The All-Purpose, Hollywood Sexual Accusation Thread

[Kirby101]

I don't know what happened here, but I do think there is a difference between what happened in a relationship and men like Weinstein, Cosby and Lauer.

[Jokerz79]

I don't know what happened here, but I do think there is a difference between what happened in a relationship and men like Weinstein, Cosby and Lauer.

Yeah they never claimed to love their victims sorry my mother was domestically abused for decades first her father then husband so that hits home for me and it's not only physical and sexual but emotional and goes on for years in many cases and thus a real mind F for the victims. I'm not saying it's worse then those others but it's not less either.

[Cyke]

Usually I believe the woman when they make these claims. But for some reason I can't shake the feeling that this was a hit job on Hardwick. I got no evidence either way; I think it was how Dykstra worded her essay. By not explicitly naming him, she gave herself some wiggle room if the allegations are proven false.

Maybe I just can't shake his good-guy image. Then again, I had no problem believing that Bill Cosby was a serial rapist.

The media's the one who pieced together that it was Hardwick, and it seems to be corroborated by a number of employees on shows and the Nerdist. AMC likely has its own internal investigation as well. Journalists wouldn't investigate if there wasn't smoke.

It's kind of messed up to say, if she wrote it but didn't name anyone, it's to give her wiggle room to get away; because then the alternative is to write it and outright name the guy, and then it would be on her to bear the brunt of pushback, which comes with a shitload of emotional pain and reliving trauma. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, and that's exactly the kind of worry that prevents women from reporting abuse in the first place.

I've never liked Hardwick because his career seems to be much more about riding other people's coattails. Is Walking Dead successful? Great, he'll try to act like he's part of the main cast. Are you an up and coming actor in Breaking Bad at a convention, and you're not a big name yet but you're putting in your dues on a popular show? Get the hell out Hardwick's way, he's trying to suck up to Bryan Cranston or Bob Odenkirk. Are you the showrunner of a sci-fi or fantasy show that's getting rave reviews from critics? Hardwick is going to show you the definition of shameless to share a drink with you. But are you another media personality that's just trying to do their job by interviewing a TV star? Now you're a target because you're in the spotlight that Hardwick feels he should be occupying -- his goal isn't to make room for his own staff or uplift new actors, it's to make sure that he can become successful via someone else's success.

I've had that perception of him well before these allegations came out (I mean, see my posts in the Walking Dead thread). But Dykstra's description of the behavior -- with all the manipulation and the need to get ahead -- seems in line with someone who wants to be with the stars but won't put in the same kind of work that they do. He seems constantly jealous and he wants his piece of the pie, so there's a lot of sycophantic sucking up that seems really insincere and disingenuous. By comparison, even before this news came out, Marc Maron (who really is honest and genuine and one of the few good guys in Hollywood) had some really choice words for Hardwick's style on Dax Shephard's podcast -- he went in hard, and on Maron's own podcast, he has a special ire for those he considers straight up phonies.

On a side note, I'm very much a yes for Yvette Nicole Brown to take over -- she's a fan and I feel like she's way more into learning about guests more than she had known at the start of the interview. Plus she's funny and observant.

As for Wil Wheaton, I've heard no real objections of the guy. And he's always been pretty conscious of social issues and the plight of marginalized folks (including minorities, women, people with mental struggles, etc). I don't suspect there'd be much pushback if he was a replacement. So it'd be great for him to take the job, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gave it up on his own volition with zero resistance if the argument of having more minority women as hosts was presented to him. He seems like a good guy all around, too.

[Malvolio]

I look forward to seeing either Yvette Nicole Brown or Aisha Tyler hosting Talking Dead in August when Fear the Walking Dead returns.

[GozertheGozarian]

He's been dumped by AMC for both TV and SDCC.

[Kirby101]

Yeah they never claimed to love their victims sorry my mother was domestically abused for decades first her father then husband so that hits home for me and it's not only physical and sexual but emotional and goes on for years in many cases and thus a real mind F for the victims. I'm not saying it's worse then those others but it's not less either.

I agree, and if he was a domestic abuser, he deserves what he gets. But unlike when a number of women com forward to accuse a man, this should take a bit more deliberation before a judgement is made. I was not saying it is not as bad if he is guilty.

[AnakinFlair]

It's kind of messed up to say, if she wrote it but didn't name anyone, it's to give her wiggle room to get away; because then the alternative is to write it and outright name the guy, and then it would be on her to bear the brunt of pushback, which comes with a shitload of emotional pain and reliving trauma. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, and that's exactly the kind of worry that prevents women from reporting abuse in the first place.

