Even The Wolf likely can't clean up Harvey Weinstein's pending troubles

So to make things more clear, we should use vaguer language? I hope you make better arguments in court than you do here, because holy shit, you are getting rung up.

 

And the descent begins.

 

Sick burn, dude.

I think there are competing interests at play here, of course. Hope Solo was vague. We should probably be vague describing it, in a headline or lede. Did she accuse Blatter of assault? I’m not sure. Sexual assault? I’m not sure. I know she didn’t say that. Misconduct? Definitely. Sexual misconduct? I’m not sure. Of course when you describe the actual conduct, you should be as precise as possible. But, yes, you often need to broadly describe the conduct, when summarizing (and you do need to summarize at times), because you don’t have all the facts. It’s accurate to write that she accused him of misconduct, even though it’s imprecise. Now, “misconduct” covers an enormous range of possible conduct, from telling someone to “fuck off” to attempted murder. But “sexual assault” implies, to most, some very specific behavior that is worse than what Blatter is accused of, and misleading readers is one of those competing interests. He’s definitely accused of misconduct. He’s not definitely accused of sexual assault, with the added concern that readers would be likely to infer something specific and likely inaccurate from “sexual assault.” The accused has an interest here that we should keep in mind, even though we are loathe to express that.

Look, you hate me. I get it. You’re never going to give anything I say thoughtful consideration. Like you told me in PM, your aim is to bully me. You think I deserve it. But I’m still going to take the high road and try to explain my positions, on the level. How you choose to react is out of my control.

 

SOLO: SEPP GRABBED MY ASS

 

Actually, I've given what you said careful consideration and made what I think is a complete and cohesive argument in return. I know you like to think everything's about you. This isn't about you.

Solo said she had "Sepp Blatter grab my ass." She then said: “While in this instance it was Sepp Blatter, who was the most powerful man in football at the time, sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour are rampant at every level in women’s sport and it needs to stop.”

I think it's pretty clear what he did and how she perceived it. Calling that "assault" is incorrect. It was "sexual assault." That was the correct headline.

You don't think so, that's fine. You're wrong.

 

What about Ben Affleck?

Your old magazine put him on the cover after he grabbed the “TRL” host’s breast without consent. When does the Harvey Weinstein cover hit? Your new one put Alec Baldwin on the cover. He called his 11-year-old daughter a “disgusting little pig.” It’s on tape. That’s child abuse, right? When is the Adrian Peterson cover?

Why are different celebrities getting treated differently?

 

You have reached @YankeeFan levels of Whataboutism. I have no idea what Ben Affleck did. If he touched a woman inappropriately and without consent, that's sexual assault. What magazines I work for and who they have on their covers, in addition to having nothing to do with me, have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Sure seems like you're making this personal, Dick.

 

I think it gives you insight that I would find interesting.

 

It was on live TV. No one wrote about it for 15-plus years. When they did, no one called it “sexual asssult.” They bent over backward not to.

 

C'mon, it's Ben Affleck. Johnny Next Door. How can you not like that punim? What a sweet boy. And Jersey Girl wasn't even that bad!

 

I'll bring it up at the next MSM General Assembly.

 

It would be a shorter list to the episodes where that show wasn't glorifying sexual misconduct.

And fuck the ending. The entire point of Robin's character was that she wasn't impressed with Ted's idea of romance, and he never actually had a good reason for wanting to be with her than thinking she was hot, and they threw her character under the bus to serve his bullshit arc.