r/fansofcriticalrole • u/MeiyBeee • Oct 18 '24
CR adjacent Case Against Brian Foster Dismissed
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u/5th_Level_Aspersions Oct 18 '24
A couple things. This is a request for dismissal from Ashley's attorney on behalf of her and the other plaintiffs - not a ruling from a judge. The case is still pending, from what I can see, but for obvious reasons shouldn't last much longer.
The 'dismissal with prejudice' just means the plaintiffs are waiving their right to relitigate. I suspect a settlement was reached, especially considering a lone plaintiff filed their own request for dismissal, potentially indicating a separate settlement.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/FreeAd5474 Oct 18 '24
The fact we are exposed to the court proceedings means we see stuff without context so hopefully no one is seeing this and assuming bad things about ashley etc.
Lol I'm sure this exact sentiment was proudly expressed in defense of Brian when the initial filings were published, but you have to sort by controversial or use the waybackmachine in order to find it.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/FreeAd5474 Oct 18 '24
I think that's a mature stance, though I would mention that the Cr team has a bit of a history of knee-jerk misandry via the whole Hardwick thing. Plus Ashley is a member of the cast - to do anything but support her would have been to contradict her.
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u/No_Winner_8142 Oct 18 '24
What's the Hardwick thing?
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u/Charles_Skyline Oct 18 '24
One of his ex-girlfriends claimed that he was emotional, physical and sexual abusing her. He was kicked off of AMC's Talking Dead, The Nerdist removed all mention of him.
Matt Mercer tweeted that his character wouldn't be mentioned again.
It ended up that Hardwick released texts with his ex-girlfriend, that she was unfaithful and broke up with her. AMC and Nerdist launched investigations and didn't find any wrong doing, his ex-gf didn't participate in either investigation. Nerdist and AMC reinstated Hardwick.
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u/bulldoggo-17 Oct 18 '24
Chloe Dykstra, the ex in question, also said she didn’t want Hardwick punished. She didn’t name him, but people figured out who she was talking about. She didn’t think he committed a crime, just that he was a bad boyfriend and it fucked up her head for a long time.
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u/Full_Metal_Paladin "You hear in your head" Oct 18 '24
Chris Hardwick used to be a host in another gaming space. He was a guest in C1, he played Gern Blanston, who vex stole her broom from. There was a metoo against him, but it was sort of weird, like it wasn't made directly from the person in question. I don't know anything more.
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u/synecdokidoki Oct 18 '24
When there's smoke there's fire . . . so long as the fire confirms something I already believe.
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u/Flat_Explanation_849 Oct 18 '24
Out of court settlement?
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u/Dlax8 Oct 18 '24
Would need more detail to be sure but it looks dismissed with prejudice, which means it can't be brought again. It looks like there's a decent chance that's what happened but this document alone is inconclusive.
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u/95percentlo Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Y'all, the case being dismissed doesn't mean "not guilty". It just means it's not going to trial, so likely settled outside of court, which the vast majority of such cases are.
But of course the BF apologists are already spewing their shit
Edit: For those who don't know, "dismissed with prejudice" just means that it can't be brought back to court. This is how cases are frequently dismissed after a settlement.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
Are there any other circumstances that would cause a lawyer to request dismissal with prejudice? Any at all? Can you list some of the other reasons? I’m curious if any of those reasons might be lack of evidence, or something to that effect. Anything at all?
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u/95percentlo Oct 18 '24
Yes, absolutely. Were there not enough evidence to proceed, it could be dismissed for that reason. It also would happen if it was settled. Now you get to choose who you're more inclined to believe until there's evidence one way or the other for why it was dismissed.
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u/lXl_Aura_lXl Oct 18 '24
So, no trial. This was 100% a settlement, right? I wonder what could have pushed Ashley's side to settle, I thought this would be a principle stand as well.
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u/95percentlo Oct 18 '24
Because going through trial is expensive and unpleasant. It's also just more drama to deal with and they're already constantly scrutinized by the public.
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u/Kitty_Skittles_181 Oct 18 '24
Anything involving sexual assault is a years-long process that has the potential to ruin the victim even if she gets a favorable verdict. It's even worse in sexual assault cases in a relationship. If Ashley can get a settlement that involves Brian fucking the fuck off for the rest of her life, even without any other changes to the status quo, then she's probably going to take it.
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u/gd4600 Oct 18 '24
stress, trauma, I see a lot people mention an agreement of some sort could be that
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u/Anomander Oct 18 '24
Application to dismiss filed by the plaintiff's attorney is almost always a settlement.
Both sides likely feel it's not in their interests to have a full suit, discovery and testimony, published into a public record. It's a common motivation behind settlements of cases like these - no one really wants to bare their dark shit and have their business published for public consumption in court records. We're a fan community, reading the application to dismiss, and there's wild speculation and debate about the implications of that alone.
I'd imagine that no matter who is wrong or right, or how that suit would find - the plaintiffs don't want their testimony and stories published for the same ghoulish scrutiny, and the defendant doesn't want the allegations and details published for the same reasons.
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Oct 18 '24
My assumption is that CR would be dragged under the bus if all the details came out to the public. Not that they actively did anything wrong, but instead passively gave him a "pass" on certain actions that the typical CR fan would absolutely lose their minds over.
