Unfounded allegations

[MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack]

With the news about Russell Brand and David Walliams at the top of people's minds, it is perhaps quite natural that people want to talk about these cases, and to talk about the wider culture, especially within the entertainment industry, which has seemingly allowed these men to hide in plain sight while engaging in terrible and sometimes criminal behaviour. This is of course a valid and important discussion.

But inspired by this, we now seem to have unfounded allegations popping up all over the site against other celebrities. It is in danger of becoming a witch hunt and MNHQ really needs to take action to nip this in the bud.

If anyone has any evidence of actual wrongdoing by any celebrity (or indeed by anyone), then please, please go to the police and report your concerns.

If it's just a gut feeling that someone feels a bit sleazy or gives you the ick, please remember that they are an actual human being that does not deserve to have allegations thrown at them on the basis of gut feelings alone.

Pointing the finger at anyone and everyone without any actual evidence trivialises the problem and undermines the testimony of women who have genuinely experienced harm.

Can everyone please stop speculating?

Well as they permitted it, clearly nothing.

One I was following and reading, but not posting on, the OP posted " I just want to get X off the TV". Or words to the effect. That prompted me to post, because it is just cancel culture.

There is a problem, seems to me, that many actual real bigots jump on any bandwagon they can to promote their own outrage, but with their bigotry hidden.

If they don't like gay folk for example, lets hammer that gay person, but hide why.

Really? Nothing?

As a mother would you think nothing of your 16 year old school girl, daughter sleeping with a man a decade older than her?

I reported it too. MN said it wasn’t breaking any guidelines!! Ffs.

This is life now. Except in real life you can't just vote people off because you don't like them or you're bored with them now.

How old are you? You’re putting today’s lens against yesteryear, we also sent kids uo the chimneys and thought it was ok,

Well I don’t think it’s funny so ask the writers,

Where did I say I agreed with them or would be happy about it myself? I'm was backing up others who said this was common back then which you disputed. The fact that mothers often knew was just an extra fact.

But we're now derailing the thread.

Who said making up allegations was down to women EVERYONE does it

in a constant stream of allegations they all blend into one so the genuine one’s don’t get the attention the should

allegation don’t jump out now there a constant stream and the majority unfounded and untrue there no sensationalism about them and the genuine ones are devalued

I'm in my sixties.

What mothers think about their 16 year old school girl daughter sleeping with a man a decade older surely hasn't changed much since I was born.

I still dispute it was commonplace. It happened, but not commonplace.

I'll bow out now as I wouldn't want to derail the thread.

Any allegations of wrongdoing should be reported to the police, not posted on social media. Then they can investigate properly and bring charges if necessary

As ever. Hence posts in the pass about 'abuse' because the poster was smacked, put to bed alone or travelled in a car where the parents were smoking. I always put it down to a lack of intelligence to assume today is the day when the bar is set and nothing will change again.
I think it is absolutely disgusting that people are flinging names about because they knew RB and looked a bit creepy (or even, in a post yesterday, looked a bit like him with funny eyes).
DW has not been tried or found guilty yet. He hasn't even been arrested, yet posters are gleefully rubbing their hands together dressed up as concern for potential victims and purport speaking out on behalf of all women.
It's just salacious gossip by posters who seem to think they have a free pass to accuse any man of anything because (a) they are women, (b) they are angry and (c) Russell Brand.

Just because you “knew many” didn’t make it less revolting.

Why are so many women so fucking keen on revisionist history when it comes to being abused or corrupted in their teenage years? Being chatted up, groped, “dated”, and fucked by men in their 20s and 30s at 16 was not cool and edgy. It was gross. They were predators. If they were such great blokes, why weren’t they doing all that with women their own age? Hmm, I fucking wonder 🙄.

the Stephen Fry thread is up with commenters making homphobic and slanderous claims. MNHQ won’t take it down.

I think you should calm down a bit tbh and stop being so rude to posters who don't agree with you.
You think all men are predators, waiting to pounce on any woman who crosses their path. Some of us don't. It's allowed.
The hysteria on MN following the RB conviction is ridiculous imo. Do any of you have sons?

Really difficult call though. I reckon so anyway.

Because how is a mod going to know if there is an ulterior motive at work ?

Because while one needs to clamp down on hate speech, it can't be done at the expense of freedom of speech. For sure, look at posting history etc. Is there a theme there? But even then, the poster might be trying to get a deletion, or even a ban, so they can go on a blog and yell "MN banned me for speaking my mind".

I would say it is a price to pay by people living in a free society. Being exposed to things they dont want to read. And I think, express your dislike, and move on. Rather then want "management" to curate what one can see.

"Fight with your words, not with censorship" is my mantra. I get it, that is not always possible. But to me, censorship is the last resort.

Free speech does not mean you can accuse someone of being a sexual predator because they dress like RB and have funny eyes.

The Fry thread has absolutely crossed a line. A previous thread some time back was deleted.

I'm afraid I've sent a stroppy response to MNHQ to their email saying it doesn't break guidelines. They'll probably ban me for daring to suggest they are very wrong and there's sufficient on that thread for Fry's lawyers to have a word.

Someone attacked me for saying it’s slander as it’s ’free speech’. I see the thread has been hidden now though

That thread is now on its third being hidden while "we're taking a look at it". That in itself says it's sufficiently dodgy that they should remove it permanently.

It’s back up again. Is there a way to get MNHQ to comment on here about it?

I’m almost regretting reporting it due to the three thanks for reporting and then three it’s not breaking guidelines.

Make your mind up mnhq. The poster didn’t even give any information, just dropped a name and indicated that he’s next. Are we allowed to just name random celebrities just because we feel like it?

It's not a witch hunt. Nobody is going to be imprisoned, tortured or brutally executed because of people online discussing their gross public behaviour.

I've only seen threads talking about real witnessed behaviour.

Do you actually know what was done to women by men during the witch hunts?

Slander refers to spoken defamatory statements.

Libel refers to written defamatory statements.

Something is only defamation if it's false and causes serious harm.