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Friday, June 19, 2020

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1949 - Warren Ellis accused of sexual coercion


A Sense of Doubt blog post #1949 - Warren Ellis accused of sexual coercion

In my continuing series of both "information will present itself" and "things that suck," I was greeted with this sad, sad news last night when I checked my email and saw that one of my favorite writers, Warren Ellis, had sent an Orbital Operations newsletter on a Thursday instead of the usual Sunday.

I was unaware that Multiversity Comics had posted a story about Warren Ellis being accused of sexual coercion.

Another story came out concurrently:

https://www.comicsbeat.com/cameron-stewart-sexual-misconduct-allegations/

But I am not dealing with that one today, though I share it here as a point of reference.

What follows: one Twitter post from Becky Cloonan expressing what many of us feel, the article from Multiversity Comics, Warren's apology via Twitter and his newsletter, my email to Warren, and my concluding thoughts.





http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/warren-ellis-allegations/
Warren Ellis Accused Of Sexual Coercion


By  | June 17th, 2020
Posted in News | 0 Comments

Note: Due to some extremely inappropriate comments, we have disabled and deleted all comments on this post. We are sorry to our readers who were trying to have a civil conversation about this topic, but the trolls came out of the woodwork. We believe victims, and will not tolerate their experiences turned into fodder for ridicule or dismissal. – The staff of Multiversity Comics
Writer and editor Katie West (“The Killing Horizon”) has accused writer Warren Ellis of taking advantage of impressionable young women, including herself, with many other women coming forward in support to share their own experiences. West has since deleted her initial thread of tweets, stating, “This is not about one person. The people who are making it that way are missing the point. This is about a pattern of behaviour and our collective complicity in that behaviour.”
Meredith Yayanos, a musician, tweeted that “[Katie West] is one of the most ethical and compassionate people I know, and everything she is saying about Warren Ellis today is spot-on,” before describing her own experiences with Ellis:
I met Warren when I was 22 years old. We were very close, for many years.
I severed all ties with him at least 5 years ago.
With good reason.
My former friend is a complicated man. He is lovable. He is capable of immense generosity and kindness.
Also, he’s a fucking Bluebeard.
There are things W said to me when I was vulnerable and in crisis, things he said about other women TO me, and things those women told me themselves about how W treated them, that still give me nightmares.
Photographer Jayne Holmes, who said she and Katie “only know each other because were chosen by the same predator,” came forward: she shared two examples of emails sent to her from Ellis, adding that she has an “archive of hundreds of emails and photos that spans years,” and that there is a pattern in different victim’s stories becoming “dreadfully clear:”
1. He found me when I was young/vulnerable/uncertain.
2. He acted like a mentor, gave me so much appreciated attention..
3. but pushed boundaries.
4. He said I was his world/we were best friends/he was my thrilling secret/he supported my career so I didn’t feel like I could say no.
5. He dropped me. I blamed myself.
Denver Primrose also shared a direct message from Ellis from 2009, and that “I have years of emails from Warren Ellis leading me to think we were friends, then leading into sex chat. It was like a clang in my head when I joyously mentioned talking to other creators and he dropped me. Like hot garbage.” Artist Tess Fowler stated that she was “was told this stuff yeeears ago,” and that Katie West’s story has “been corroborated by others in the years since, outside of the current convo.”
In response to the accusations about Ellis and Cameron Stewart, Gail Simone tweeted, “It’s painful reading these stories, some of these guys were people I looked up to. No more. Young people especially are taught not to talk about being manipulated and abused. I support you, I believe you. This garbage has to STOP.”
Other members of the comic book industry who have denounced Ellis following the accusations, include Sean Kelley McKeever, who shared Yayanos’s Twitter thread, while adding, “I have long been a fan of Warren Ellis, and my career has benefited from his attention in the past. All the more reason for me to signal boost this thread.” Hayden Sherman responded in a similar manner as follows:
For the last year Warren Ellis has helped me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Today, with sincere thanks to every woman who came forward, I’ve cut ties with him.
If you’re hurting people, I’m not with you.
We have to believe women. We have to believe victims, regardless of gender. We HAVE to. And that belief HAS to come with action. Whatever that action means for each of us.
I hate that a medium with such wonderful people and characters can in any way be home to predators.
We’ve got to hold people accountable for their actions with whatever amount of power we have.

Outside of comics, Ellis is the writer of Netflix’s Castlevania, and a patron of Humanists UK: both organizations have not commented at the time of writing.
For anyone struggling with assault, sexual abuse, or domestic violence, you can visit the RAINN National Sexual Assault Online Hotline.








