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On Friday, June 30, a five-page complaint was filed against Judge Gary Wilcox of the Bergen County Superior Court, New Jersey, by the state’s Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. The complaint was filed against Wilcox for posting raunchy videos of himself on TikTok.
58-year-old Gary Wilcox posted content under the pseudonym “Sal Tortorella.” In fact, he allegedly posted over 40 rapping videos to his public TikTok account between April 2021 and March 2023, 11 of which have content with references to violence, s*x, profanity, racism, and misogyny. The TikTok account has since been deleted.
As per the charges, many of his TikTok rap videos seemed problematic not just for their content, but also for the location of the shoot, given that some of them were filmed in his own court chamber, courthouse hallways, and even on his bed. New York Times. Moreover, his half-naked postures and him wearing judicial robes while filming have also been found objectionable.
The New York Times reported that as per the complaint, Wilcox’s TikTok videos were deemed an exhibition of “poor judgment” and demonstration of “disrespect for the judiciary and an inability to conform to the high standards of conduct expected of judges.”
Gary Wilcox rapped to Rihanna and Busta Rhymes' tunes
The New Jersey criminal court judge has been charged with capturing indecent videos of himself inside his courthouse chambers, such as lip-syncing to Rihanna and Busta Rhymes' tracks.
Wilcox was also reported posing semi-nude in bed and rapping to certain s*xually provocative songs under the pseudonym “Sal Tortorella” on TikTok.
For instance, in one footage, he was seen seductively uttering the lyrics of Rihanna’s song, Jump. In another recording, Gary Wilcox is seen wearing a suit and tie and posing against legal books, and allegedly lip-syncing to a track by rapper Paul Thorn.
As per the court complaint filed against him, there’s also a third clipping that shows Gary Wilcox allegedly flashing cash and pretending to light a match, all while lip-syncing to the raunchy lyrics of Miguel’s hit song Sure Thing.
“If you be the cash, I’ll be the rubber band. You be the match, I will be a fuse, boom. Painter, baby, you could be the muse. I’m the reporter, baby, you could be the news. ‘Cause you’re the cigarette, and I’m the smoker. We raise a bet, ’cause you’re the joker."
In one of the videos, Gary Wilcox was seen walking through the courthouse wearing a Beavis and Butt-Head t-shirt while with Get Down by Lil Nas heard in the background. In another clipping, the judge is seen donning a “Freedom of Speech” t-shirt as well.
Another footage revealed him smiling at the camera with a text overlay that read, “When an ex-girlfriend calls you ‘Santa’ because of your new white beard.” The video had the popular Busta Rhymes song, Touch, playing in the background.
The Harvard-educated judge is currently under investigation by New Jersey’s Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, which also happens to be the complainant.
He is being investigated for infracting three canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct - observing high standards of conduct, avoidance of impropriety, and carrying out “extrajudicial activities in a manner that would not cast reasonable doubt on a judge’s capacity to act impartially.”
As per New York Post, Wilcox has been given 20 days to submit a formal answer in writing, following which the Advisory Committee will issue a formal hearing. If he is proven guilty, he can face severe disciplinary actions including public reprimand and permanent removal from the bench.
Judge Gary Wilcox graduated from Harvard Law School and began practicing law in 1989. In fact, he has also served as a federal prosecutor and later as a family court judge of Governor Chris Christie in 2011. In 2016, he was hired as an adult criminal judge at the Bergen County Superior Court and in 2018 earned tenure at the New Jersey Supreme Court.