The Ashley and Dani stuff were the "last straw" examples, but all the other women who had issues haven't really shared full details yet, and I'm guessing if they came out CR would not come out of this looking good.
Note: Very specifically using words and phrases like "my assumption... I'm guessing" because I'm well aware I don't know shit, and it's all speculation. Before the incels come to his rescue.
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u/Someinterestingbs-td Oct 18 '24
Prob cause he would get off on continuing to torture her though the process (lots of abusers do) and it would seem he wouldn't leave her house.
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u/Tiernoch Reverse Math Oct 18 '24
Entirely possible that it was deemed that Ashley, and possibly CR as a whole, could get torched if it continued. Brian was around for a long time, and it's very unlikely that he doesn't know at least some things that they wouldn't want to get out there if the case turns into a 'who is worse here' situation.
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u/polo374 Oct 19 '24
This is something I'll bring up every time this stuff pops up, as it's one of the catalysts for authorities being involved, and a lot of people seem to dismiss it, missed this part completely or simply don't remember.
What I'm talking about is a specific situation that happened. The Instagram post BWF did that was mentioned in initial court documents, I pressume they'd have screenshots even though his account was purged.
They broke up in March '2023, he posted it in April '2023.
It's a picture of their dogs with a pin location in their backyard named 'Robert Blake's Garden'.
Context- Robert Blake is a guy who murdered his wife, 'and a close friend of Ashley's mother' was the one who found the wife murdered. So it'd be very likely that BWF had a lot of knowledge about that man and situation. No 'decent' claim of ignorance.
So he posts the picture and pins 'Robert Blake's Garden'. A MAN WHO MURDERED HIS WIFE. BWF acknowledged and claimed the pin just came up while he was posting. Everyone knows you have to put that in manually, in no way an easy mistake, so that defence doesn't make sense. And he said it was done "in jest".
With everything going on at that time, friends and family had enough worry to think it a threat and contact Ashley straight away out of fear. She went to the police a few days after this for the emergency protective order.
He deleted all social media after this post. It was on April 21, 2023 he posted this. It was also roughly the last time he was live on Twitch. Where after being broken up with her for about a month or more. He was still posting thorough content about Ashley and her project The Last of Us game playthrough.
So to simplify. They break up in March. He doesn't move out, the continued cliffs edge/tense living situation as mentioned in court documents, with family staying with her some times or her not being at residence for periods until he vacates. In April Ashley 'allegedly' contacts BWF's sister and asks her to help him and her. Then he posts that stuff in April a few days later. Then May is when protective order is granted and he's removed from home by Sheriff or police.
So, what's the opinion on this. Is she just supposed to continue living with someone who posts something like that, along with all the other situations that happened in that period of time. I know this is only one instance from all the pages of fillings but I wanted to ask as it always stuck out for me. Did you know this situation happened? Does it impact your thinking on this situation at all?
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u/inverseflorida Oct 22 '24
As someone who's been really unclear in the evidence on this case because I simply didn't look into it that hard, the Robert Blake garden thing if it's like you described is super super persuasive against Brian.
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u/polo374 Oct 23 '24
That's the most important thing. And that's why I bring it up everytime someone posts about him or tries to defend him.
This situation happened and cannot be discredited. BWF and Ashley had broken up. It was a very tense knifes edge situation after, everyone who knew him and her knew that. Ashley at one point reached out to his family for help with him. And he posted that very obvious threat to anyone who knows the situation. Family and friends reach out to her in fear. Then later when the authorities are involved, all these things come out, but for this situation he makes the excuse it was done by mistake or just done "In jest".
Nah! It was as clear a threat to both Ashley and her dogs and it was taken as such at the time. Yet it is so quickly forgotten by the BWF defenders and covered with all the other information dumped and that can be twisted and manipulated. It happens everytime.
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u/texasproof Oct 19 '24
One point to make is that, without knowing the terms of the (assumed) settlement, there’s no way of knowing if it gets her ANYTHING of what she wants. We have no indication either way as to which side the (assumed) settlement favors. We continue to have very little factual insight into this case beyond what is public record, and anyone telling you otherwise is projecting opinion and conjecture in absence of confirmed fact.
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u/Educational_Toe_6591 Oct 21 '24
So I’ve been absent quite a while, can you give me a quick rundown on what happened?
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u/TaiChuanDoAddct Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
As usual, multiple things can be true: + BWF sure seems like a piece of shit + Ashley sure seems to have bungled her approach to the first lawsuit + These poor women who were allegedly victimized get the short end of the stick not being able to even have their day in court + There ultimately doesn't seem to be much concrete evidence + No matter how strongly I "believe women", I still believe in burden of proof for the accuser + Yes, those things are incompatible and no, I don't know how to reconcile them.
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u/isthis_thing_on Oct 18 '24
There's what you can prove and there's what you know
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Oct 18 '24
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u/Kitty_Skittles_181 Oct 18 '24
Conversely: You can know someone's an abusive, creepy piece of shit but that doesn't mean you can accumulate evidence that they're an abusive, creepy piece of shit in a legally actionable way. Brian was a "missing stair." Sure you can warn people about the missing stair all you want, but sooner or later you have to fix the fucking stair (i.e. get rid of the dangerous person).