The Orbital Operations: A Statement
Hello. Please forgive the lateness of my appearance. I have been speaking to people, and listening carefully, for a few days.
Recent statements have been made about me that need to be addressed.
I have never considered myself famous or powerful, to the point where I’ve made a lot of bad jokes about it for twenty-odd years. It had never really occurred to me that other people didn’t see it the same way—that I was not engaging as an equal when gifted with attention, but acting from a position of power and privilege. I did not take that into account in a number of my personal interactions and this was a mistake and I own it.
While I’ve made many bad choices in my past, and I’ve said a lot of wrong things, let me be clear, I have never consciously coerced, manipulated, or abused anyone, nor have I ever assaulted anybody. But I was ignorant of where I was operating from at a time I should have been clear and for that I accept 100% responsibility.
I hurt people deeply. I am ashamed for these mistakes and I am profoundly sorry. I will not speak against other people’s personal truths, and I will not expose them to the toxicity of the current discourse. I should have been more aware, more present, and more respectful of people’s feelings and for that I apologise.
I have had friendships and relationships end, sometimes in bitterness, often due to my own failings, and I continue to regret and apologise for the pain I have caused.
I have always tried to aid and support women in their lives and careers, but I have hurt many people that I had no intention of hurting. I am culpable. I take responsibility for my mistakes. I will do better and for that, I apologise.
I apologise to my friends and collaborators for having created this situation, and I hope they will be treated kindly. Mistakes and poor choices in my personal life are not on them, but only on me.
We have a responsibility to one another, every day. And I have, in my past, let too many people down. I hope to one day become worthy of the trust and kindness that was placed in me by colleagues and friends.
I will continue to listen, learn, and strive to be a better human being. I have sought to make amends with people, as I have been made aware of my transgressions, and will continue to do so.  I have apologised, I apologise, and will continue to apologise and take total responsibility for my actions without equivocation.
I am going to be quiet now, to listen more than I speak, for other voices matter far more than my own right now.

I will be closing this newsletter.  Thank you for your past support. Look after yourselves.

Warren Ellis
represented by:
Cheng Caplan Company
400 Continental Blvd, 6th Floor
El Segundo, CA 90245
I'm afraid you subscribed to this at orbitaloperations.com on purpose

 Amazon Affiliates links included to offset some of the costs of producing this emanation



SUBJECT: I am so sorry


Warren, I am one of your faithful readers. I am sorry to add to your in-box "approaching infinity," but I feel that I must write you in support.
We have corresponded a couple of times about ambient music.
I read your newsletter avidly, write about you on my blog, and simply adore your work.

I am so sorry you are going through this situation. I appreciated your humble, sincere, and heartfelt apology message so very much.
I will continue to be a fan of your work. I do not see these reported incidents as a reason to stop, especially in light of that apology.

I hope my voice is one of many to share how much I will miss your newsletter. I look forward to reading it every Sunday, and I miss it when you take a much deserved break.

I hope I am one of many to urge you NOT to close down your newsletter. I am sure that smarter and wiser people than I may have advised you to do so, or at least to lie low for some time. However, you are a writer, man. You can use words as a vehicle for social change. You can use your outreach, your audience to help those who forced Multiversity to shut down the comments on its story to see things in a new way. You can use writing to show what voice someone can have in the public forum after being accused of what you have and after having apologized so beautifully and humbly as you have. 

Be the change, like Gandhi said.

I hope you will reconsider your decision to close your newsletter. Maybe not as soon as Sunday, maybe after a break, but use it for the common good and for your own. Writing is therapy, and I like to read about what you are thinking, reading, eating, drinking, and doing as work. Be a role model much like how Michael Vick speaks out now against animal abuse. Not a perfect analogy at all, but some connection points.

In any case, best wishes to you, 
You have given so much to my life in writing, music, and culture,
be well,
Thankfully,

- Chris Tower
--
Always look on the bright side of life!



This situation is much like the thing I shared in this post under the heading "Some really upsetting news" about allegations of similar sexual coercion against Junot Diaz:

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1130 - Me and the Planet - 1967 - Throwback Thursday for 1811.15

Like that case, like with Diaz, here's an author I respect very much in Warren Ellis. Unlike Diaz, my affection and fandom for Warren Ellis is much more intense and passionate. I have a Warren Ellis category (Label) on this blog that has 88 entries in it, not counting this one. Warren Ellis has given me so much just with his writing, but I have also benefited from his recommendations of music, food, coffee, whiskey, scotch whisky, notebooks, pens, gear, movies, books, comic books, and so much more. Arguably, Planetary is my favorite comic book of all time, and I am currently at work on a reading series about it, blog posts of one issue at a time, with commentary and analysis.

