Stop Lumping Aziz Ansari in With the Bad Men of #MeToo

The comedian was smeared. He's not a sexual predator.

Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom

A recent New York Times headline asks, "Should Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K. talk about accusations onstage?" The implication is that Ansari, like Louis C.K. and the other famous men who faced sexual misconduct allegations, has some responsibility to address them.

But Ansari's situation is not analogous to Louis C.K.'s. Louis C.K. was accused of unexpectedly masturbating in front of women in the midst of what they presumed were non-sexual situations. Ansari was accused of having a bad date. That the 35-year-old comedian continues to find his name on lists alongside Louis C.K. and some of the other MeTooed men is a clear example of the otherwise praiseworthy movement's penchant for going too far.

To recap, the accusations—if they can even be called such—against Ansari were published by babe.net, a disreputable gossip site that self-admittedly traffics in "petty celebrity drama," according to a previous version of its About page. An anonymous woman, "Grace," said that she drank wine with Ansari at his apartment and that they engaged in some sexual contact. She was uncomfortable with what happened—Ansari wanted her to go further than she wanted to—but she didn't communicate that very well, and then she left. That's it.

Most reasonable pundits who weighed in on the issue agreed that Ansari's behavior did not meet any definition of sexual assault (not that this necessarily would have saved him had he been a student accused of Title IX violations on a university campus). The article was lazy, sloppy gossip.

Still, Ansari is dogged by it. In addition to The New York Times, Deadline published a story last month: "Aziz Ansari Announces First Tour Dates Since Contested Sexual Misconduct Accusations." The word "contested" is doing entirely too much work there.

MeToo has been a long-overdue reckoning, but the movement has made some missteps. Continuing to pretend that Ansari is under some obligation to make things right is one of them.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

But Ansari's situation is not analogous to Louis C.K.'s.

I, the Twitter user, outrage enthusiast and hot taker, don't see how this is relevant.

[Jerryskids]

Of course it's not analogous. Louis CK is funny, Ansari's not.

[StackOfCoins]

Perhaps this is why Ansari inspires no sympathy, except in betas like Robby.

[JesseAz]

Ansari is apparently pretty political in NY and D.C. Area. Probably a cocktail buddy of Robby's.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Outrage enthusiast. Nice.

[cc2]

As I recall, Louis CK asked the women's permission. Isn't that the new rule? They were free to leave and laughed hysterically at the time. I would agree that what he did was a little weird, but isn't the Left all about weird sex stuff? Bondage, furries, naked bike rides, topless protests? He was not their boss, they were all 3 comedians. Ansari also asked permission each time. Of course what both have in common is if the sex later turns out to leave a bad taste in the mouth (pun intended) consent can be retroactively withdrawn.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But with subordinates you can't use asking permission as a defense as they might feel compelled to say yes in order to maintain employment. But, yes, in the grand scheme of things, Louis C.K.'s offenses were hardly the worst.

[MisterDamage]

The women were at most, colleagues. They didn't work in the same company, share the same chain of command, Louis CK did not have hiring authority over them. The closest analogy would be the CEO of Ford making overtures to an employee of BMW. The theory that Louis CK has some sort of "authority" over the women he came on to results in any man of high standing cannot proposition any woman working in the same industry regardless of their employment relationship (or, in this case, lack thereof).

[No Longer Amused]

Until such time as proof is presented for any accusation they should all be considered bullshit.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I've noticed liberals starting to use the phrase "without evidence" when they talk about Trump talking. But that phrase only applies to something Trump said. As if they think the lack of evidence means something when they have shown they don't need evidence when they make accusations.

[jcbinok]

2018's Orwellian Phrase of the Year = "credible allegation".

[steve walsh]

How about they just wear a scarlet letter on their shirt or jacket whenever out in public? "A" has already been used.

[A Thinking Mind]

So Aziz can wear a scarlet B for "Bad comedy?"

[JesseAz]

If Dane Cook was the beta version of high energy equals funny, Aziz is the alpha version.

[Agammamon]

RAAAAAndy!

[Last of the Shitlords]

I heard Dane Cook died in a freak Fleshlight accident.