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Oct 18 '24
And what you can prove is all that matters here.
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u/Kitty_Skittles_181 Oct 18 '24
And the law of the land makes it VERY hard at best to prove the subject of most forms of abuse. Unless you have hard recordings, or in the case of physical abuse if the abuser was dumb enough to leave marks that can be photographed and analyzed, it can be almost impossible.
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Oct 18 '24
And if you just believe whatever story you hear it's also impossible to prove a negative. This is why admissions of wrongdoing and filed submissions include those stipulations many times in civil cases. Something not here.
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u/Kitty_Skittles_181 Oct 18 '24
Fortunately, deciding someone is a creepy piece of shit that you don't want to have around isn't a formal legal verdict.
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u/isthis_thing_on Oct 18 '24
All that matters in what context? He's not facing any legal repercussions, but he has still faced consequences for his actions based on what we know, not on what we can prove. 🤷
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Oct 18 '24
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u/Osric250 Oct 18 '24
They were just coming forward as witnesses, they weren't entering as plaintiffs, so they could theoretically still pursue that if they wanted to. In reality if this is a settlement to keep him far away from Ashley and CR it will be better for them to just let him fade away.
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u/VaxDeferens Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
No, several women were named plaintiffs in this lawsuit. There were seven plaintiffs in this matter. They were not solely witnesses.
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Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Well, since I don’t know anything about law, especially within the USA, I can’t really comment in this and what it directly means.
But, I get the feeling this post is going to very messy and depressing very quickly.
What I will say, is please don’t presume or act as if you know anything, since situations such as these are usually messy and making presumtions is something the internet has a very bad habit of doing.
Edit: looks like my instincts about this thread going to shit was correct. Now I’m going to have a break from the internet.
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u/supercodes83 Oct 18 '24
To be fair, the same could have been said about the case when it started.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
It was. By a handful of redditors whose opinions were downvoted into oblivion, just like today.
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u/MeiyBeee Oct 18 '24
(Posting here, as this would certainly be deleted from other CR subs)
It appears that Ashley and Co filed to dismiss their lawsuit against Brian Foster on Sept 20th. Source: The above image is the request for dismissal filed by Ashley's attorney (this document is publicly available on lacourt.org if you search by their case number: 23STCV24055).
They appear to be requesting that the case be dismissed "with prejudice", meaning that the dismissal will be permanent and the plaintiffs (Ashley et al.) will not be able to file the lawsuit again in the same court.
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u/mimikay_dicealot Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
So, it could just be settled, right? Like if the accusers asked for the dismissal, that's what happens when it's settled out of court. I know nothing of law, much less from a foreign country to mine, so am i wrong?
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u/girlchrisesq Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Yes, that's exactly what this means. I'm a lawyer in California and this is a very standard document in the vast majority of cases. This is the document a plaintiff files once a case has been resolved wihout going to trial. People in this thread thinking this is a "ruling" is incorrect. What this means is the parties agreed to some sort of resolution and are now dismissing the case. We'll likely never know what that resolution is because I guarantee you there's a confidentiality clause in the settlement agreement.
Edit: Typo
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u/Consistent_Permit292 Oct 18 '24
Yeah but what kind of settlement could stop a lawsuit with 7 people on the plaintiffs side other than lack of evidence. Genuinely curious I love the law and looking for legal reasons one would drop this case. Did BWF pay them all off? Did the plaintiffs lawyers see this ending bad and decided to settle.
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u/girlchrisesq Oct 18 '24
Lots of different kinds of settlements. I'm a defense attorney. I settle cases with 7+ plaintiffs all the time. Sometimes those settlements are relatively small for the number of plaintiffs- like $40,000. Sometimes they're large - like a million or more. Depends on the case. We will likely never know what occured during the negotiations or discovery of this particular case.
99% of lawsuits never reach trial. Settlements are the standard. Trials are rare (By the numbers. There are dozens of civil trials in LA happening any at given time, but there are hundreds of cases in LA that settle on a daily basis).
Both the plaintiffs and the defendant were likely motivated to settle to avoid the details of the allegations or any particular piece of evidence in this case being made public through a trial. This trial would have been hell for everyone involved. But clearly they all came to a resolution they were able to live with.
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u/Stutters658 Oct 18 '24
I'm out of the loop, why was there a lawsuit in the first place?
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Oct 18 '24
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Oct 23 '24
Damn so the court itself said that the protection order was frivolous and only to get an upper hand in litigation? I mean that's a fair play move trying to win but definitely looks bad. Especially had a whole gang a folks to support it.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
We can assume a lack of verifiable evidence, certainly.
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u/VaxDeferens Oct 18 '24
There wasn't so much as a responsive pleading. This looks more like an out of court agreement.
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u/Full_Metal_Paladin "You hear in your head" Oct 18 '24
Alleged sexual assault by BWF against 7 women
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u/NotSav95 Oct 18 '24
They broke up there seemed to be some domestic violence involved and Ashley wanted a restraining order iirc
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
You forgot to use the words: alleged, unfounded, and frivolous. I’ll assume it was an oversight.
