Mayor Rob Ford reacted angrily Monday morning when he was asked whether he had consumed alcohol at a nightclub over the weekend, accusing a reporter of being “jealous” of the attention he receives.
Ford reportedly spent about an hour at the Muzik nightclub on Saturday night, where several partygoers posed for photos with him and posted them to social media.
The late night visit was the first time Ford had been spotted in a club since his admission in November to smoking crack cocaine in “one of my drunken stupors.” The mayor, who has appeared drunk in public several times over the years, has since said that he has stopped drinking alcohol altogether in an apparent attempt to rehabilitate his image in the run-up to the October election.
On Monday, on his way to a council meeting to request financial aid from the provincial and federal governments for the recent ice storm, a reporter asked if he was drinking at the club.
“You know what, I’m not even going to…” he said, before trailing off.
“Were you drinking this weekend? Were you drinking this weekend?” he demanded. “Well then. No I wasn’t drinking. I don’t drink.”
He was still fuming as he entered the elevator to go to council. “Cause I got some attention at the clubs, is that what you’re jealous about?” he asked.
None of the photos from Saturday night showed Ford with a drink in his hand. His brother, Councillor Doug Ford, told media on Sunday that the mayor had a “sugar-free energy drink” at the nightspot.
On Monday Councillor Ford said he was not with the mayor at the club.
