In May 2013, the American website Gawker and the Toronto Star reported that they had viewed a cellphone video that showed then-mayor of Toronto Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and commenting on political issues. Gawker raised money to buy the video, but were unable to acquire it when the seller broke off contact. On October 31, 2013, the Toronto Police Service announced that they were in possession of the video, "and at least one other". The video was retrieved in the course of an investigation of drug gangs, entitled "Project Traveller". Ford's associate Alexander "Sandro" Lisi was charged with extortion for attempting to retrieve the video, in exchange for marijuana.
Reporters from the Toronto Star and Gawker were sent a photo still of Ford standing with three men filmed outside an Etobicoke residence garage door on Windsor Road, later revealed to be the residence of a Ford colleague. The individuals standing with Ford were later identified as Anthony Smith, Muhammad Khattak and Monir Kassim, allegedly affiliated with the Dixon City Bloods criminal gang. Khattak and Kassim were both arrested in a sweep of an apartment complex near the home in June 2013. Smith was killed in a shooting on the streets of downtown Toronto in March 2013. The home was attacked in a home invasion days after Gawker and the Toronto Star published the video story.
Ford initially denied both the existence of the video and using crack cocaine. Though several members of Toronto City Council, as well as the editorial boards of the Star, the National Post, and the Toronto Sun, called for him to step down, he refused to do so. On November 5, 2013, Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors" and to hiding his drug abuse from his family, his staff and the people of Toronto, but pledged to continue on as Mayor. In a series of votes later that month and in an ensuing media circus, Ford was then promptly relieved by the Municipal Council of virtually all of his recognized mayoral acting authority affects, but still left in the mayoral position office and attending council meetings (notably with his brother Doug) with then-Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly instated as the de facto Acting Mayor.
On April 30, 2014, a second video showing Ford smoking crack emerged. Ford took a leave of absence to enter drug rehabilitation from May 1 through June 30, 2014, during which time Kelly officially served as Acting Mayor. Ford did not run for re-election in 2014, instead running for, and winning, his former City Council seat; he continued to serve on the City Council until his death from cancer on March 22, 2016. In August 2016, the Toronto Police Service released the original video of Ford smoking crack, and the remaining charges against Lisi were dropped.
2013 February to March February 17 Mayor Ford is surreptitiously recorded by Mohamed Siad smoking crack cocaine from a glass pipe. Siad also records a video of himself describing the recording of the first, and how to secretly record a video or "even catch a Mayor smoking crack". March 27 A police wiretap of a conversation between Mohamed Siad and Siyadin Abdi reveals their efforts to sell the crack video to Ford, rejecting an alleged offer of $5,000 and a new car by Ford. Siad is seeking $150,000. March 28 Anthony Smith and Muhammad Khattak, the gang members that appeared in the video still with Mayor Ford, are injured in a shooting outside the Loki Lounge in Toronto with Smith dying of his injuries. Wiretap surveillance leads police to believe the motive for the shooting was related to a robbery of other gang members by Smith and others in November 2012.
May May 3 Toronto Star reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan meet with Mohamed "Soya" Siad, 27, an alleged member of the Dixon Bloods, in the back seat of a car in the parking lot of 320 Dixon Road. Siad allows the reporters to view the Ford video on a cellphone three times and says he might sell it for a "six-figure price" so that he can move to Alberta. May 16 Gawker reports a cellphone video that appears to show Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and commenting on political issues. The video was believed to have been recorded late in 2012. Toronto Star reporters Kevin Donovan and Robyn Doolittle say they watched the video on May 3. The Star also publishes a picture of Ford with three men, two of whom were shot in March 2013. One of them, Anthony Smith, died. May 17 As Ford leaves his house in the morning to drive to City Hall, he speaks to a press scrum assembled: "Absolutely not true. It's ridiculous. It's another Toronto Star whatever." Gawker sets up a fund called "Crackstarter" to raise $200,000 to purchase the video. David Price, a long-time friend of Ford, informs Ford's Chief of Staff Mark Towhey of the location of the video at an apartment complex on Dixon Road in Etobicoke. Towhey advises Price to speak to the Toronto Police. Towhey contacts the police, who take a statement from Price.
