Quillette founder and journalist Claire Lehmann is facing backlash on Twitter after making unfounded claims about Sha’Carri Richardson and Flo Jo using steroids to boost their athletic performance.
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Lehmann made the tweets late Friday night amid Richardson’s acceptance of a 30-day suspension after she tested positive for using marijuana after taking a drug test. The journalist writes, “Not sure whether the nails are real or fake, but in case you didn’t know very strong nails & hair can be a side effect of steroid use. Look, people in track know who is and who isn’t on the roids. Just because they couldn’t ping her on it doesn’t mean they don’t know.” It is clear in Richardson’s photos that she is wearing a wig and acrylic nails despite Lehmann’s theory.
In a follow-up tweet, Lehmann mentions Florence Griffith Joyner and makes the claim that the track star died in her sleep due to drugs. “Flo Jo, obvious drug user, had the nails. She died in her sleep at age 38 because that’s what a lifetime of drug use does to the body (and why it’s supposed to be banned from elite sports),” the tweet reads. However, Flo Jo’s cause of death was listed as suffocation during a severe epileptic seizure and she had a history of seizures years prior. Her toxicology report showed she used a small amount of Tylenol and Benadryl.
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The tweets have received over 19,000 quote tweets and 13 thousand retweets along with fans of the track stars informing Lehmann that her claims are false.
B I O T I N…….You needs for your thin ass hair https://t.co/EphESLX0l7
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) July 3, 2021
sharp chin Claire.. stay out of black peoples business. https://t.co/M6cBQuE15i
— Skai (@skaijackson) July 3, 2021
Her handle says Claire but pretty safe bet she’s a Klairen. Also Richardson tested positive for weed, not roids—but racists tend not to care about pesky things like facts. https://t.co/CuKilMCnC8
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) July 3, 2021
When you’re going to start off a tweet with “not sure” maybe it’s best to leave your ignorance in drafts 🙃 https://t.co/eQsHxNyIzM
— Daniel Wilson for Congress (@DanielforVC) July 3, 2021
Randomly disrespecting, telling lies and disparaging the names of Flo Jo and Sha’Carri Richardson in the name of ‘journalism,’ because they’re Black women is a side effect of white supremacy, racism, and anti Black bigotry. You’re obviously infected, you bleached, racist, shrew. https://t.co/w0MEN7GnZf
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) July 3, 2021
SOURCE: TMZ