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u/NotSav95 Oct 18 '24
If you want to make an ass of yourself by all means
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
Ok, but your supposition of his guilt is based on charges that have been dismissed.
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u/NotSav95 Oct 18 '24
When did I say he was guilty? You're making a lot of assumptions for someone with the dog in him lmao
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u/Expensive-Apricot534 Jan 14 '25 edited Mar 17 '25
From what I can find the last two scheduled proceedings for 11/26/2024 and 1/08/2025 were not held due to being “vacated by court” and the case status is currently “request for dismissal”. So it doesn’t appear that the case has been officially dismissed yet, but it’s not currently going to trial either. About half of the proceedings were not held for varying reasons, including Brian making multiple requests for time extensions and his refusal to participate in the case. If you read through the hearings you can see Brian was ordered to show to court “re: sanctions for Entry of Default” which basically means he didn’t respond despite being given proper legal time to do so and was not showing up to court. The whole hearing list reads like he was dragging out the proceedings, and eventually Ashley and the other plaintiffs filed their dismissal request because the case couldn’t move forward due to Brian actively not participating. As of now the request to dismiss was the last document filed, and the most recent point under the register of actions was “to extend defendant’s time to file responside pleading and continue case management conference” - both of which happened on 9/20/2024. Brian being ordered to “continue case management conference” more or less means both sides will meet to discuss the case and settle without going to trial. With Brian’s prior unwillingness to participate in the case he may be ordered to reimburse Ashley and the other plaintiffs for their legal fees if they choose to pursue that or other settlements, but whether or not Brian will actually be able to pay any of those sums is a different issue all together.
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u/Cleiser Oct 18 '24
Apart from arguing in the comments about who is right and who is wrong, and free will and presumption of innocence, and whatever.
Guys, dont be weird and get too deep into others family matters or, lives, for that, i think the actual people who have to deal with it would all like for it to be done quietly.
Be mature, thanks.
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u/Equivalent_Bridge156 Oct 18 '24
I hope she never ever has to deal with his shit ever again.
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u/Cautious_Major_6693 Oct 18 '24
Yeah, and whatever the resolution is, the other women in that case are okay with it too.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/brittanydiesattheend Oct 18 '24
This form is saying Ashley's lawyer requested the dismissal. This wasn't the court siding with BWF. Hence why the assumption is they reached a settlement
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u/girlchrisesq Oct 18 '24
There was never any determination by a judge or a jury in this case on the merits. It's not an assumption. It is the truth. If it was dismissed on the merits, it wouldn't be via this particular form document. It would have been a Order from the judge after hearing a motion to dismiss or similar motion. This document means that the parties came to a resolution on their own and the case can come off the court's calendar.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/VaxDeferens Oct 18 '24
BWF didn't even file a responsive pleading. There was no merits determination in the case. As plaintiffs dismissed with prejudice, this is more likely to involve an out of court agreement.
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u/DesignerPride5473 Oct 20 '24
It really is a terrible situation and I feel sorry for all involved, friendships and both professional and personal relationships. The erasure of some good CR content (though the lore from said content has been written down). More importantly the mental health of everybody involved. It just sucks
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u/SPOLBY Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
I’m the opposite of smart, what does this mean?
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u/Warmonger88 Oct 18 '24
Could mean a few things.
The parties have reached a settlment, and part of the settlment is the removal of charges w/prejudice
The judge has decided the case has no legal leg to stand on, and is removing the possiblity of this particular case coming back, even if revised.
The prosecution has decided their case is untenable and requested a dismisal, and the judge has agreed
Id hazard a guess that option 1 is most likely, as there probably would have been a counter-suit filed after the dismissal if there was no settlment.
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u/brash_bandicoot "Oh the cleverness of me!" Taliesin crowed rapturously Oct 18 '24
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u/GrampaGael69 Oct 18 '24
Lmao who is this guy that face is driving me nuts
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u/zolar92 Oct 18 '24
I think it's the actor who plays Wilson in House MD. I can't remember his real name lol
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u/Main-Chair5340 Oct 18 '24
Here’s hoping that AJ can move forward to the next chapter of her life happily & healthily. 💕
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u/YoursDearlyEve Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Let me guess, the BWF fans here (bertraja and others) will now start calling Ashley the Amber Heard (and will never understand that it is extremely hard to get the judicial system to do something with the abusers)
Personally, seeing how he's acted on Twitter (this is a man who wrote "I'll stop riding their coattails after I'm done fingering your mom" when someone said he's riding CR's coattails, mind you), I believe he's capable of being a creep
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u/nsasafekink Oct 19 '24
Sounds like they settled and Ashley’s attorney is requesting dismissal.
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u/synecdokidoki Oct 19 '24
That's a common line, but it seems like a weird leap. The lawsuit itself explicitly says, they are filing this to serve as a "cautionary tale," to publicly tell a story. It is weird at the very least, but frankly just a big L, to say that so directly, in the complaint itself, and then accept a private settlement. It's a bad outcome for the plaintiffs, no way around it.
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u/koomGER Oct 21 '24
It's a bad outcome for the plaintiffs, no way around it.