And yet, I think every other woman over the past few months, when they made an allegation, they flat-out named the person who abused them.

Look, I'm not calling her a liar. And I am well aware that celebrities have a 'public' persona and a 'private' persona that don't always line up. And maybe Hardwick is fake as f**k.

Maybe it's the speed at which everything has happened. Dykstra posts an essay, then the media does some research and realize it 'has' to be Hardwick she's talking about. I think I read the initial story at about 11 am. By 7 pm Hardwick had been dumped from AMC. What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? It looks like NBC is doing it right- conducting an investigation before taking action.

[numberthirty]

Maybe it's the speed at which everything has happened. Dykstra posts an essay, then the media does some research and realize it 'has' to be Hardwick she's talking about. I think I read the initial story at about 11 am. By 7 pm Hardwick had been dumped from AMC. What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? It looks like NBC is doing it right- conducting an investigation before taking action.

The state owes a citizen that.

An employer does not owe an employee that.

[GozertheGozarian]

And yet, I think every other woman over the past few months, when they made an allegation, they flat-out named the person who abused them.

Look, I'm not calling her a liar. And I am well aware that celebrities have a 'public' persona and a 'private' persona that don't always line up. And maybe Hardwick is fake as f**k.

Maybe it's the speed at which everything has happened. Dykstra posts an essay, then the media does some research and realize it 'has' to be Hardwick she's talking about. I think I read the initial story at about 11 am. By 7 pm Hardwick had been dumped from AMC. What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? It looks like NBC is doing it right- conducting an investigation before taking action.

Innocent until proven guilty is a legal term. I has no bearing outside a court of law.

[AnakinFlair]

The state owes a citizen that.

An employer does not owe an employee that.

Innocent until proven guilty is a legal term. I has no bearing outside a court of law.

I understand that.

But there is going to come a time when someone will make an accusation that will later be proven false, and by then the accused will have been blacklisted and shunned. I'm not saying its going to be THIS case, but it's going to happen.

[Star_Jammer]

Innocent until proven guilty is a legal term. I has no bearing outside a court of law.

And this just feels like we're all at the mercy of "what someone said".

I'm always weird about subjects like this. When I was 20, I was accused of molesting a 4 year old boy. I'll spare you some details, but it was gut-wrenching having my family look at me weird, co-workers look at me weird when the cops came to question me at my work, and to have a whole other family who had become a second family in years previous drop me like a wet rag. And the reason the whole situation escalated as far as it did is because the mother-of-the-child's sister (yeah, details) had told a big lie about me concerning a different situation a few years earlier, so the whole family already thought I was shady, and thought that this was just something else to add to my list of "crimes".

Luckily for me, the whole thing was dropped. But while it was on-going, I had many moments where I felt that suicide would be my only escape from what was inevitably coming.

[Malvolio]

And yet, I think every other woman over the past few months, when they made an allegation, they flat-out named the person who abused them.

Look, I'm not calling her a liar. And I am well aware that celebrities have a 'public' persona and a 'private' persona that don't always line up. And maybe Hardwick is fake as f**k.

Maybe it's the speed at which everything has happened. Dykstra posts an essay, then the media does some research and realize it 'has' to be Hardwick she's talking about. I think I read the initial story at about 11 am. By 7 pm Hardwick had been dumped from AMC. What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? It looks like NBC is doing it right- conducting an investigation before taking action.

NBC has the luxury of time. The Wall isn't scheduled to return until August, I think, while AMC had Talking with Chris Hardwick scheduled to have its season premiere tonight.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

An employer does not owe an employee that.

Especially a television network dependent on ratings for income from sponsors and advertisers. They can't afford to have an abuser on it's payroll which would be a PR nightmare while negatively affecting the bottom line. Look at how fast Netflix canned Kevin Spacey after the ugly stories about him came to light, even though he starred in one of the network's most popular shows.

[numberthirty]

Especially a television network dependent on ratings for income from sponsors and advertisers. They can't afford to have an abuser on it's payroll which would be a PR nightmare while negatively affecting the bottom line. Look at how fast Netflix canned Kevin Spacey after the ugly stories about him came to light, even though he starred in one of the network's most popular shows.

Yeah. Just for starters.

From the bit that I read, it seemed like some of the folks interviewed said they'd be uncomfortable with the episodes airing. If that's the case, there's no good reason to potentially ruin future possibilities to cover this guy's back.

[SpiderTBliss]

What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

That's long gone. All it takes now is a vague accusation on social media to be enough.