NJ judge’s wild TikTok videos spark ethics investigation

👨‍⚖️ An NJ judge has been slapped with a formal complaint

👨‍⚖️ Public TikTok videos show the judge singing along to lyrics with 'violence, sex, and misogyny'

👨‍⚖️ Some videos were recorded 'partially dressed' or in court chambers, documents say

A Bergen County judge with a love for Rihanna and Busta Rhymes must defend why he posted nearly a dozen TikTok videos of himself singing along to raunchy lyrics at the courthouse and in bed, according to a formal complaint.

Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox, who oversees criminal cases, created a public TikTok account and posted 40 videos between April 11, 2021 and March 4, 2023, said the complaint filed by the disciplinary counsel for the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. The account, which used the alias "Sal Tortorella," got at least 100 followers but has since been deleted.

Wilcox, 58, is a Harvard Law School graduate. He's served as a judge in Bergen County since June 2011 and can serve until he has to retire in 2034, state records say. But the complaint accuses him of "inappropriate" behavior in 11 of the videos that fall below the high standards of a judge.

The disciplinary counsel gave Wilcox 20 days to respond to the complaint filed on June 30, reported NorthJersey.com. A hearing will then be scheduled to determine whether he violated the judicial code of conduct. Punishments could range from a public reprimand to possibly a loss of his robes.

But there was no intent to do any harm by posting the videos, Wilcox's attorney Robert B. Hille said to the New York Times. The songs are from "mainstream performers" and are possibly a way to connect with a diverse community, Hille said, in defense of the videos.

Wilcox was preparing a response to the complaint, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

👨‍⚖️ Content of the judge TikTok vids

The complaint lays out descriptions of several of the videos. It said they included "profanity, graphic sexual references to female and male body parts, and/or racist terms."

One video was recorded in the court chambers while Wilcox wore a "Beavis and Butt-Head" T-shirt, the complaint said. It said that in another, he held cash and pretended to set it aflame with a lighter.

The complaint accuses Wilcox of lip-syncing the following lyrics:

🔴 Jump by Rihanna: "Ride it, my pony. My saddle is waitin', come and jump on it."

🔴 Sure Thing by Miguel: "I'm the reporter, baby, you could be the news. 'Cause you're the cigarette, and I'm the smoker."

🔴 Touch It by Busta Rhymes: "While she tryin' to touch, see, I was peepin' it out. She turned around and was tryin' to put my d**k in her mouth. I let her."

🔴 Get Down by Nas: Various explicit lyrics that allude to gang activity and killings

🔴 Unknown: "All my life, I've been waiting for somebody to whoop my ass. I mean business! You think you can run up on me and whip my monkey ass?"

🔴 Unknown: "You hittin' them corners too god damn fast. You gotta slow this motha****a down. You understand? I almost spilled my [Cognac] on this 200-dollar suit."

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