AIBU to think the Scott Mills and Savile comparison is unfair?

[RachelTopliss]

I don't know the full details of what's gone on surrounding Scott Mills, who I liked on the radio. However I've seen comments underneath news articles and on social media where people silence anyone who says they miss him on the radio or hope he's ok by saying variations on "I bet you loved Jimmy Savile too". AIBU to think this is a ridiculous and unfair comparison?

Yanbu

Its the same with schofield imo

Philip Schofield cheated on his wife though so slightly different but not in Jimmy territory at all.

Oo true, although it was a lavender marriage

What got me about that, wasn't the lavender marriage, but the coming out as gay on tv, announcing his marriage a lie - she wasn't even there and it seemed like none of the crew had any idea of what was going on😕

They’re all gross.

We don’t really know the full extent of what Scott mills has done do we , it’d have to be depraved to be a jimmy saville level or rolf Harris .

If the allegations against Scott Mills are true then why should it be any different do people think it's different beacuse the alleged victim is an underage boy.

Schofield has been known to prefer underage boys for a long time. There’s enough stories being silenced. He is just like Saville.

I agree on Mills on though. Although all are disgusting.

No, people think it's different because of the fact based evidence of Jimmy Savile being a manipulative predator of underage and disabled children over the same time span as Scott Mills has been alive.

I don't see how that's comparable. Like I said we don't know the full story about Scott Mills. He could have met someone who lied about their age, for example. We don't know. Likening him to JS just shows a lack of critical thinking and stupidity.

Lied about this age?! Ugh, why are people still using this as an excuse? He's 53 for ffs, when you get to that age, 14 and 16 looks the same, and you know that, so taking a punt is no fucking excuse. It also automatically paints the victim as the villan, lying to have sex and then running to the police. You're right, you don't know what happened, so maybe give the victim the same grace you're giving an alleged child abuser. Just a thought.

Probably best to not start ranking (alleged) child abusers into categories of 'better' and 'worse'.

They are all bad.

He wasn't 53 at the time of the alleged incident. He was about 22. I'm not making excuses, I'm looking at what MAY have happened. Which is nothing like Jimmy Savile.

He wasn't 53 at the time of the alleged offences. He was 23.
Age of consent for gay men at the time was 18.
Any activity between a 23 year old and a 15 year old still falls into grooming/unacceptable age gap for many because it is an eight year gap and you have an exploitative power dynamic there.
Same as Russell Brand sleeping with a 16 year old when he was 30 (although not going to court for that, it isn't part of the upcoming prosecution, as it was immoral but not illegal allegedly).

This. How much sexual abuse is acceptable? As a survivor of csa i am well qualified to say the answer is none. Attempting it is as bad as doing it.

Given that sex abusers are overwhelmingly men, and they rarely get caught or punished, i don't see any point in debating which was worst. We will never know the extent of their abusing,they lie and lie, survivors and victims are routinely not believed and discredited so how can we judge. Any abuse is evil, all abusers are evil. All should be punished severely.

No he’s not like Saville but you’ve set a very low bar.

There’s a minority of older gay men being predatory against very young gay men. My Dd lived in Brighton and saw it all the time, she was shocked at how acceptable it was and it’s right it’s now being called out. Young gay men are as vulnerable as young women and they need protecting.

What about John Peel?

He is idolised by the BBC. They mentioned him positively in an article last week. And he's mentioned throughout Glastonbury.

It's very confusing

Im sure he and his wife had an 'arrangement' for years.

I'm not sure he fully knew he was gay when he got married. Coming out on TV was planned with the crew but not whoever was presenting that day, although they were told there would be an 'announcement'.

Philip Schifield was thrown under the bus.