[tgrondo]

I heard Dane Cook died in a freak Fleshlight accident.

He mistakenly hooked up his Fleshlight to a industrial shop-vac and was sucked to death....

[Longtobefree]

Maybe an intricately embroidered representation of a raised middle finger?

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Look, this isn't the only problem with Aziz Ansari. I read an insightful critique a while back about how in his show Master Of None, he keeps pursuing and dating lilly-white women, rather than going for a good Indian girl. This just perpetuates the horrible stereotype that Indian women are somehow less desirable than white women, and, as a self-declared woke comedian, he should know better.

[John]

This just perpetuates the horrible stereotype that Indian women are somehow less desirable than white women

There are millions of terabytes of Bollywood porn on the internet that says that is not a stereotype anywhere but in whatever SJW's head that came up with it.

[Aloysious]

*googles*

...

*goes blind*

[BestUsedCarSales]

I do find Indian woman very pretty. That's for sure.

[BYODB]

Don't you also find doorknob's erotic, though? I've lost count of your ascribed fetishes!

[BestUsedCarSales]

Nope, dark skinned woman is a very consistent thing from me. I also like big booties and big boobies.

[Trigger Warning]

As you should! Among raven-haired ladies, Indian women are incredible.

[sharmota4zeb]

Yep. You should see how angry the Black men in my town get every time they think of my South Asian friend getting his baby mama pregnant.

[Deconstructed Potato]

Tangent: can anyone recall an interracial couple on TV or in a movie where the man is white and the women is not? That's an unwritten rule of wokeness that makes no sense. As a white dude I have probably dated more women of various other ethnicities/mixed heritage than white chicks (having lived in/near a big shitty for many years). The identarian morons from either end of the retard spectrum seem to insist that only certain combinations are ok.

[Zeb]

I can't say that I have noticed that. In fact, the only interracial couple from TV I can think of right now is a white man and black woman (Shameless). But that probably says more about how much I keep up with TV than anything.

[Weygand]

Yes, on The Jeffersons

Tom was white & Helen was black

[cc2]

Scandal (an affair, but still)
Capt Kirk and Uhuru (the first inter-racial kiss actually, 1967 I think)

but you are right, only certain combinations are "proper" esp black men/white women (to show rebellion or some shit)

[Deconstructed Potato]

Danny and Colleen from Iron Fist
Kip and Lafawnduh from Napoleon Dynamite
Ross and Charlie on Friend

*thinks*

[Archibald Baal]

Zoe and Wash on Firefly?

Barry and Iris on The Flash?

[jcbinok]

Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball.

[jcbinok]

Thomas Haden Church and Sandra Oh in Sideways.

Is that enough for your spank bank ;^?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Louis C.K. has been talking about his behavior on-stage. It's been his entire career. Let's not say it validates being a creep, but no one can be surprised that the man who spent his entire career saying he was a pervert, ended up being one.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Of all the #MeToo shit that got thrown around in the realm of creepy behavior (not rape rape like Weinstein...but just creepy shit, Louis CK bothered me the most. Especially in relation to some of his prior standup routines which were hilarious at the time but now seem off-putting to me.

[Troglodyte Rex]

Meh. I find it hard to give a fuck, really.

[Mr. JD]

Has Robby been living under a rock? He thinks that the Left lumping together the innocent, the slightly guilty, and the horrendous is newsworthy?

I look forward to tomorrow's article about how Social Security is a pyramid scheme.

[BestUsedCarSales]

He's appealing to the undecideds by showing the consequence of a witch hunt. There are a lot of people such as that, who are in the middle and aren't super knowledgeable about situations.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Your saying the guy whose beat is colleges and who presumably was hired to try and reach out to a younger demographic shouldn't presume that everyone is as informed as the commentarians and perhaps not as jaded from years of govt bs? That's just beyond the pale.

[Longtobefree]

I think he is currently researching the rumor that the sun may rise in the east tomorrow.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

He thinks that the Left lumping together the innocent, the slightly guilty, and the horrendous is newsworthy?

But enough about Hank Phillips, BUCS, and Crusty.