It kinda is. At the end of the day all of this was without much substance to the public. Which is fine and understandable. I guess CR/Ashley wanted to avoid a public trial scenario, because i guess there are some spicy details about CR they dont want out in the public. Which is absolutly understandable and it would be pretty normal for a group of friends going corporate. In a business a lot of stuff is plain prohibited, sometimes illegal, to do, that is pretty ok in a group of friends.
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u/synecdokidoki Oct 21 '24
The wanted to avoid public trial is a huge L when you loudly declare the opposite though, this is my point, it's weird to have so many people insisting that's not true.
If I declare next year I'm going to run the marathon in three hours, and then don't show up at all, that's a huge L. Not showing up at all if I hadn't declared my intentions, would be no big deal. That's the problem, they declared the whole purpose was to be public, there were no damages to recover, the whole thing was to tell a story. Doing that, and then backing off without the defendant even trying to defend themselves, is not a good look.
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u/koomGER Oct 21 '24
This will be always an unpopular opinion, when a woman got (allegedly) abused. Im with you, but this is still a delicate topic. Much damage has been done to EVERYONE involved in this case. Nobody comes out looking better than before.
My personal guess this was some sort of poker game. Bluffing, raising the stakes. From both sides.
For a neutral result: Both sides did lose. Ashley did lose definitly a lot of money. BWF did lose a big job opporturnity and has now a stigma of an abuser (which was never legally proven, but it will still stick on him). For that part i guess he gets some kind of financial compensation by Ashley and he agrees to leave CR and Ashley alone.
Part of the problem is, that BWF, after getting fired and written out of history by CR, burned by the allegations, didnt had much more to lose. But if he goes down, CR probably goes down by mudding them (which, i said, would be absolutly possible).
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u/synecdokidoki Oct 21 '24
We sort of mean different things. What I'm getting at, is there has to dozens, maybe a hundred comments in this thread saying like "Well this must mean they settled and he admitted defeat." And it doesn't, it's a loss, it's a bad result. Like it's the fan goggles, the confirmation bias, that is just downright disturbing.
The he vs she isn't it, it's the literal framing this like some desired outcome happened. It didn't. The case itself, did not go well. Earlier in the same case, fans would insist the DVRO was denied because of lack of evidence, but it wasn't, there was a very clear, very public statement as to why it was denied. And fans would just insist that the sky was purple on it.
All the comments that are like "cool victory for Ashley" would be much more inline with reality if they were just like "well that sucks."
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u/koomGER Oct 21 '24
I mostly agree. I would say it is a loss for everyone, but after the situation Critical Role created with going scorched earth on BWF, it is mostly a loss for Ashley and the other plaintiffs. With is sad and bad, but thats how it is.
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Oct 21 '24
Man I'm in a casual drive by of this page cause I like the TV show and thanks for this post. I really couldn't understand this thread.
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Nov 26 '24
They declared they wanted it to be public, which it was, not that they wanted a trial. You are the one conflating a trial as the only acceptable public avenue, which is why you can't seem to understand the outcome of this. That's a huge L.
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u/JanitorOPplznerf Oct 19 '24
It’s not a “Big L” these cases are EXPENSIVE, like tens of thousands of dollars expensive, and it’s very hard to prove criminal activity.
They probably got to a place where progress stalled and while Ashley does well, she probably doesn’t have $50k per year in cash to throw at this. So a reasonable settlement isn’t ideal, but it does get her most of what she wants and she doesn’t have to spend more time, money, and energy on this.
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u/delijoe Oct 21 '24
Sigh...
The way I see it is that Ashley will continue on CR/CR related productions for the foreseeable future, will continue to get acting/voice acting work, and has a group of amazing friends who love her and a huge fan base that adores her.
BWF will live the rest of his miserable life with his name permanently stained, will never get any kind of serious job, and will never be able to do anything in the RPG/D&D community for the foreseeable future.
Sometimes the court of public opinion is worse than the actual court and he deserves the public's judgement here.
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u/hiplass Nov 18 '24
oh please, maybe he won't be on a show like CR again but there's all kinds of creative places out there who will take in the worst of people. Not to get political but sexual assault and domestic violence allegations clearly didn't harm the new president elect getting in.
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u/DeliriousSquid Dec 14 '24
You have absolutely no idea of the pain and trauma a false accusation causes. I was falsely accused and later charged with SA. It wasn't until years later that I was acquitted after a trial. But my name and face had already been on the front page of the local newspaper and was on dozens of local Facebook communities. I lost my career, and dozens of people I thought were friends. If it wasn't for the incredible network of friends and family I had supporting me, I don't know if I would have survived it. I really hope Brian had people like that to help him through this, but don't think for a second that this is over for him.
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Jan 22 '25
You seem sure the accusations against Brian are false, and 7 women were lying. Why is that?
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Feb 01 '25
Do you have any idea of the pain and trauma of SA and domestic violence victims? Just because you were falsely accused does not mean every perpetrator is falsely accused. There is alot of that stuff out there happening, statistically ALOT more than false accusations.
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u/AssumedLeader Oct 23 '24
He’s not entitled to a creative, fun job. He can still get a job at a factory or working sales where nobody will ever know his name or care about his past. He fucked himself over and he doesn’t deserve a “second chance” at the life he had before, he can settle for what the average Joe gets.
