet as many readers were surprised to see such harsh criticism from an unlikely source, and it launched Duca into the limelight.

But with the increased attention that the editorial brought, Duca also became the target of harassment from one of America’s most disliked people: former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli.

Shkreli, who infamously raised the price of a live-saving drug used to treat malaria and HIV by 5,500 percent, was an active supporter of Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, and after Duca wrote the editorial, Shkreli began to tweet at her, asking her to go on a date with him, she told Buzzfeed News.

Soon after, he messaged her directly, asking her to attend Trump’s inauguration. She tweeted a screenshot of the message, with the caption: “I’d rather eat my own organs.”

But Shkreli did not stop with what he called his “small crush.” First he added that Luca’s Twitter handle to his bio, mentioning that he liked her. Then he bought the domain marrymelauren.com, according to Gizmodo.

Soon after that, he changed his profile picture to an image of Duca with her husband, with his face photoshopped over Duca’s husband. He also posted a collection of images of Duca, with the phrase, “For better or for worse, til death do us part, I adore you with every single beat of my heart.”

After those last actions, Duca tweeted directly at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, asking, “How is this allowed.” Shkreli responded by saying, ““dont disrespect the sovereignty of my love for you. your being unfair.”

On Sunday afternoon, Shkreli’s account was suspended. In a statement to Business Insider, Twitter confirmed that Shkreli’s suspension was related to his actions towards Duca and said he would have to change some elements of his account in order to be reinstated.

Duca told BuzzFeed News that she supported Twitter’s decision.

“He’s an entitled creep and absolutely deserves to have his account suspended —perhaps indefinitely,” she said.

In an interview with Gizmodo, Shkreli said he was unapologetic and that he would have stopped if Duca had asked him directly.

Shkreli’s supporters on Twitter also argued that he was clearly joking and that Duca was taking things too seriously. On Twitter, however, Duca also tweeted out screenshots of threatening messages she received from Shkreli’s supporters.

(Warning: explicit language)

“I think Martin should know that under no circumstances would I touch him with a 10-foot pole,” Duca told BuzzFeed News. “It has nothing to do with Donald Trump, but with the fact that he has committed an act of pharmaceutical terrorism.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2017 at 7:53 PM with the headline "‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli kicked off Twitter for harassing female journalist."