[Deconstructed Potato]

Whoa! I know BUCS is more than "slightly guilty" of something. Show me the BUCS and I will show you the crime.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

And yet you were more than OK with Brett Kavanaugh being smeared, asshole. Gee, I wonder why that could be?

[A Thinking Mind]

Even though he's backtracked, he came out very early saying, "Hey, Julie Swetnick's accusations sound completely plausible on their face, let's at least give her a chance." About a woman who claimed she repeatedly attended parties where organized rape was happening.

[Zeb]

They were plausible. They just didn't hold up to scrutiny.

[TuIpa (Shevo thinks I'm HIHN!)]

"They were plausible"

Imbecility.

[John]

It is not plausible that there were continuous gang rapes at parties attended by the students at one high school and nothing was ever known about it until 30 years later. No, Zeb her story was not plausible at all. It didn't stand up to thinking about it.

[TuIpa (Shevo thinks I'm HIHN!)]

The only thing I can rhink of that makes Zeb not seem insane is that, even though a Thinking Mind specifcally named Swetnick, Zeb thought he was talking about Ford.

Because Swetnick's allegations were pure kookery, right from jump.

[John]

Zeb is normally pretty reasonable. Maybe that is the case.

[Zeb]

Yes, I was thinking of Ford. My bad. The Swetnick ones I agree were absurd.

[Pudgeboy]

A 15 year old organizing gang-rape parties of college girls?? Seriously, not plausible, not even remotely so.

[John]

And the upper class white girls kept attending these parties and never told anyone. Yeah, that sounds legit. Rich white girls never run and tell their parents about anything.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Or go get guys, in this case older, stronger college guys, all wound up to go deal with these high school boys. The savage beatings might have curtailed their party schedule.

[Tony]

You didn't go to prep school, did you?

[Last of the Shitlords]

College chicks don't go to high school parties.

[sharmota4zeb]

Do not believe those prep school ads google sends you, Tony. They are customized to match your search history. The link does not send you to the website of an accredited educational institute.

[Deconstructed Potato]

Hehehe

[Dillinger]

exactly.

[A Thinking Mind]

How about we stop witch hunts and address every single accusations on its merits?

Heck, even though Louis C.K. is legitimately creepy and a bit gross, he's not a rapist. Even the worst accusations against him did not include him putting his hands on a woman without her consent-he was mostly touching himself.

Maybe we can deal with the fact that we live in a world with nuance, that not all accusations are true, and that even bad behavior exists in degrees.

[Cynical Asshole]

Maybe we can deal with the fact that we live in a world with nuance, that not all accusations are true, and that even bad behavior exists in degrees.

Nah, that's crazy talk. Nuance is, like, hard and stuff. Black and white, all or nothing hot takes are where it's at.

[cc2]

Almost word for word what I was going to say.

[BYODB]

What confuses me is there are gay pride parades with dudes who have their dicks out in public and no one blinks an eye but if Louis C.K. does it he's branded for life.

Does one need to be homosexual in order for public exposure to not be a crime, one might ask?

Not that I think Louis C.K. was in the right, far from it, I just can't understand why the left selectively takes the side of perversions.

[sharmota4zeb]

The right of exit modifies freedom of speech. Seeing exposed dicks is considered an assumed risk of watching some Gay Pride parades or videos in the buddy booths at the adult video store. One could have an annual Straight Pride parade were dicks get exposed. We used to call that "spring break".

[John]

Because under the logic of intersectionality someone higher on the oppression chain doing something is okay. So when someone high on the intersectionality ladder like a Muslim or a gay does something like expose themselves or molest kids, it is okay. When someone low on the ladder does it, like a straight white male like Louis C.K., it is unacceptable.

[Crusty Juggler]

Related: women are monsters

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

I think their baby is terrifying.

[Eddy]

You know who else...

[Deconstructed Potato]

A scrappy lil' alpine goat?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Crazy hot.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Well now that sure inspires some femdom fantasies.

BTW, where the hell have you been, Crusty? Were you on some sort of court mandate to stay away from playgrounds and blog sites?