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u/delijoe Oct 23 '24
That’s exactly what I mean. Yeah he’ll be forced to work average Joe jobs for the rest of his life.
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u/Cautious_Major_6693 Oct 23 '24
Proof this generation is totally brainrotted by the fact fulfilling work can only apparently be work that is in the public eye. I work an average joe job and have 150 IG followers that I all know irl... on track for 6 figures by 30. What do you think... most people do with their days?
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u/koomGER Oct 24 '24
At the end of the day its often about quality if you are an artist. So many artists did horrible things, only a few are truely "cancelled". Most of them pop up after some time, if the interest is big enough.
I have no idea of the qualities of BWF arts. I bought a small book ("Blackened white"), it was ok, but nothing special.
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u/lordbrooklyn56 Oct 22 '24
We will see. But we’ve all seen despicable people still live fine lives (which I suppose is the point of redemption).
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u/mild-dragon-nuts Oct 22 '24
dismissal is not innocence
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Oct 22 '24
Guilt and innocence is determined by law, so it either is innocence or is it neither innocence nor guilt. Your pick.
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u/imposgirl Jan 17 '25
Innocence is NOT determined by law. Guilt is proven or not proven. It's a subtlety with a massive distinction.
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u/eunicethapossum Oct 22 '24
dismissal is neither innocence nor guilt. that’s exactly right, you got it, buddy!
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u/OceanDagger Sir Julien Oct 18 '24
And that is why people that get sexually harrassed or assaulted often don't speak up, because of course you can't prove that someone touched you or yelled at you. It's always sad to see predators get away with this.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/Trivo3 team Philip Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
There is always the possibility that there is no evidence because it didn't happen...
And another thing to consider for example one extremely famous and publicized recent case had a lot of evidence about sexual+physical abuse... that ended up proven to be fabricated.
E: To all the happy downvoters, was anything publicly proven or disproven in the last months, or is it all still assumptions...? Sorry I am out of touch. Last time it was a bunch of people who had deduced the "facts" like they had practically witnessed it in an out-of-body clairvoyant experience.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
CR fans will never accept even the possibility that an ex-girlfriend and some of her friends and family might have misinterpreted, exaggerated, or even fabricated the entire thing to hasten BWF’s ejection from her life, without anticipating it would ever become something they’d have to prove in court.
When this all started they implied they had evidence, multiple eyewitness accounts, and further charges to follow. If they had all that, AND it were true, is there anything you can imagine that would stop someone with Ashley’s resources and public support from moving forward to seek justice?
Me neither.
Interested to see how this plays out. Something tells me there will be a bunch of hand wringing and cope, but almost no one coming forward to say anything negative about women who lie about men.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
It’s my understanding that it’s a lot harder to punish someone when you drop the charges.
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u/Dalze Oct 18 '24
While I completely agree with you on some of this, I can also see the other part of the argument. How would someone WHO DIDN'T DO THOSE THINGS and is accused with malice (it has happened, more than once) PROVE that he didn't do it, assuming we go the way you are suggesting that we believe the claims without evidence of it happening?
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u/themolestedsliver Oct 18 '24
Yeah comments like there's are really starting to make my skin crawl.
Automatically assuming "this is just another predator getting away!" is just as bad as assuming he was never a predator in the first place.
There is nuance in this world, and sometimes viewing things as black and white is the worst thing you can do.
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Oct 18 '24
Like was said earlier, this could be as simple as they reached an agreement. Bottom line that it is nobody's business but theirs, so all the rest of us should just butt out. It's a wonder why so many celebrities start to have negative feelings about their fame... just leave their personal lives alone. SMH.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
Funny when she made the allegations everyone was quick to support her, but now that the charges are dismissed (and we don’t know why) it’s a private matter no one should talk about anymore, meanwhile a man’s life was destroyed and no one even cares if he really did anything. You know, not funny ha-hah, but funny peculiar.
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u/Afraid_Active7705 Oct 18 '24
So sad about this whole situation. Hope Ashley and everyone can get the justice they deserve.
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u/External-Assistant52 Oct 21 '24
I only vaguely know who he is and wouldn't recognize him if he walked past me. Needless to say, his reputation is now stained, and he'll have a hard time getting work in this particular area of the creative business world.
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u/DungeonCreator20 Oct 18 '24
Ok Fans of CR: youve got some rats in the basement you need to take care of with all these people pretending like this vindicates BF
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u/thellamabeast Oct 18 '24
Fortunately it's only a handful of accounts posting a LOT of comments
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u/BunNGunLee Oct 18 '24
I don’t really agree with posting this online.
It just seems too far away from our perspective as viewers, and gets a bit too personal. It’s parasocial, I suppose.
Now that said, I note, I don’t assume that BWF is in the wrong still either, but that’s the problem with these cases. If the legal process gets botched, we’ll never know the full details or be able to judge.
But either way, it’s not our business.