May 19 Ford and his brother Doug cancel their weekly Newstalk 1010 talk show. May 20 Jay Leno comments on the scandal on The Tonight Show. May 21 Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel comment on the scandal on their shows. A man is shot, requiring hospitalization, at a 17th floor apartment in the Dixon Road apartment complex. May 22 Ford is fired as football coach for Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School. He is also not allowed to coach at any other Catholic high school of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Doug Ford addresses a press conference at City Hall, to defend his brother, his record at City Hall. He also criticized the Toronto Star: "Never, never has a Canadian politician or his family, has been targeted by the media this way. They zealously, and I say zealously, stalk my mother, my children. The media hides in the bushes at our cottage. They did this weekend, that my kids couldn’t even enjoy the weekend ’cause they were in the bushes taking videos of them, and harasses our family at home" and for reporting the alleged drug dealers as of Somali descent: "I also want to say that the story wrongfully generalizes and tarnishes the reputation of Toronto’s Somalian community." May 23 Ford fires his chief of staff, Mark Towhey. Towhey is escorted out of City Hall by security. Ford elevates deputy chief of staff Earl Provost. Several reports state that Towhey was fired for telling Ford to get help at a rehab centre. Gawker reports that they have raised more than $165,000 toward paying for the cellphone video, but were no longer in contact with the seller. May 24 After City Council's executive committee publicly asks Ford to respond to the allegations, Ford ends several days of silence and reads a prepared statement to the press at City Hall: "I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine." "As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist. It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without evidence." According to his former press secretary Adrienne Batra, the statement was written by Ford's family, rejecting a prepared statement written by his staff. That same day, Hanad Mohamed, who is alleged to have appeared in the video, is arrested in Fort McMurray, Alberta, by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the murder of Anthony Smith. He is returned to Toronto for an appearance in court on May 31. May 26 The Fords return to their Newstalk 1010 radio talk show. To a caller who asked if it was Ford in the video, Ford states "Number one, there’s no video, so that’s all I can say. You can’t comment on something that doesn’t exist." The Fords criticize the media and Rob calls reporters "a bunch of maggots." Ford also characterizes a caller as "racist" for asking if it was Ford in the picture. According to Ford: "That’s very sad, that she’s a racist," while Doug added, "Rob has taken thousands of pictures with young black men, with their hats on, with their little funny signs and everything else." May 27 Ford's press secretary and deputy press secretary resign and leave City Hall before Ford arrives. Ford apologizes for calling reporters maggots. Gawker reaches their fund-raising goal. Ford hires his brother's executive assistant as his new communications director and hires an interim press secretary. A poll of 1,400 Torontonians is released by the Toronto Star. It shows support for Ford at 36% in a projected 2014 mayoral election against Olivia Chow, a result identical to a poll held before the stories about the alleged video were published. May 28 The Toronto Sun reports that it also was offered the alleged video. An editor in the newsroom received a call from someone who had a video, asking if the newspaper paid for videos. The editor declines to pursue the video. It is Ford's 44th birthday and press crowd Ford at City Hall for comment about Price's statement to police. Ford tells reporters: "Ask my staff." May 30 Two more of Ford's staff resign: Brian Johnston, a policy advisor and council relations specialist, and Kia Nejatian, an executive assistant. A National Post reporter visits the apartment in the Dixon Road complex where the alleged video is stored and speaks to the resident. The resident describes how his apartment was previously rented by a drug dealer. The resident also claims to have seen the video and believes it to be authentic. According to the resident, gang members in the neighbourhood were angry at the video's sellers. The resident goes further to state that he and his friends considered making a fraudulent crack video starring an acquaintance and a Rob Ford look-alike nicknamed "Slurpy," but decided to not get involved in the controversy. May 31 Another of Ford's staff resigns: special assistant Michael Prempeh, the sixth departure from his staff. The accused who was arrested in Fort McMurray for the Smith shooting makes his first appearance in court and is ordered held in custody until another appearance on June 21. "Slurpy" becomes a trending term across Canada on Twitter.
June June 1 Several hundred people protest at Nathan Phillips Square demanding Ford's resignation. The event was organized on Facebook and was expected to draw over 2,000 to the Square. June 3 A poll by CTV News and Ipsos Reid shows that slightly more than half of Torontonians believe that the video exists and they disagreed with the Ford brothers. Support for Ford is highest in the suburbs of Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. June 4 Gawker reports that the person alleged to have had the cellphone video says it no longer exists and he will not sell it. An intermediary tells them that a copy might exist but has been taken out of Toronto for safe-keeping. June 5 The Toronto Star reports the house location where the photograph of the mayor with the young men was taken. The house was reported to have had a home invasion on May 21, 2013, injuring two persons. One resident of the home was an acquaintance of Ford from high school. The home is located several hundred metres from the Dixon Road apartment complex. Residents have complained previously of a steady stream of traffic between the complex and the home, prompting a fence to be erected to block traffic. Two residents have criminal records, one for minor thefts, one for trafficking cocaine. Maclean's identified the victims of the home invasion as Fabio Basso, Ford's long-time friend, and Basso's girlfriend. Resident Elena Basso tells Star reporters at her house that "Rob Ford’s the greatest mayor ever. You guys are scavengers."