TORONTO - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's press advisers are the latest to leave their jobs as questions swirl about a video that purportedly shows the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
The mayor of Canada's largest city said outside his office Monday that press secretary George Christopoulos and deputy press secretary Isaac Ransom decided to leave, but he declined to say why. Ford fired his chief of staff last week.
Ford also apologized for calling journalists "a bunch of maggots" on his weekly radio show on Sunday.
"I sincerely apologize to each and every one of you," Ford told reporters. "It has been bothering me a lot."
The smoking video has not been released publicly, and its authenticity has not been verified. Reports on gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star said it was taken by men who said they had sold drugs to Ford. The Associated Press hasn't seen the video.
The Star reported that two journalists had watched a video that appears to show Ford inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. The Star said it did not obtain the video or pay to watch it. Gawker and the Star said the video was shown to them by a drug dealer who had been trying to sell it for a six-figure sum.
Ford has said there is no video and has called the allegations ridiculous, but he still has not said whether he has ever used crack.
Ford had refused to take questions from the media for more than a week but took a couple of questions on Monday before saying he had to leave for a meeting. On Friday, he read a statement to reporters in which he denied using or being addicted to crack cocaine.
