Toobin called the incident “deeply moronic,” and said of the incident, “It was wrong, it was stupid and I’m trying to be a better person.” He said an investigation by Conde Nast found no other transgressions during his term of employment there. “To quote Jay Leno, ‘What the hell were you thinking?'” Camerota asked.

But his appearance was largely devoted to an explanation of what he did last fall and reactions to it. Toobin was ostensibly brought on air to discuss the legalities of a case in California where a federal judge has overturned a decades-old ban on assault weapons.

Revelation of those incidents, meanwhile, has spurred the industry to look more deeply at how it maintains workplace norms and rules of behavior. Prominent employees at CBS News, NBC News and Fox News Channel have left those outlets after complaints about behavior went public. TV-news outlets have come under intense scrutiny in recent years for appearing to sanction cases of sexual harassment and even assault.

The decision is likely to spur mixed reactions.

Jeffrey toobin zoom video watch