Toronto mayor targeted by late-night TV show hosts over alleged drug use video

TORONTO – Toronto’s deputy mayor says it’s unfortunate that the city is finding itself the butt of jokes on late night U.S. talk shows over the latest Rob Ford scandal.

Allegations that the mayor was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine became fodder for both Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart on their shows Tuesday night.

Doug Holyday says he didn’t see the shows, but he wants people to know Toronto is a “great place” to visit and he wants them to come to the city for “the right reasons.”

On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Kimmel conducted a mock interview via Skype with a Ford look-alike jumping up and down and smoking a crack pipe.

“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” dedicated several minutes to Ford, including a segment with two comedians billed as “senior Canadian correspondents” in Toronto who said smoking crack is one of Canada’s most cherished pastimes.

Ford himself has said little about the alleged video, other than a brief comment on Friday when he called the allegations “ridiculous.”

Holyday says he doesn’t know exactly why Ford has declined to directly address the allegations, other than it may have been on the advice of lawyers.

“The only thing that I’ve been able to get from him and some people on his staff is that the lawyers that they’re dealing with have suggested that the less they say at this point, the better. For what reason that is, I don’t know,” Holyday said Wednesday.

On Thursday, the U.S.-based website Gawker and the Toronto Star separately reported that a crack dealer was shopping around a cellphone video that appeared to show Ford smoking the drug.

Gawker has been trying to crowd-source $200,000 to buy and publicly post the footage and had raised more than $104,000 by early Wednesday.