The Me Too Movement: The Sexual Harassment and Assault Thread

[Pink Ranger]

I don't see this as remotely the same as the Central Park Five. Sullivan isn't going to prison for his decision and he has tenure at Harvard. He isn't getting fired.

Obviously a pattern was established here with his previous handling of sexual assault cases. Weinstein has a top crack legal team, the best money can buy. Probably the same legal team that helped him silence his accusers over the years. Sullivan joining the team was interesting, given his history with the students of his house.

I'm not defending Harvard's decision, but I'm not defending Sullivan's either. And I doubt this will lead to a slippery slope. Let's not push the panic button just yet. Weinstein raped women and isn't even in prison. If there's a miscarriage of justice, that's the starting point.

I use the Central Park Five case because it's a case where you have five young men accused of a heinous crime. If we start making it okay to use professional sanctions against defense counsel to pressure them to not take cases where they defend men accused of heinous crimes, then that impacts not only the Harvey Weinsteins of the world but also guys like the Central Park Five, who were also far from upstanding citizens but were still completely railroaded by an angry public and angry law enforcement. What lawyer would represent those guys if they felt they would be in danger of losing something by doing so (e.g., a volunteer youth pastorship, a child custody hearing, president of their law school alumni society)?

 

[Donner]

If you can name another time when a lawyer's career was tarnished because of a case they took, I'd like to see it. Otherwise, this seems to be an isolated incident.

 

[Sithborg]

The position he is being removed from is one that I am not remotely familiar with. It doesn't sound like a teaching position. I don't quite understand how Harvard organizes it's pre-law students, since it sounds like they are not in the general population.

I'm not so sure the lawyer's career is necessarily tarnished, but definitely being involved in a case causes some prejudice among the general population. What is the reaction when people hear Johnny Cochran or Michael Avenatti is involved in a case?

 

[Schlosser85]

Well Johnny Cochran is dead and I highly doubt Michael Avenatti is ever gonna have a law license again.

 

[Pink Ranger]

If you can name another time when a lawyer's career was tarnished because of a case they took, I'd like to see it. Otherwise, this seems to be an isolated incident.

Every lawyer who takes on an infamous client is at risk of his or her reputation being tarnished. That's not the point. The point is that Harvard, which is a major beacon in the legal community globally, is using its institutional power to censure a legal professional just for choosing to represent the "wrong" client, and essentially caving into the worst batch of student protesters I've seen in my life. If this is left unchallenged, it will send a chill throughout the legal community.

 

[Sithborg]

Assuming of course, it isn't good ol' racism at play.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Assuming of course, it isn't good ol' racism at play.

Some of the personal attacks against Sullivan have been racially motivated, but even if you completely discount those as extremist lunatics, the case against him still fails on its own.

 

[MadVillainy]

Damn man
Jason Mitchell Dropped By UTA, Authentic, ‘The Chi’ & ‘Desperados’ Over Misconduct Allegations – Deadline

And no one seems to know what he actually did.
As someone on Reddit said this has to be something really bad. He got dropped by his agent, management, in production movies, TV series he's on, and movies he's signed on to. I really liked him and was hoping he'd blow up more. I thought he deserved a nod for playing Eazy in Straight Outta Compton and I thought he was great in Mudbound

But if dude is really ****ing up...

 

[Lencho01]

Yeah, he was one of those dudes I was hoping to follow over the years. It really had to be something bad for him to be dropped from all that.

I liked him on The Chi as well. I've only seen the first two episodes of Season 2, so I don't know how things have gone for his character. But, it felt like he'd still be pretty central to it given how the stories are all interconnected in some form or another.

 

[terry78]

This one really stings. Like we don't have **** hard enough in this industry as it is.

 

[Donner]

So Moby is a creep.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Sky is blue!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So Moby is a creep.

Yep. Portman putting him in his place was pretty great though.

 

[dark_b]

Rush wins Australia's biggest defamation payout

 

[terry78]

Yeah it does happen. Though it's gonna get dismissed as an anomaly.

 

[Donner]

Yeah it does happen. Though it's gonna get dismissed as an anomaly.

What happens? Defamation lawsuits?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah it does happen. Though it's gonna get dismissed as an anomaly.

Is it not an anomaly?

 

[terry78]

It is but I think it's just gonna get swept away because people think some will try and weaponize it.

 

[Donner]

It is but I think it's just gonna get swept away because people think some will try and weaponize it.

These sorts of things are always swept away though. How often do celebrities sue publications? Often enough that no one really seems to care. The same when women go to court to get restraining orders against their stalkers.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

Harvey Weinstein 'to settle with accusers for $44m'
Weinstein 'to settle with accusers for $44m'

 

[BeserkerHilf]

So...so do we close this thread now?

 

[Schlosser85]

It's branched out as a catch-all for celebrity sexual harassment stories, so no.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Also the criminal case against him is still in play.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It is but I think it's just gonna get swept away because people think some will try and weaponize it.

That makes sense. It definitely something that should be discussed, but there is the situation where some take the far less likely scenario and push it as the norm. So this will kind of fade into the ether.

That being said, I am curious about this case. I wonder how much is out there, as the judge's words seemed a bit... strange for such a situation. Like do they have evidence the woman lied? Did she admit she lied?

 

[Schlosser85]

Yea, I mean good for Rush if he was unfairly defamed, but it sounds like a "he said/she said", so I don't know if this was justice or not.

Plus there's another woman who also accused Rush.