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Crusty got a new job a while back and was finally able to get a decent place and move out of the chinchilla cage in the back of the pet store. He is still adjusting to his new life.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Thanks for the update. It all makes sense now.

[Deconstructed Potato]

Asking seriously: is Crusty just your comedy sock?

[Mickey Rat]

And this kind of unshakable harm to reputation is why defamation laws exist despite Soave's hand wringing over them as an affront to free speech.

[Overt]

The problem is that the event could have happened as the lady described it. Unfortunately, the public at large is conflating a guy unsuccessfully getting to third base with people who use their position of power to force women into sex. There is no defamation here, just a kooky movement that has instilled a new form of puritanical tyranny on all men.

[Longtobefree]

#notyoueither

[Dadlobby]

"a clear example of the otherwise praiseworthy movement's penchant for going too far."

The entire movement is too far. Robby the mangina needs to take off his rose colored gynocentric glasses and call Metoo what it is, a hate movement against males which ignores both male victims and false allegations as it throws out due process and equal treatment under the law protections. It is nothing but a socialist big government excuse for interference in individual rights. http://nymensactionnetwork.org.....eaucracy/.

[cc2]

#metoo went to far after about 3 days. What ansari shares with weinstein is being ugly. As they say, don't be ugly.

[Jerryskids]

Stop Lumping Aziz Ansari in With the Bad Men of #MeToo

The comedian was smeared. He's not a sexual predator.

Stop lumping Aziz Ansari in with comedians.

[Cynical Asshole]

Stop Lumping Aziz Ansari in With the Bad Men of #MeToo
The comedian was smeared. He's not a sexual predator.

I don't think that matters to most of the #MeToo crowd. All that matters is that he's a cis-hetero male, therefore "rapist."

[C. S. P. Schofield]

"MeToo has been a long-overdue reckoning, but the movement has made some missteps. Continuing to pretend that Ansari is under some obligation to make things right is one of them."

MeToo has been an unending shower of poorly evidenced bullshit from day one. There are reasons why accusations of misconduct are supposed to be made in a timely fashion - the statute of limitations - and most of the accusations have not been, are supported by precious little evidence, and rely on trusting woman of demonstrable emotional instability.

MeToo is an ongoing argument for the institution of that Haram.

[John]

People act like we have statutes of limitations out of some desire to let guilty people go free if they can get away with it long enough. We have statutes of limitations because after enough time passes it becomes impossible to give an accused a fair trial. The Kavanaugh affair is a perfect example of this. Even if Ford had not been an obvious liar, it would have been impossible to adjudicate events that happened that long ago in any fair manner. If you can't give the accused a fair trial or have anyway to fairly ascertain the truth with any certainty, you don't charge the assused in the first place.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

That travesty was of course for the "court of public opinion" by which senators could be pressured to be chicken shit* vote against confirmation. So not legal principles or precedents need apply, right?

* I was especially disappointed in Heitkamp as I wanted to believe she was the closest thing to a principled Democrat; by doing so she deserved to lose re-election.

[John]

And the standard of proof is partially, "if there is more than one accuser, the guy must be guilty", because a lie is true if enough people repeat it.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

"The lie is true if enough people repeat it". Oh, hell, that's been their strategy for gain8ng a ceptance,of Socialism for, what, a century and more? It NEVER works. Any time somebody claims it has worked and you check the facts, it either wasn't much like Socialism or it didn't freaking WORK! Yet they keep on talking as if there was some rational basis for it.

[sharmota4zeb]

John, what did you eat for lunch on July 10th this year?

[BYODB]

MeToo is an ongoing argument for the institution of that Haram.

Harsh, but in a way accurate. They are going out of their way to make the stodgy old men of the 50's they so despise absolutely correct about women being in the workplace. They're too emotionally fragile for competition. Etc. etc.

I don't believe that's true, but if you limited what you knew to the Pound Me Too movement you'd come to that conclusion pretty quick.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

MeToo has been a long-overdue reckoning, but the movement has made some missteps.

So far the biggest missteps are causing Al Franken to leave the Senate, and attempting to ruin the greatest living scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson. I mean, Franken asked for an investigation! That's not the behavior of a guilty man. Surely he would have been exonerated when all the facts came out. And I suspect the NDT allegations were cooked up by white supremacists who cannot handle the fact that a scientist of color has surpassed dead white males like Isaac Newton.

