--- title: Buzzfeed Fires Benny Johnson Over Plagiarism description: Updated 11:20 a.m. ET The popular social news site BuzzFeed announced the firing of an editor late Friday night after allegations of plagiarism surfaced online... canonical: https://time.com/3039136/buzzfeed-plagiarism/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-26T12:36:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:21:43.348Z article:section: World og:title: Buzzfeed Fires Benny Johnson Over Plagiarism og:description: Updated 11:20 a.m. ET The popular social news site BuzzFeed announced the firing of an editor late Friday night after allegations of plagiarism surfaced online... og:url: https://time.com/3039136/buzzfeed-plagiarism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadb0ccaeec62594d/69869d5435ba6f72f0c032d7/480516735.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-MEDIA-IT-INTERNET og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Buzzfeed Fires Benny Johnson Over Plagiarism twitter:description: Updated 11:20 a.m. ET The popular social news site BuzzFeed announced the firing of an editor late Friday night after allegations of plagiarism surfaced online... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadb0ccaeec62594d/69869d5435ba6f72f0c032d7/480516735.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # BuzzFeed Fires Editor Over Plagiarism by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Jul 26, 2014 12:36 PM CUT  The logo of news website BuzzFeed is seen on a computer screen in Washington on March 25, 2014. The logo of news website BuzzFeed is seen on a computer screen in Washington on March 25, 2014.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Jul 26, 2014 12:36 PM CUT _Updated 11:20 a.m. ET_ The popular social news site BuzzFeed announced the firing of an editor late Friday night after allegations of plagiarism surfaced online this week. Benny Johnson was the site’s first “viral politics editor.” [In a note to readers](http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/editors-note-an-apology-to-our-readers "undefined"), the site’s editor said that a review of more than 500 posts authored by Johnson revealed 41 instances of plagiarism. “Benny is a friend, colleague and, at his best, a creative force, but we had no choice other than letting him go,” wrote editor-in-chief Ben Smith. Johnson apologized in a message sent on Twitter Saturday morning. In one case, Johnson borrowed portions of text from a U.S. News & World Report story by journalist Rick Newman on the depravity of life in North Korea. In another, he used the exact phrasing of a five-year-old response on Yahoo! Answers on the German bombing of London during World War II. 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