A Superior Court Judge facing disciplinary action for making profane, racist, and sexually graphic TikTok videos said he didn’t realize they would be available to the public and claimed many were “taken out of context.”
Judge Gary Wilcox admitted to creating about 40 lip-synced videos that he placed on TikTok, some while wearing his judicial robe while in his court chambers, walking through the Bergen County courthouse, and in his bed partly undressed, using the pseudonym “Sal Tortorella.”
The Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct filed a formal complaint against Wilcox last month. Copies of the videos were not released.
“He did not endorse any of the artists, their lifestyle, or their views,” Wilcox’s attorney, Gary Wille, said in response to a complaint. “He never intended to bring the judiciary into disrepute. Indeed, none of the postings were directed at anyone or had anything to do with any case or party before him. They were not made while performing judicial duties.”
In his response, Wilcox asked that he not be disciplined or receive a punishment not greater than an admonishment. The state Supreme Court could remove him from the bench.
“Wilcox has freely admitted his conduct and has expressed remorse,” his attorney said. “It is also clear that there is no risk that the Respondent will engage in similar misconduct in the future.”
The criminal court judge downplayed ties between the artists or the subject of the lyrics.
“Country Music has its share of outlaws. Rock has its share of racy lyrics, and Pop does too,” Wille noted, mentioning “Let’s Get Physical” by Olivia Newton-John and “Afternoon Delight” by Starlight Vocal Band.
“Yet, such artists and songs remain popular,” he said. “Those who listen to them, sing them, or even lip-sync to them are not adopting any messaging or lifestyle of the artist or song.”
Wilcox maintains he created the videos while the court was shut down due to “a period of sustained downtime and isolation” during the Covid pandemic.
“He had begun to hear about TikTok as a popular way to connect. His understanding was that you could listen to segments of songs from popular artists that were lip-synced and posted by others,” Wille said. “That other person’s song segment could be replayed and against that person’s song backdrop, one could create their own video that would be posted for comment.
Calling the videos “silly, harmless, and innocent fun,” Wille said the judge opened his account “out of curiosity to explore this new phenomenon.”
“His intent always was to separate his personal use of TikTok and anything anyone viewed on that account from his actual personal life and what he did as a judge,” stated Wille. “His only audience focus was himself and having a little fun with the song clip on his own time. As with all the clips, they were a personally focused activity. (Wilcox) was in no way trying to generate or reach a broad audience.”
Wille claims Wilcox has an “unblemished record as a judge,” and will produce witnesses, including those who have appeared before him, to validate those claims.
While Wilcox admits his TikTok videos were public, his defense is that he didn’t fully understand the platform, his attorney stated.
“He did not pay attention to any ‘public’ designation. He did not know the significance of what ‘public” meant in TikTok’s posting context,” Wille said. Wilcox “believed the setting allowed viewing beyond himself to include family, friends, and people who sought to connect with him who he permitted.”
Wille said Wilcox “does not recall setting or intending to designate as ‘public’ the video clips that he posted or whether that was some sort of a default setting. He never intended for the postings to be seen by the public at large.”
Wilcox, a Harvard Law School graduate and former Assistant U.S. Attorney, was nominated to the bench by Gov. Chris Christie in 2011. He received tenure in 2018.
The TikTok videos were posted between April 11, 2021, and March 4, 2023.
The allegations against Wilcox come amid a national debate on whether judges should discipline themselves.
Last week, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), a former federal prosecutor and potential 2025 gubernatorial candidate, signed a letter to Chief Justice John Robert demanding ethics reform for the U.S. Supreme Court after reports that several justices accepted expensive vacations and gifts.
Sherrill wants Roberts “to address the Court’s escalating crisis of legitimacy”