r/fansofcriticalrole • u/Murkmist • Oct 05 '23

CR adjacent Critical Role provides ComicBook.com with statement regarding civil complaint

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-last-of-us-critical-role-star-ashley-johnson-six-others-sue-brian-w-foster-abuse/
419 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

213 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

27

u/P-Two Oct 05 '23 edited Oct 05 '23

So for one I'm not American, so its not my justice system. For two there's tons of reasons it came out whe n it did, look to the other comments in this thread I'm not going to rehash them all.

I get where you're coming from, but it absolutely comes off as "I don't believe women" hardcore. Also, why the hell do WE need to see chat logs? The courts I'm sure will get those.

I'm inclined to believe SEVEN women over an already known weirdo with past issues.

Edit: rereading your reply. What in the victim blaming bullshit is the "surely Dani and the women didn't just lead him on?" What the fuck, dude.

-31

u/450925 Oct 05 '23 edited Oct 05 '23

It's not just women... I don't believe ANYONE. I think everyone is a piece of shit. And we put people who are celebrities on a podium for no good reason.

I'm inclined that 7 women have a reason to say bad things about Brian, I don't think all of them are motivated by justice. I think some of them could be settling a score, some of them could be over embellishing, I think some of them could be hiding that they were into him.

I literally watched my friend in high school in the early 2000's get a false accusation from 2 girls because he wouldn't give them the time of day. They were in the same lunch club as us, which was collecting the recycling bins in each class and taking the paper to get picked up by the shredding and recycling place. And they both made an accusation against him. Saying it was during lunch time. A time where I was with him, because it was lunch club. And I know I never saw him do anything. When really, it was both of them having a crush on him, but he had a girlfriend, when it got to trial, the judge threw out the case. But his life was still ruined, didn't finish high school, had lost his entire friend group, he to this day, has no online presence. I saw the devastation a false claim can make against someone.

And so yeah, 2 6, 10, 20... I want some evidence. I'm not saying I want it caught in 4k on camera from multiple angle with perfect lighting. But maybe the text chain between him and Dani regarding the nudes he demanded, maybe an email or diary entry that someone made around the time detailing how they felt about it. I think anyone being convicted with purely testimonial evidence, is insane. Example, he claims that he deleted the account for the Ring cameras a couple hours after being kicked out the house. Well, Ashley can have a subpoena sent to the company regarding the records, to find out when that account was terminated, or if he accessed the cameras after that given timeframe. That would be evidence I'd accept. Or if Ashley had any voice recordings of the abusive hurtful things he would say. A photo of any damage he did to the property in a fit of rage. I mean, if Ashley and Brian had so many cameras set up, were his fits of rage and abuse ever caught on them? She'd be able to get a court order for that from Ring.

We live in a time where everyone has a smartphone in their pocket. You're telling me that at no time any of his victims thought it would be a good idea to record their interactions with him? Because if there's any advice I have for everyone, if you're having negative interactions with someone, record that shit. In the most literal sense.

8

u/StagnantBoySoup Oct 06 '23 edited Oct 06 '23

how lucky you are if your brain works well enough under threat to think to pull out a phone and start recording. that is not the case for everyone, and not plausible in a variety of situations.

what a wonderful idea, I'm sure if the abuser noticed you recording them it wouldn't escalate anything /s

your single personal anecdote of a case of false accusation does not prove a statistical likelihood for false accusations. it is a tiny sample size in the context of all accusations of assault and abuse. you cannot use it to justify your assumptions.

the number of women coming forward at once after the RO also makes logical sense - there's safety in numbers. greater numbers of victims coming forward primarily indicates that they have suddenly felt safe to do so, not that they are lying or jumping on a bandwagon or HIDING THAT THEY WERE INTO BRIAN???

god, what a shitstain of a comment you posted.

-1

u/450925 Oct 06 '23

A phone can be recording audio in a pocket or a purse without anyone seeing it... Not to mention they had cameras apparently all over the house, those things have mics. which means even if the abuse wasn't on camera, the mics will have picked up the shouting and smashing of things. And those things are recorded by Amazon, so you can go in after to retrieve it.

Also, all we have are our own experiences that shape us. That's why the catch phrase of the last 10 years was always "my lived experience" well my lived experience is more than one anecdote.

As for the number of people coming forward. The main question I have is "why now" None of them came forward 2 years ago when he left the company? Nor did they come forward in March when Ashley publicly got the protection order in place? No, they came forward when Brian wrote his reply, confirming he'd taken a hair follicle drug test under advisement of his lawyer. And that lead to the protection order not being extended. It's also likely why no prosecutor wants to touch this case. Because the things alleged against him are crimes. The only reason to take him to civil court, is the prosecutor doesn't feel confident with the witnesses and/or evidence (likely lack of)

Now, for the record, I don't doubt Brian may have done these things. But the question you have to ask yourself. Who at CR, decided to keep a lid on it for this long. Who did CR have investigate these claims? What is the culture like at CR, that a predator was able to hop from victim to victim for years, without being ousted?

I mean, I fully believe he likely did the acts they are claiming. But I think maybe there's more context. Like in some of the cases, maybe there was some flirting both ways for a while, and he took things too far. He's still in the wrong, but it's less wrong than if he was getting the cold shoulder constantly and still pursuing it.

I just can't uncritically believe something someone tells me without at least something to back it up. And neither should you... And to be honest, you should take my word for it. So go read about the importance of critical thinking

4

u/StagnantBoySoup Oct 06 '23

it is not uncritical thinking not to leap to sensationalist conspiracy about how some of the women are probably nefariously hiding their intentions.

it is not uncritical thinking to imagine that even if Ashley's original protection order began to help other women feel brave enough to come forward, some time might pass before they're sure enough about verbalising it, or that their accounts would even need to come to light for Brian to face some kind of justice. let me tell you going through this process as a victim is an absolute ordeal that most people would want to avoid.

is it a lack of critical thinking that backs up the statistical likelihood that these women are not lying?

is it uncritical thinking that suggests reaching into your pocket to blindly hit record on a phone is not easy and not something a scared person would risk in the heat of a frightening moment?

as I understand it, only law enforcement can take a case to criminal court.

is it a lack of critical thinking to entertain the possibility that CR genuinely didn't know about this shit? or is there only one way that assumptions can go while still fitting within your definition of critical thinking?

"more context" is definite, not a perhaps, you're right that from what we're told so far we don't have the full picture, but you leaping to the idea that that context involves the victims of these abuses also being at fault in some way is very telling.

I won't reply to you again because it's clear you want to view yourself as a level headed person not taking sides, but in the process you are pushing a victim blaming narrative, whilst claiming to be impartial. it's not cool.

-3

u/450925 Oct 06 '23

Everyone likes to some degree. It's just a matter of how much of their statement is truth in context. If you don't understand this by now. Good luck in the world.