Democratic Representative Brad Sherman, of California, has become the center of a social media firestorm after pictures of him using his tablet on a flight went viral.
The images, which appeared to show the US politician viewing suggestive photos of women in lingerie, were quickly shared across platforms, leading to immediate public backlash.
What Sherman watching secretly on his iPad?
The incident occurred when a fellow passenger on the same flight surreptitiously took pictures of Congressman Sherman seated with his iPad.
The screen seemed to show a progression of highly revealing pictures. The photos were soon posted by the popular X account, “Dear White Staffers,” with a critical caption aimed at the inappropriateness of viewing such material in public and demanding better representation for his district.
Why did California Congressman Brad Sherman feel it was appropriate to look at porn on his iPad during a flight today? His district deserves better representation than this!! #CA32 pic.twitter.com/gAYZ82tyr2
— Dear White Staffers (@dearwhitestaff) November 14, 2025
The post quickly went viral, stirring an online debate about public conduct and the behavior expected of elected officials.
Many critics suggested that the content was explicit and inappropriate for a public setting, especially for somebody in public office.
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Brad Sherman Blamed ‘X’ for Explicit Material
In the wake of the accusations and the viral images, Congressman Sherman has strongly pushed back against the idea that he was ‘actively searching’ or ‘viewing’ explicit material. Instead, his office provided a response blaming the social media platform itself.
His spokesperson explained that it was just a matter of scrolling through X, formerly known as Twitter. The spokesperson squarely blamed the platform’s algorithm for what came onto the screen.
This was nothing more than scrolling through Twitter and unfortunately Elon Musk has ruined the Twitter algorithm to give people content that they don’t ask for or subscribe to,” the spokesperson told The New York Post.
Sherman’s office said the unwanted content was unsolicited and was pushed onto his feed by the platform’s automatic recommendation system, which regularly shows users posts from accounts that they do not follow.
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