#ILoveScience
#FrankenWasInnocent

[John]

You know, you get photographed molesting one sleeping woman and people act like it is a big deal. Every guy gets a free grope and souveneir picture to comemorate it don't they? Poor Al Franken.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think his hands were actually on her. So we may be talking about simulating molestation by making hand motions near her.

[John]

They looked on her to me. And he slipped the picture of him doing it on the suveoneur photo CD that everyone got at the end of the trip. Al is just a classy guy like that.

[Agammamon]

He wasn't touching her. Sure, maybe he touched her at some point before or after the picture was taken, but you can clearly see that in the picture he wasn't.

And, frankly, I don't think he groped her. Just did an immature picture - the sort of thing drunk kids at parties do (like taking pics of writing shit on your face if you fall asleep) and not 60 year old men.

[Sebastian Cremmington]

He didn't resign because of the photo he resigned because a liberal journalist wrote an article detailing other groping incidents. The first woman was a Fox News hit job but it turned out others existed.

[TW]

I'm not sure that FOX news had to do with it since the woman in the picture broke the story hereself on Twitter but you're correct that there were other women who came forward before he resigned claiming that he groped them. There was also another woman who came forward who said that after she debated Franken on a program that he got angry and began calling her at home and that it got so bad she contacted the studio and they made him back off.

[BYODB]

Look John, the joke may have been in poor taste and Frankin probably shouldn't have tried to stand on the Pound Me Too movement but it was clearly a joke. A joke in poor taste? Probably. But a joke none the less.

One doesn't take a goofy ass picture of you groping a ceramic plated military bullet proof vests tits as anything other than a joke, methinks.

I don't have any particular love from Frankin, but he was railroaded by his own party.

[Agammamon]

He was railroaded by himself.

You support lynch mobs then you better be sure that you're not living in a glass house.

[Tony]

John: Democrats are guilty, Republicans are innocent.

Make me yawn some more why don't you, you ridiculous brain-pickled hypocrite.

[Last of the Shitlords]

No Tony, that's what you do in the reverse. It's just that the democrat party, given its policies, tends to attract sociopaths, such as yourself. Many of them are narcissistic predators of various types, who tend to commit serious crimes, and at a much greater rate their republican counterparts.

So like you, the people you support are a bunch of criminal sociopaths. You just don't believe in ever holding a democrat accountable for it's actions.

[wreckinball]

Tony is a fucking idiot so he has that going for him too

[John]

Name one Demcorat who is guilty of anything Tony. God you are stupid.

[Tony]

After you tell me again why Roy Moore is cool but Al Franken is a pervert.

[georgeliberte]

Obviously the JWs of #MeToo are all white supremacists . Everyone knows all feminists are.

[Dillinger]

greatest living scientist is cute.

[Last of the Shitlords]

OBL, you forgot about the terrible witch hunt against Deputy DNC Chairman Keith Ellison. Hounded by the right for slapping his bitch around. The nerve of those Drumpf supporters!

[cc2]

To fix it he should write a song about it.

[Dillinger]

>>>>MeToo has been a long-overdue reckoning

fuck that. every one of the "oppressed" could have spoken out immediately and did not until there was a "movement" ... sympathy reserved in thimble.

[John]

Some of them did and had their carreers ruined as a result. I think people like Mooves, and Matt Louer, and most notoriously Harvey Weinstein were legitimate scumbags who used their positions to assault and abuse women and finally got some of what they deserve because of Metoo. But that is about it.

[Dillinger]

those all could have ended properly as well with loud enough voices. is a "ruined career" really a thing if we're discussing serial sexual assault?

also this is Elitist garbage. Jenny from Maple Street gains nothing from metoo ... it's a celeb thing.

[John]

When you have people who are CEOs or major figures in large corporations who are allowed to molest women at their leisure and any time the woman complains she is fired and if she complains twice gets a payoff to shut up, that is a problem. And these companies are powerful enough and the perpetraitors connected enough, the police never gave a shit until they had to. Weinstein had been reported to the cops multiple times but he was so juiced in with the Democratic politicians in New York and California nothing was ever done.

