I will make a comment, because popular culture, mostly mediated through Twitter and its cousins, simplifies complex issues.
AMC’s investigation was not about finding Dykstra guilty of lying or of any wrong doing, or even about proving Hardwick was not guilty of the crimes and misbehavior she indirectly accused him of. It was to see if there was any good faith basis for them to terminate Hardwick’s employment. It is quite possible, in principle, for it both to be true that A) in a civil or criminal trial things would go against Hardwick, but B) in any real investigation an employer could conduct things would not go against him. We obviously can not end up with a culture in which every person accused of wrong doing is automatically fired. OTOH, as has been made very clear in cases of domestic violence involving NFL players, we also can not tolerate a culture in which employers only terminate employees after a formal conviction (if even then). The only alternative then is to expect employers to set up some kind of fair and minimally rigorous investigation of their own into the charges. The criticism that any such employer should be open to then would be about the fairness and rigor of the in-house investigation. I know just such criticisms have been made about AMC’s Hardwick investigation. This is where I think the focus of public reaction should be. None of us are in a position to judge whether there is enough available evidence to terminate Hardwick, but we should be given enough evidence to judge the fairness of the investigation, and to call for a better one if indicated. Employers who select investigators with bias or conflicts of interest should not be allowed to benefit from doing so, which should set up pressure going forward to retain neutral, professional investigative services. Personally, I am pretty neutral about Hardwick as a performer. I listened to the Nerdist Podcast for about a year, but a little of that goes a long way. I never really liked his CC central “game show” that much, and rarely watched it even when it followed TDS and I had it on DVR every night (my preset recording of TDS is still set for an hour, from the old Stewart/Colbert days). I have enjoyed his post show discussions of Breaking Bad, Walking Dead and Fear the Dead (although the last of those makes really transparent the extent to which the “Talking” shows are shameless hype-machines rather than fan forums). I have never been tempted to check out any of his often self-hyped stand up comedy. Hardwick is an articulate, smooth media personality; most people in the world can not do what he does, but there are hundreds and maybe thousands of people who can do it as well or better, and I am sure AMC would be able to find one of those to take his place if need be. I don’t care about saving Chris Hardwick’s job or reputation. I do care about devising some kind of non-legal culture that both provides due process and protection to people accused of wrong doing while working to ensure that people employers have a good faith basis for judging have engaged in assulative and otherwise intolerable aggressive behaviors lose their jobs. Such a process can never be perfect, but it can get a lot better, and should. On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 11:20 PM Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: > Posted without comment > > https://mobile.twitter.com/skydart/status/1028006987550810112 > > > On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 9:43 PM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < > tvornottv@googlegroups.com> wrote: > >> It has seemed to me that much of the second act of his career was due >> more to his hustle/workaholism and early adoption of new media than any >> innate talent. >> >> I'd guess he'd have enough money (even before marrying into the Hearsts) >> from the sale of Nerdist to not have to work for a while longer, but I >> could be wrong. >> >> David >> >> On Friday, August 10, 2018, 11:01:08 PM EDT, Kevin M. < >> drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 7:56 PM Doug Eastick <east...@mcd.on.ca> wrote: >> >> I just watched him the other night as a guest judge on America's Got >> Talent. No matter where I see him, I always just think he's a.... I dunno >> what it is. I just don't like him. >> >> >> No matter where I see him, I always think that hosting a mockish and smug >> clone of The Dating Game for MTV was the absolute limit of his talents >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018, 8:16 PM Steve Timko, <steveti...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Some "Taking Dead" staffers quit in protest of Hardwick's return. >> >> LINK >> <https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-hardwick-talking-dead-qutting_us_5b6e0888e4b0530743c9ef2e> >> >> On Sat, Jul 28, 2018 at 7:48 PM M-D November <mdnovem...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> From the linked article: >> “I have been adamant since I came forward with my essay that I never set >> out to ruin the career of the person I spoke about. I could have provided >> more details, but chose not to,” she wrote in a lengthy statement shared on >> Twitter. >> >> “I have said what I wanted to say on the matter, and I wish to move on >> with my life. For that reason, I chose not to participate in the >> investigation against the person I spoke of. I do not believe in an eye for >> an eye, and therefore I have only shared my evidence with those who I felt >> should see it.” >> >> — >> >> Uh huh... >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> Kevin M. (RPCV) >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
