Premier Doug Ford didn't hold back on how he felt about the release of a new documentary on his late brother Rob Ford, calling it "just disgusting."
Netflix released Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem — a documentary featuring Rob's political popularity and the scandals that rocked his time holding elected office — on Tuesday.
"Rob Ford scandalized Canadian politics as the brash yet beloved mayor of Toronto — until an infamous video of him smoking crack sparked his downfall," states Netflix's description of the documentary.
Asked at a press conference on Tuesday morning whether he planned to watch the documentary, Premier Ford said he didn't.
"I don't see eye-to-eye, I'm not going to watch it. They're disgusting people," he said. "Poor Rob's been dead for nine years, and they just want to keep going after him. I talked to one person that saw it. It's just disgusting. Leave the guy alone. Let him rest in peace. Let his family rest in peace. They're just disgusting people and (it) just absolutely infuriates me to be honest with ya. They want the truth? Talk to the real people that absolutely loved him."
Rob, who was first elected as mayor of Toronto in 2010 after joining city council in 2000, died in March 2016 after a battle with cancer. He made international headlines in 2013 after the Toronto Star and former blog Gawker reported on a video of Rob smoking crack cocaine.
The documentary released Tuesday is the latest in a Netflix series called Trainwreck. The streaming service's Tudum site says the series' latest will "revisit some of the most gripping, bizarre — and sometimes even horrifying — events that once dominated the mainstream media."
"The headlines may sound familiar ... but behind the sensational coverage and sound bites are complex stories, essential questions, and real people who found themselves at the centre of the chaos," the site stated.
Under a blurb about Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem, Tudum called Rob a "firebrand" city councillor who decided to run for mayor.
"Widely dismissed as a joke by other politicians and the media, he defies critics with a shocking victory. But his administration soon becomes a slow-motion disaster, as an avalanche of scandals and allegations of hard drug use lead to an international media frenzy," the site stated.
The documentary, which starts off with the Ford brothers at a press conference in Toronto in 2013 where Rob denies using crack cocaine, features several journalists — Robyn Doolittle, Katie Simpson, Dave Rider — Tom Beyer, a former special assistant to Rob; Mark Towhey, Rob's former chief of staff who Rob fired; former Toronto councillor John Filion; and current Toronto Councillor Josh Matlow, among others.
It touches on both the highs and lows of Rob's political career, his rise to Toronto's mayorship and his battle with the media throughout the scandals that surfaced during his time in office.
At one point, Beyer says it "just became an absolute circus and it got even worse. Then all of a sudden international media's there."
The Canadian Press reported that film director Shianne Brown said she'd asked Premier Ford to participate in the documentary, but that he "kindly declined."
The premier's office did not confirm this before press time.
The Trillium also reached out to Brown regarding Premier Ford's comments, but did not receive a response before publication.