I honestly don't think Jenny from Mapple Street's boss has the ability to put a lock on his door so he can assault women in privacy the way Lauer did or the ability to make sure the DA doesn't touch the rape allegation against him the way Weinstein did. Those people were nasty and deserved even more than what they have gotten. Just because Mira Sorvino is not poor doesn't make it okay for her to lose her carreer because she wouldn't fuck Weinstein.

[Dillinger]

nobody's owed a career. i agree with the rest for the most part. Weinstein and Lauer *could have* been brought down, they just weren't. can't change that now.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Just because Mira Sorvino is not poor doesn't make it okay for her to lose her carreer because she wouldn't fuck Weinstein."'

From a glance at her IMDB page, she's hasn't lost her career. She has seven project listed for 2019. It might not be the big money makers like the ones she could have got if she screwed Al Goldstein, sorry, Weinstein. But she's working. Also, I don't see any big money makers at any point in her career. So all she lost was the potential to be casted in a big money maker in Weinstein movies. Not that it makes Weinstein's behavior any less creepy.

[Zeb]

And it is probably true that some who got good roles for fucking Weinstein have had more lucrative careers than they deserved based on their talent.

I'm torn on what to think of this. Weinstein is definitely a bad man who deserves to have his life and career ruined. And it is a tough situation for an actress trying to get a big break. But the fact is that a lot went along with it to advance their careers when they could have said something, which allowed the same system to operate for decades as a somewhat open secret.

[Dillinger]

^^ more eloquent version of where I was going.

[John]

Weinstein molested a lot of nobodies as well. Even fucking him didn't guarantee anything. He was just a degenerate.

[BYODB]

^ This. If anything, the Weinstein situation is an argument for the legalization of prostitution. Maybe that would take some of the stigma out of fucking someone to get a job.

He's an absolute skeezeball, no doubt about that. If some women hadn't decided that fucking was worth a whole lot of money to them, he never would have gotten away with it though.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Women fuck to get their way all the time. With husbands, boyfriends, bosses, cops, landlords, misc. govt. officials, etc.

A lot of the time it's their own idea.

[Agammamon]

Many of them didn't and had their careers enhanced as a result.

[Dillinger]

word.

[JesseAz]

Robbie... you were one of the defenders of Ford who had even less facts than what was presented against this comedian. Make up your god damn mind.

[Zeb]

Those were entirely different kinds of accusation, though. Those against Kavanaugh described a real crime (though with a total lack of evidence). The story about Ansari describes nothing remotely resembling any kind of "sexual misconduct" even if you assume the entire story is true.

[Social Justice is neither]

Only if you take the overactive imagination and worst possible framing of the incident could you consider the Kavanaugh accusations as describing a "real crime". Sounded like pool party horseplay from beginning to end that she decided decades after the fact was an attempted rape with witnesses.

In the same worst light framing Ansari is guilty of attempted rape because he couldn't read the girl's signals of being less then enthusiastic as non-consent (well maybe ambivalence but they're all the same to the #metoo crowd).

[Zeb]

Whether or not it's commonly reported or prosecuted, grabbing someone and dragging them into a room against their will is a real crime. Most horseplay could be assault if some one wants to be enough of a party pooper.

[Incredulous]

Gimme a break. "A real crime???" Even if you assume her perspective was entirely truthful and accurate (a gargantuan stretch), it was only an attempted crime.

[wreckinball]

If he likes the accused, like this guy, we have a due process problem
If he doesn't ,like Kavanaugh, then anything lobbed at him is "credible"

You made the bed Robby, now sleep in it

[Quo Usque Tandem]

On any given day you still see herders that read that Brett Kavanaugh was "accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women" in spite of the fact that all but one has been entirely discredited. And that one was hardly even credible unless you "believe all women."

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Headers, not herders. Though "herders" raises some interesting points....

[Dillinger]

works well w/ Twitterherd.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

I was thinking more along the line of animal husbandry; but that is entirely serendipitous.

