Voting Station

Stephen Glass

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Commentator

The Resume

    (September 15, 1972- )
    Born in Highland Park, Illinois
    Writer and associate editor at The New Republic
    A review discovered that 27 of the 41 articles he wrote for the magazine contained fabricated material (1998)
    Subsequently graduated law school and became a paralegal
    Wrote the biographical novel ‘The Fabulist’ (2003)
    Portrayed by Hayden Christensen in the film ‘Shattered Glass’ (2003)

Why he might be annoying:

    He later admitted that his articles, in addition to being faked, were ‘mean-spirited’: ‘My articles hurt and they were cruel.’
    To throw off factcheckers, he faked supporting evidence, such as notes, emails, voice mails and business cards.
    He also had his brother pretend to be one of his sources.
    New Republic editor Charles Lane said, ‘We extended normal human trust to someone who basically lacked a conscience.’
    Because of his past deceptions, his application to practice law was rejected by the California State Bar on moral grounds (2009).
    He is a vegan.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He said that he felt so much pressure to live up to his parents’ expectations that he suffered chest pains as a teen.
    As a reporter, he had an ear for a memorable quote – even if he had to invent it.
    He hand wrote over 100 letters of apology to people who had been harmed by his fabrications.
    Adam Penenberg, the Forbes reporter who first exposed Glass, commented, ‘Since when does lying disqualify someone from being a lawyer? Let the guy earn a living.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 44 Votes: 65.91% Annoying