Toronto, Canada Mayor Rob Ford has not resigned amid a crack cocaine scandal (he hasn’t even directly addressed it), but he has apparently fired his chief of staff.

Mark Twohey left City Hall, escorted by security guards who were apparently throwing him out, albeit sheepishly.  Twohey refused to elaborate on what exactly had happened on Thursday.

“My conversations with the mayor are between the mayor and me,” Towhey said.  “My advice to the mayor is my advice to the mayor.”

Last week, reporters for The Toronto Star newspaper and the American gossip website Gawker confirmed they watched a video that shows Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine with Somali drug dealers. 

But the truth has a price tag:  Those men are reportedly shopping the video around for $200,000.  Gawker won’t pay that much, but has raised more than $156,000 through its “Crack Starter” crowd-sourcing campaign.

Ford didn’t directly deny the video, but said it was “ridiculous”.  Ford’s brother, a Toronto City Councilor issued a half-hearted denial says that he believes his brother’s denial. 

The Toronto Catholic High Schools fired Mayor Ford from his gig as volunteer football coach.

Police say they are monitoring the situation.