[Longtobefree]

Unwoke.
What about animal wifery?

[Dillinger]

cisheeple?

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Bah. And in the spirit of the season, humbug too.

[mad.casual]

An anonymous woman, "Grace," said that she drank wine with Ansari at his apartment and that they engaged in some sexual contact. She was uncomfortable with what happened?Ansari wanted her to go further than she wanted to?but she didn't communicate that very well, and then she left. That's it.

It should be noted that this is an apt description of a number of the Weinstein allegations.

Not that the guy's innocent. There are certainly allegations of "He forced , dragged me around by the hair, and raped me." that seem credible. But it's a bit inconsistent to say Aziz should be exempted and Weinstein shouldn't if the stories are analogous.

[mad.casual]

"He forced his way into my hotel room..." that is.

[Zeb]

But Ansari wasn't in a position to make or break "Grace"'s career. I don't think "fuck me for a job" should be a crime, but it certainly warrants a firing and public shaming. Of course the accusations of actual assault are another matter.

[Dillinger]

>>>wanted her to go further than she wanted to

every date ever?

[dchang0]

Re: "otherwise praiseworthy"

You can't praise any part of any movement based on such vile violation of due process and presumption of innocence.

Just because the Salem witch trials might have actually, correctly identified and executed some real, bad witches (by accident at best) doesn't mean they can be downplayed by the Soave of the time as "otherwise praiseworthy."

"Oh, we killed a few innocent women that turned out not to be witches, but since we got a few real witches it's all good."

[Zeb]

I think it's fair to say that some good things have come out of MeToo. But I'm not going to call the movement as a whole "praiseworthy". The believe all women nonsense and the erosions of due process being pushed are way over the line of reasoableness.

[John]

The problem is that there didn't need to be a movement. The fact that Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein were degenerates said nothing about anything except them and the various sleezebags, many of whome were women, who covered up for them. It is one thing to say that it is okay to come froward if something happened to you and that people who enable creeps like Lauer are wrong. Where it went off the rails was when it became a movement and somehow a few high profile men being guilty meant every woman must be telling the truth in every case.

[Zeb]

People just love movements. Everything has to be the most important goddamn thing in the world.

[The Last American Hero]

I have the opposite view. The only way witch hunts end is when the wrong sorts of people get accused. Sorry Aziz, but you need to be one of the victims in order for this to keep building until the wrong sort gets accused.

Of course for #metoo to settle down, the accuser would have be be a former boyfriend of Sasha or Malia who now identifies as female.

[Eddy]

Did you ever notice that if you rearrange the letters in "Malia" you get Lamia?

[Dillinger]

aw. not obscure Peter Gabriel/Genesis reference

[Eddy]

Obscure even to me, let me Google that...

OK, now I'll wash that away with some Metallica.

[Dillinger]

(w/o besmirching Metallica) you didn't wait for the Steve Howe and Phil to go bananas @5:35.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Ansari made one mistake - he issued a statement denying the claim (and apologizing) to people who feed on that, and aren't going to forgive him anyway.

If he simply told "Grace" to go to hell, he wouldn't still be in this mess.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

No can do. #MeToo is a pan-harassment moniker that covers everything from the Male Gaze all the way up to and including violent rape... um, wait, that needs a clarification... forced penetration where a woman is beaten and held down.

So too bad, so sad.

[Len Bias]

Until Bill Clinton is driven from public life, the MeToo movement cannot be taken seriously.

[Tony]

And Trump?

[Len Bias]

Sure, apply the same standards to both. We agree!

[Tony]

Good! Though Trump's impeachment prolly won't even be about his sex crimes.

[Len Bias]

Neither were Clinton's, they were about his lying under oath. And the Juanita Broderick rape didn't come up either, since that surfaced later, though mostly ignored by the media. That's why this would be a great time for it to come up again. I'm happy to drive sexual predators like Clinton and Trump from public life, not just ones in the opposing party. Although, I'm blanking on the rape accusation against Trump that was as bad as the Juanita Broderick one.

[Dillinger]

>>>sexual predators like Clinton and Trump

similar to "baseball players like Mookie Betts and me"

[Len Bias]

That's kinda baked into my point at the end.