@Bbq1 wrongly or rightly probably due to him being known for being horrible/hard to work with

Phil Schofield situation was deemed worse because the runner had hero-worshipped him/ was his mentee-protogee/had contacted him from an earlier age. There was definitely a conflict of interests there and a power dynamic that was more than unwise.
You also have to consider the alcohol/drug culture in TV/DJing that makes the young more vulnerable in such situations, although I am not saying this was the case with either PS or SM as we only know what has been put into the public domain.
Scott Mills' alleged offences took place 97-2000(?) In a cultural context, 1999's Queer as Folk was actively celebrating a sexually empowered/liberated 15 year old exploring Canal Street. Everyone was lapping up that show.
It might well be the case that a young man at the time would not see himself as groomed/exploited until much later. Certainly, I was sexually active at 15 (no age gap/consensual/straight) but looking back, in hindsight, I was far too young to be doing that and I was vulnerable/seeking validation. Whilst there was no explicit pressure I think with a different bf I would not have been in that situation (whilst we were the same age my first already had experience, so there was an expectation there. I was just too young to see it).
The age of consent for gay men was not changed to that of heterosexuals until 2000.
Many gay men following the shadow of the AIDS era were finally having sex again with the advent of anti retrovirals.
That's before you get into subcultures twinks, bears etc and the protection of young men needed, that a pp in Brighton was alluding to.
That in itself is always difficult to discuss because nobody wants to mislabel gay as predatory.
Certainly, when I was at school, many friends of mine at fifteen had much older boyfriends and people weren't raising an eyebrow. I think that's why I felt 'safer' with a bf the same age but still ended up in a sexual relationship too early, looking back, glory of hindsight etc
I'd like to say things are different now but I think many of our young people, whilst they are much more aware of age gaps and will call out any gap as nonce territory, I do think there are pressures to look a certain way and perform acts taken from the porn culture.
Do I think Scott Mills at 23 should have known better, if he has been with someone much younger? Yes.
Do I think the same for Russell Brand and Philip Schofield? Yes and yes.
I actually think the age of consent for all sexes and sexualities should be consistent across the globe and increased.
Do I believe in cancel culture, NDAs and the like?
Cancel culture = court of public opinion.
Cancellation is a moral judgement.
Arrest is a legal one.
I believe in due process.
Innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
However, given the rate of successful prosecutions for rape and sexual abuse, I can see how a 'fall from grace' may be perceived as a justice of sorts.
Sadly with Saville, his victims never got that within his lifetime.

Well we don't know what it is he's supposed to have done. I understand there was some kind of sexual correspondence/relationship with someone underage twenty odd years ago. But it was brought to attention of the police around 2019? If he's found to have committed a sexual crime against a kid then he's of a similar ilk to Saville. But he hasn't as yet so that comparison does seem premature.

I understand he seems nicer, more charismatic and attractive than Savile ever was. But we don't know enough to say if he's done anything or not.

Obviously no abuse is acceptable and we don't know the full Scott Mills' story. But Jimmy Saville was (to date) the most prolific sexual abuser in the UK by far. He spent his entire life in the pursuit of utter depravity. Including the rape of severely disabled/vulnerable adults and children usually within specialist hospitals, psychiatric facilities and children's homes. He also regularly had sex with corpses in Leeds General Infirmary morgue. His victims ranged from 3 to 75 years old with an estimate of 600 individuals having been abused, although it was probably much, much higher.

Attitudes to CSA have changed dramatically the last few years. Rightly, and understandably.

And the scale of CSA has become horrifyingly clearer.

But what comes with that is a tendency to judge the past with today's understanding and attitudes when they can't apply retrospectively.

It doesn't mean that whatever SM did in his early 20s is okay, but this tendency to lump everyone into a group of Saville-like paedophiles isn't helpful or appropriate.

Not 2000, 2001 (when the age of consent for gay men was equalised/moved to 16). Also explains the timeline.
It used to be 21. Only moved to 18 in 1994.
Heterosexual was 16 from 1885, 13 before then.
There is little consistency across countries or even states within countries.
As I said, I think it should be raised globally.
That, however, will not stop predation.