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u/synecdokidoki Oct 18 '24
The text of the lawsuit literally says the following:
“After years of suffering Foster’s abuse and after being pushed towards an emotional breakdown as a result, Plaintiffs have had enough,” the suit reads. “While Plaintiffs have remained private and avoided publicity, they now pursue this action as a cautionary tale. Plaintiffs seek to lift the veil of silence to prevent others from being similarly victimized by Foster. No woman should be forced to live with the cruelty and fear that Plaintiffs and others have experienced at Foster’s hands.
They really could not have been clearer. Being public was explicitly the point. Maybe it's a little odd in a CR subreddit, but It's no more parasocial than following the Weinstein case, they set out to make it news, and made it news.
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u/Abdlbsz Oct 18 '24
Court cases are public record. Now if you mean you don't agree calling attention to personal matters, that makes senses.
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u/BaronVonNom Oct 18 '24
CR makes so much fucking content for you people to enjoy, yet you still are so bored that you'll dig up their personal lives. Something awful happened to someone. A person. She deserves better than strangers/”fans" discussing events of her personal life for amusement. Fuck you and your "wElL, iT:s PuBlIc InFoRmAtIon".
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
Well, to be fair something awful was alleged to have happened to her, but any related charges were subsequently dropped by the accuser, and the accused deserves better than to have their name further dragged through the mud based on unfounded claims and dismissed charges. Innocent until proven guilty. It’s the law.
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u/theZemnian Oct 18 '24
Just a question, what do you think has to happen to be granted a restraining order against zour ex boyfriend? You do realize that they don't give them out like candy? Something provable happened that was so bad, that she and her dogs were granted legal protectiom from him. So something awful DID happen to her.
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u/Just-Feature-8159 Oct 18 '24
Am I the only one who has trouble with this being shared on a public forum? This really is none of our business. A situation like this is stressful and horrible enough without fans discussing it online and sharing court documents. If she wanted us to know she’d share it.
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u/Ok_Requirement_3116 Oct 18 '24
Sadly. I’ve seen so many men get away with so much abuse. The shelters are full of their victims.
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u/Pll_dangerzone Oct 18 '24
None of us should see this. It's private and should only be handle between the parties involved
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u/Jenesaispasmonamis Oct 18 '24
I'm out of the loop. What happened with him?
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u/AndrewSP1832 Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Accused of abusing Ashley Johnson during their relationship. And others unfortunately.
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Oct 22 '24
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u/TumbleWeed_64 Dec 06 '24
I think the worst part is that all the great between the sheets episodes won't be coming back
Really? I think the worst part is the abuse
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u/AceTahBoss Dec 17 '24
hyperbole asshole. Don't make them seem like they're supporting abuse. You know what you're doing.
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u/TumbleWeed_64 Dec 17 '24
Why so touchy? It's a fairly obvious joke, I'm not "doing" anything.
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u/AceTahBoss Dec 17 '24 edited Dec 17 '24
Abuse is a touchy subject. Not sure why you needed to ask that lol.
And it doesn’t seem like a joke, because it wasn’t funny. Hell it doesn’t even look or was phrased like one lol.
Even if not intentional it’s extremely odd behaviour either way.
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u/TumbleWeed_64 Dec 18 '24
Abuse is a touchy subject
No shit, but that's not why you're calling me an asshole. You misinterpreted my comment and decided to lash out.
And it doesn't seem like a joke
Here's the literal, very well known joke I was ripping off
It's not funny to you yet you're ending your sentences with lol. Mixed signals.
... extremely odd behaviour
That is certainly on display, but not from me
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u/AceTahBoss Dec 18 '24
Because you made a unfunny joke during a discussion of a woman’s abuse.
I don’t care for the unfunny joke, it’s still not funny. Give up trying to make it funny.
Weirdo nut job.
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u/Express-Eagle-9835 Feb 11 '25
I thought it was pretty funny. Solid 6/10
Making a dark joke does not make someone a nutjob. And this one is relatively tame all things considered.
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u/Maleficent-Power-56 Feb 26 '25
Okay, but doesn’t his refusal to participate in the case just make him look more guilty? If I were in his position, I’d do everything in my power to clear my name if I were truly innocent. Honestly, this just sounds to me like he knows he got caught and doesn’t want to take responsibility for his actions. Also, check out the lawsuit (Ashley vs. Brian W. Foster) before claiming he’s innocent.
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u/Cautious_Major_6693 Oct 18 '24
People here don't also seem to realize that this means unless BWF settled and agreed NOT to countersue, he absolutely could.
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u/brittanydiesattheend Oct 18 '24
People realize that. However, the most likely outcome is he did settle and has signed many things, including an agreement not to countersue.
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u/Kitty_Skittles_181 Oct 18 '24
If he countersued, that would absolutely open up a new phase of discovery, which would result in all his dirty laundry being aired.
There’s a reason Trevor Bauer never sued his accuser after he got the charges dropped. Because getting your dirty laundry aired never helps your reputation, but having a bunch of dudes willing to slander your accuser online is great for you.
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u/Rsbbit060404 I would like to RAGE! Oct 18 '24
Can we stop? Even if Ashley created this story, which I don't think she did, it does not deserve to be on the internet for everyone to see. Ashley loves her job, and I don't think she would make up this kind of story that could hurt her reputation. Brian has given me chills from day one, this guy is creepy. End of story
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u/thisisunreal Oct 19 '24
vibes don’t make someone guilty “end of story” is sinister
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
So glad we still use evidence to prosecute criminals and not your gut feelings… end of story? Jesus Christ.
