Our friends at the Good Law Project

Maugham mentioned 'A Black Academic' who approached him to host the letter, but unlike that Afua Hirsch article where she actually did due diligence he doesn't, as another poster has picked up, actually say if he ask Jason himself if he wanted this.

I note that Kenan Malik who picked up on the backlash to black journalists not being On Side is now being picked at by someone with a trans rights flag as their profile picture.

An interesting segment on The Media Show. A "friend of Jason", Nick Clark, is claiming that Arday was non-verbal at primary school and that those who had said otherwise might have been in the same school but weren't in the same year. Also, his attempts to get The Guardian to include this version in their reporting was not successful, apparently they weren't interested, they were after clicks, ie weaponisng their reporting for clicks to get that pile-on.

However, he does come across as very much in the Arday camp and his Mum had a professional involvement. He wants controls on the media.

Yes. It’s one thing being criticised by your enemies but when your so-called “friends” start turning on you that’s when the real damage is done. Maugham wants to be careful what he wishes for. Any inquiry won’t just focus on the msm. He might find his own publications come under scrutiny and he does appear to be digging himself into quite a big hole.

I already had an extremely low opinion of Maugham, but I still can't get my head round the fact that he decided to host a letter of support for a man he had never previously heard of. Wouldn't any normal person do a bit of due diligence first to check that the allegations were unfounded?

In any case, as has been pointed out numerous times, all the letter of support did was to encourage the media frenzy. It made things much, much worse for Arday.

I do wonder if Maugham has any sense of shame about his role in all this. I guess not.

Now it's an interview with Sarah Ditum on The Media Show.

Yes quite. I think Maugham used Arday (in the same way Cambridge used him). And now he’s dead he’s continuing to use him. Any normal person would feel shame at this point. Maugham obviously doesn’t have the capacity for shame.

Ditum is pushing back firmly against the idea that it would have been best for her to have suppressed facts because it would have caused upset.

People are losing their minds over this. (Or more accurately, some people are excited at the prospect of this meaning they can have control over others.) Sadly, this includes the Financial Times. At least in terms of their representative on this programme, Stephen Bush.

Here's Stephen Bush's take on the Arday scandal:

https://archive.ph/VeQMd

The difficult truth is that if Arday were white, a professor facing allegations of plagiarism would probably still be in post. And if Arday were white, then a father of two would probably still be alive. That first truth raises questions for Cambridge. The second for those who saw him only as a symbol even after he had exited the stage.

I can just imagine Jols on Sleb Big Brother sleazing up an octogenarian retired actress while impersonating a cat.

And now you can too. You're WELCOME!

I am becoming horrifyingly convinced that GLP et al did not check with JA before that open letter. JA previously dealt with the prospect of the Times Higher Educational Supplement raising doubts about the academic integrity of his work by shutting it all down with letters from Carter-Ruck. Notably, he didn't risk amplifying it all by recruiting colleagues to fight his corner in the broadsheets last year, did he?

Has anyone seen any explanations from the people who signed and subsequently withdraw their signature from the original GLP letter about the reason for them withdrawing support

Kenan has been in the crosshairs of TRAs for some time.

James O'Brien this time last week and before (this is dated 7 August ) was saying he's sorry as he was taken for a mug but that of course he signed it as to not do was to believe Arday was bluffing and he wouldn't do that as he's Not An Racist

https://nitter.net/LBC/status/2085680930291671516#m

And then after Ardays death has joined in with the nascent pitchfork wielders against the Dreadful Nazi Media

https://nitter.net/AngryBritishMum/status/2089394911653069191#m

Arday was on his podcast in about 2023 and buttered him up beautifully as an inspiration to his achievements

Also professor Simon Baron Cohen, who signed, then recanted, but as Maugham pointed out twigged that Arday was at risk of self harm and claims to have spoken to him hours before he died

Am I right in thinking that JoMo has quoted Baron-Cohen in the call for a public inquiry, but B-C doesn’t appear as a signatory on that call?

It was JA's decision to resign his post, appropriately. It was his decision, tragically, to end his life. It was also his decision to lie about pretty much every aspect of his life. And yes, Cambridge and the other institutions that enabled his meteoric rise bear a heavy responsibility for the part they played, but in each case it was his decision to apply for the post.

Nooooooooooooo 😦😧😨

I think if he had been offered one and turned it down, he wouldn't be on the list - the checking that recipients are willing to accept is done before the list is published. Surely it would have to be done that way, since a major reason for turning it down would be that you didn't want the associated media attention.

No, not in 2010, necessarily - Strava was only founded in 2009 according to Wikipedia and although I'm not sure it was the first such service I think it was only the popularity of Strava that makes it now feel like something you would of course do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strava

(My last two posts are not in the least intended to indicate that I think these among Arday's stories are likely to be true, but let's not get careless, either way.)

A man who bragged about beating a fox to death with a baseball bat whilst wearing his wife’s kimono, having a sense of shame - seems unlikely.

Ahem. Maugham was not on holiday. He was on 'holiday'.

He is too special to take holidays like ordinary mortals.

The worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be drawn into Maugham's circle. I'm sure it didn't help Arday, he just made it worse.
See also Sophie Mollie, not a person I've any time for, but probably vulnerable and placed in the media spotlight by Maugham's actions.
I actually think he's mad.

I can't see his name on this letter unless I'm missing it

https://goodlawproject.org/petition/jason-arday-letter/?utm_source=Wordpress&utm_campaign=JasonArdayInquiry&utm_content=Banner

"..The harassment of public figures because of the colour of their skin is not unique to Dr Arday. Misan Harriman, Diane Abbott, Eniola Aluko, Jameela Jamil, Halima Begum and others have experienced press harassment with racist overtones..."

Jameela Jamil?

”Wouldn’t be a show without Punch” as my grandmother used to say.