[Dillinger]

indeed ... also leaves open possibility *I'm* @Fenway in right field opening day instead of Mookie

[wreckinball]

He paid a porn star to be quiet so he must be locked up.

[Tony]

Yeah and if there's anyone the law shouldn't apply to, it's a stable genius.

[Len Bias]

Not even sure what that comment is a reply to. But, then again, straw men are your specialty.

[Agammamon]

Which sex crimes?

[wreckinball]

Well Robby when anything is "credible" this is what you get. See it was all OK when we politicized MeToo by calling incredible claims (Ford's) credible because there was a political end.

Now everything is "credible"

[wreckinball]

And that is the world we live in. Until folks stand up and say no I'm not going to fire someone because of an unsubstantiated MeToo claim.We''re not going to have a fucking circus during a confirmation hearing because of unsubstantiated claim aka incredible.

It will continue until people "Just Say No" to stupid MeToo claims.

[JAllen]

"Louis C.K. was accused of unexpectedly masturbating in front of women in the midst of what they presumed were non-sexual situations"

He wasn't accused of this. He didn't admit to this. I really wish you "journalists" would stop disingenuously sensationalizing the facts for page views.

He was accused of unexpectedly *asking* if he could masturbate in front of women in inappropriate workplace settings. We can decry that without engaging in cynical hyperbole.

[JAllen]

"Louis C.K. was accused of unexpectedly masturbating in front of women in the midst of what they presumed were non-sexual situations"

He wasn't accused of this. He didn't admit to this. I really wish you "journalists" would stop disingenuously sensationalizing the facts for page views.

He was accused of unexpectedly *asking* if he could masturbate in front of women in inappropriate workplace settings. We can decry that without engaging in cynical hyperbole.

[Incredulous]

Isn't that the way it always works? First, the accusation becomes exaggerated, then it becomes "fact" whether it happened or not, whether is evidence or not.

[Colossal Douchebag]

So, this is just a gossip column?

[Weygand]

There is nothing *NOTHING* I fucking love more than having a stupid fucking banner ad for this fucking comments fucking section that blocks a good portion of the page which I cannot move or otherwise get rid of.

I will never fucking give a red cent to this shit fucking hole fucking website as long as this bullfuckingshit persists.

[Weygand]

There is nothing *NOTHING* I fucking love more than having a stupid fucking banner ad for this fucking comments fucking section that blocks a good portion of the page which I cannot move or otherwise get rid of.

I will never fucking give a red cent to this shit fucking hole fucking website as long as this bullfuckingshit persists.

[ErinS]

I worked at the Comedy Cellar in the late 90s, with people like Jeff Ross and Dave Attell, and many other hysterical comedians. Afterwards, at 4:25 in the am everyone went to Kettle of Fish where we partied until seven or so and many girls threw themselves at these guys feet. They just gave a performance in which they fully acknowledged that they were sexual people looking to have fun. Many people took them up on the offer, I'm sure. If you are lily white and easily offended, why were you hanging out with Louis C.K. at 4:00 am? I am all for the women trying to get ahead and getting screwed over by bosses that will not promote them if the don't do what they ask, but this is not the same kettle of fish.

[tgrondo]

The New York Times asks..."Should Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K. talk about accusations onstage?"

Oh yes, that's what we need....some "on stage therapy" where the comic works out his....problems...
By the end of the set....the comic becomes...."Enlighten." And we, the public, (the average slob) will also become "Enlighten" through....osmosis.

Sound like a Fuckin' Laugh Riot...!!!!!!

[raphidae]

It's irritating that "Grace" outed herself on Twitter (w/ #MeToo), but is still only mentioned by her pseudonym. People need to know who it is so they can avoid her. Her name is Abby Nierman.

[Incredulous]

Agreed.

I would say that ALL accusers should be named. Why should the accused be smeared while their accuser remains anonymous? That's totally unjust and biased. What about innocent until proven guilty?

[W.Turn]

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[Incredulous]

"Otherwise praiseworthy?"

Did Robby actually say that a witch hunt was "otherwise praisworthy?"

OMFG