Guilty until proven innocent, or what?

[Professor Walsh]

Now, I am to some extent living if not under a rock, so on one. This may be the reason why I don't get this. Feel free, in that case, to enlighten me. Hollywood news isn't what I read the most, when I come across it it is largely because someone shares it on social media, or when it pops up on the Norwegian newspage I check daily. It figures then, that what I read is the really important stuff that reaches the headlines. You know, like the fact that a certain English redhead will marry an American brunette.

From up here on the rock, though, it looks like Kevin Spacey is the biggest sexual predator of the last three decades. I have read, briefly, of other men having to leave their positions, men described in such a way that those in the know would know instantly, even if outsiders like me are ignorant as to who they are. I've heard of Weinstein, yes, who hasn't, but apart from that: Why is it that everyone seems to be in a hurry to sever ties to Kevin Spacey more than all those other men (or women for that matter) who are accused of sexual violence these days?

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Oh but they are... left and right people are stepping down/losing their jobs. I think the Spacy fallout is worse as it was pederasty. Sexually abusing a 14-year old is, generally speaking, looked on worse than doing so to an adult. And Spacey wasn't just accused, he admitted to it.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

Spacey's show has been running for a long time, so they were thinking of cancelling it anyway. Many of his costars on the show has come out against him. He used the revelation that he had pressured a 14 year old to sex to come out as gay.

Most importantly, a lot of us really liked Kevin Spacey. Nobody outside the industry cared about Harvey Weinstein.

 

[Professor Walsh]

Having admitted it, and to someone underage, makes a difference. There must be a landslide coming, though. It isn't as if everyone else has only been touching adults.

And yeah, @WillowFromBuffy , Spacey is a well-known face. I had never heard of Weinstein until now.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

Melanie Martinez (from The Voice) was just accused recently! 😵
Find this whole story kind of hard to believe, but what I find the hardest is: a straight cis girl named Timothy?! 😕

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Them American's have a history of accusing each other. Once was the are you a communist debacle that ignored the guilty until proven innocent concept. I wonder was there a thing in Russia that accused people of being pro-American?

 

[brinkster130]

Spacey isn’t the only one to have lost his job. Numerous people have. And a lot of these men have admitted to all or parts of the accusations made, so I’m not sure what the title of this thread is hinting at?

Here are some other people in Hollywood who have lost their jobs after accusations:

Matt Lauer - Fired from NBC soon after admitted to parts of it, then gave a second more vague apology for his actions.
Louis CK - After denying allegations since 2012 he finally admitted it was happening all along. Latest movie release was cancelled, Neflix has severed ties.
Andy Henry - Admitted to asking actors to remove their clothing during casting auditions, has been fired.
Andrew Kreisberg (show-runner for Supergirl and Arrow) - has been suspended by Warner Bros after 19 women have accused him of sexual harassment.
John Lasseter - Animation Chief at Pixar Disney is on a 6 month leave after admitting to some "missteps" after being accused of sexual harassment.
Brett Ratner - Has denied allegations but has stepped away from ongoing projects with Warner Bros.
Russell Simmons - Says it was consensual but has stepped down from his businesses and issued an apology.
Charlie Rose - Admitted to some of the accusations, will be replaced on PBS and CBS.
Danny Maserton - Has been accused of rape numerous times, Netflix has announced that they wont be working with him anymore and he will be edited out of the upcoming season of The Ranch.

And a couple who admitted to sexual harassment but haven't seemingly been fired from anything:

Dustin Hoffman- Admitted to sexually harassing a 17 year old and apologized.
Ben Affleck - Admitted to grouping an actress against her will, he has apologized.

 

[Professor Walsh]

Them American's have a history of accusing each other. Once was the are you a communist debacle that ignored the guilty until proven innocent concept. I wonder was there a thing in Russia that accused people of being pro-American?

In the Soviet era, you mean? Probably not. It is not as if the history of life behind the iron curtain was rife with accusations, and such. The KGB was a lovely bunch of people, through and through.

Spacey isn’t the only one to have lost his job. Numerous people have. And a lot of these men have admitted to all or parts of the accusations made, so I’m not sure what the title of this thread is hinting at?

From the list you gave, the only name I knew from earlier is John Lasseter (and, ahem, that is only because he has a horse trainer as his namesake). Even if I am fairly clueless when it comes to the film industry, I was aware that more people than one has been doing things they shouldn't have done to people they should not have done things to. Yet, the only person I had noticed repeatedly in the headlines was Spacey. That was my reason for asking. What the title hints at is simple: I try my best to live by "innocent until proven guilty". If I'm going to walk my talk, I must think so for every accused person, not just the people whom I like. (Not that I always manage to do so anyway, but at least I strive for it.) The press, on the other hand, a little too often seems to live by "guilty until proven innocent". It sells, after all.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Sadly, the whole guilty until proven innocent is only supposed to work in a court of law. It has nothing to do with public opinion. The bigger 'crime' is that they make such headlines for accusations but when the accusations have been disproven there is hardly mention. It's just that most people love a scandal; especially for/by those that are "better" than them.

 

[brinkster130]

From the list you gave, the only name I knew from earlier is John Lasseter (and, ahem, that is only because he has a horse trainer as his namesake). Even if I am fairly clueless when it comes to the film industry, I was aware that more people than one has been doing things they shouldn't have done to people they should not have done things to. Yet, the only person I had noticed repeatedly in the headlines was Spacey. That was my reason for asking. What the title hints at is simple: I try my best to live by "innocent until proven guilty". If I'm going to walk my talk, I must think so for every accused person, not just the people whom I like. (Not that I always manage to do so anyway, but at least I strive for it.) The press, on the other hand, a little too often seems to live by "guilty until proven innocent". It sells, after all.

Ah, gotcha. I think location has a lot to do with what you see in headlines. I’m in LA and all of those people are in the headlines constantly, plus a whole handful of there accused but who denied it. You almost can’t escape the headlines here. But, yes, Spacey was huge news and remained in the headlines for a while. He seems to have fallen out some since his publicist announced he was entering a treatment program and Netflix announced they would carry on without him.

Innocent until proven guilty is tricky when it comes to sexual harassment as there is often very little evidence, and not all actions are criminal. While innocent until proven guilty is a nice thought, it’s near impossible when it comes to public opinion. And unfortunately stats on false accusations indicate that people aren't being falsely accused.