And then this...

Well, shit.

I stand with women, always. If women speak out, I know it is true. It takes so much courage to speak out in these situations, whether the abuse is coercion, predation, harassment, or assault. So many women started speaking with the #Metoo movement, which I support with all of my heart.

Contrary trolls will attack, deny, and defy. And there MAY BE isolated cases in which a woman makes up a lie. But these cases are very isolated and often total outliers. Because when women speak out about what they have endured, we must believe them for we know how difficult, painful, and traumatic it is to speak out in this sexist, rape culture in which we live. It's why MULTIVERSITY had to close comments on the story. Trolls will be trolls, and it's so easy for them to spew their angry hatred from the comfort of their sofas rather than to directly confront a real, live human being. From #gamergate to Janelle Asselin as just two examples of the heinous shit that women have had to endure for speaking out about the misogyny that exists all around us.

It's also akin to an issue I have been meaning to address for years that came to public attention when the movie Ender's Game was due to release based on the SF classic and best seller by Orson Scott Card (OSC). I did not know that due to being Mormon that OSC was opposed to the national legalization of gay marriage until a friend told me and called OSC an "asshat."

But is he? I have been an avid reader of OSC books for most of my life and have read ALL of the Ender and related novels (of which there are like 6000 now), and though I have not read everything else he has written, I have read quite a bit. Granted there are no gay people in his books, but then, I did not consider that unusual as there are plenty of science fiction and other novels with no gay representation. I am not saying that's right or fair or to be admired and emulated, but it's what I am used to, and I am not ashamed to say that I do not always think about the lack of diversity (though I should and I do now more than ever).

Groups were calling for boycotting the movie of Ender's Game and the purchase of OSC's books. I did a bit of hunting. Mostly, he has written reasonably and without invective about his opposition to legalizing gay marriage (not of opposing the existence of gay people themselves) on his blog and elsewhere. His books and these blogs among other things, at least what I found, were not hateful or vicious. Yes, I found that he gave money to groups fighting the legalization of gay marriage that I find... unsavory. But then there's businesses and sports teams and other artists who gave money to Trump, which I only found out likewise after years of following. I disagree vehemently with OSC's position and reasoning for opposing gay marriage just as I would vocally and actively oppose ANYONE's opposition to allowing gay people to have the same rights as everyone else because they/we are part of that "everyone" group, all of us, together, as ever, as one.

BUT is OSC's stand against legalization of gay marriage reason enough to stop reading his books? I decided it was not a good enough reason. It seemed reactionary in the other direction. I oppose hate and violence not people who disagree with what I believe and have reasons for doing so, ones they think are valid. I welcome civil discourse in opposition. That's healthy and intellectually stimulating if people are being actually thoughtful, fair, and not name-calling-assholes.

Likewise, this situation with Warren puts me in the same position. I love Warren's work. I want to go on loving it. I do not want to let it go just because it has been revealed that Warren is a human being who has made bad choices. Very bad choices. Unlike OSC, Warren apologized and took ownership for his actions and pledges to do better, which is why in my email to him, I urged him not to close down his newsletter. He needs to be spokesperson now for a changed mindset, ESPECIALLY in fandom because like SF fandom, comic fans (the men) get freaked out if anything threatens the consumption of their beloved art form (and especially the cheesecake, male masturbatory fantasy aspects). These trolling trolls need to be educated and get "woke." Warren could help with that.

I stand with the women who have spoken out about Warren's "Bluebeard"-like behavior. I champion their right to speak, and I believe them. But I am NOT a fan of "Cancel Culture," and I do not plan to boycott Warren Ellis, Orson Scott Card, or any reasonable creator who has some ethical principles and yet makes some bad choices or holds an opinion with which I disagree. It seems pointless to express my disagreement by not buying their work. I might be better off doing this, writing about it. And so I have.

If others feel that they need to express themselves with boycott, then so be it. I disagree, but it's a personal disagreement not something that I think is inherently "wrong." Though I am unlikely to buy another Junot Diaz book, EVER again, but that's a different issue.

I didn't sleep well last night. I am very sad and disturbed by these accounts made public by so many women regarding Ellis' coercive and harmful behavior. But we're all works in progress: he is, I am, and so is Moby (because I had not mentioned that connection yet either). This one, too.

What we have now is awareness.

Let's use that raised consciousness, that heightened awareness, for the common good.

BE THE CHANGE.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2006.19 - 10:10

- Days ago = 1813 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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