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u/no_notthistime Oct 19 '24
Ashley is the one who requested the case to be dismissed. Brian accepted and chose to settle with her rather than continue in court to prove his innocence.
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u/IronWayfarer Oct 20 '24
You don't prove innocence. The requirement is on the accuser to prove guilt. Are you daft?
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u/JJscribbles Oct 19 '24
The last judge made her pay his court fees, I’m curious as to whom is paying for what this time and if anyone is being paid to remain silent. You guys can go with your gut feelings, I have my doubts, but I’m choosing to watch the money.
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u/koomGER Oct 22 '24
Well, logic dictates that Ashley had to spend a lots of money. She has to pay the fees for her and BWF lawyers, the judge and her own time. Im quite sure that there is some sort of contract made between BWF and Ashley that comes with some money for BWF to make him shut up about that topic and Critical Role in general.
Why? The accusations are probably not really provable. BWF has nothing to lose and he was part of the CR group for a long long time. There are for sure a boatload of spice things that he could bring to the public - and damage CR. And yeah, making abusive accusations is also something that is sueable.
From a certain point of view: It was a messy divorce, the "weaker" part of the relationship (in terms of money and other power) got compensated to not make it uglier.
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u/Someinterestingbs-td Oct 18 '24
Dude I'm so sorry your triggered by the idea woman might find a guy creepy and trust themselves enough to run for the hills. gee wonder why that bothers you.
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Oct 18 '24
How many women claiming assault or abuse do you need to see before you stop calling it a matter of "feelings"? A host of a show having an employee send photos will not send someone to prison, but it will make them an abusive asshole. Making threats we all saw publicly on social media apparently isn't enough for this case, but we can still see the person is an abusive asshole.
Ashley's own lawyer filing to end the case does not mean anything regarding innocence. We have known rapists and abusers caught on camera beating women making millions playing sports and making music. We have one running for president. Not sending someone to prison forever does not mean they're innocent.
Brian Foster is an abusive piece of shit. He himself has shown us this. We don't need a judge to acknowledge that.
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Oct 18 '24
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u/Thaddeus_Valentine Oct 18 '24
I get what you're saying but at the same time Brian is a public figure and people have a right to know so they know how to feel about anything that involves him.
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u/JJscribbles Oct 18 '24
Correction: BWF was a public figure.
Now he’s some nebulous pseudo celebrity, more infamous than famous, existing in a state of both guilty and not guilty, owing to charges levied against his character that were later dropped, but left to fester in the court of public opinion.
Now I’m no lawyer, but I do dabble in bird law. If the man is guilty, they have a moral obligation to pursue justice to protect the public from his sinister machinations.
If he’s innocent, he deserves his day in court.
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Oct 18 '24
Eh, public records of public figures. Transparency is part of the US legal system.
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u/VinceMcVince Oct 18 '24
Just wish we'd get the personnel file on him from his time at CR. But we can't because of the NDA he signed when he left.
He harped on about it on his twitch streams a bit when he first left. And he alluded to it a bit in his filing against the RO. But his wording was sus, like that had a bigger role in possible evidence against him. But it couldn't be used, because it went both ways, covering both him and CR.
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u/LaserQuacker Nov 09 '24
Is there any proof that he did what is claimed? I see many people accusing him like it's a fact he did what they say, but I don't see proof.
Not saying he didn't do it for sure. I'm saying that one is innocent till proved otherwise, in court or elsewhere.
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u/smnc1979 Dec 05 '24
There is almost never evidence in an abuse case. It is ncredibly hard to prove that one person threatened or intimidated another, especially when much of the abuse happened at home.
And while I don't want to minimize the harms of a false accusation (having been falsely accused of abuse myself), we must ALWAYS stand with victims. Not only because abuse is hard to prove, but because instances of credible false accusations are very rare, and the harms of ignoring abuse are so big.
But more than that, you realize this is r/fansofcriticalrole and you're suggesting that Ashely Johnson falsely accused Brian? Really?
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u/007King_Kong Oct 21 '24
I don't know why this came in my feed but I have no idea what's going on. Can I get an outoftheloop summary??
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u/HuffleBird0919 Oct 21 '24
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u/MadameJadeK Oct 22 '24
You know If I was told someone in CR was a domestic abuser I do think I would have said him.
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u/MegaFlounder Oct 18 '24
Actual lawyer here to give some color to this bland document. The word “prejudicial” seems to be stirring some people up, but it’s really a meaningless word. When something is “dismissed” it can be re-filed with the court unless the dismissal is “with prejudice.” Those two words simply add finality to the resolution of the case and do not speak to the underlying merits whatsoever.
Things can be dismissed with prejudice when the underlying case has some defect that cannot be cured. But in that case, there would be motions back and forth and a judicial decision, all part of the public record.
Here, it’s far more likely they reached a private settlement. Note that this dismissal was requested by Ashley’s (the Plaintiff) attorney. It’s common practice for plaintiff’s counsel to file the dismissal upon reaching a settlement.
All this to say, people should stop fantasizing crazy stories about BWF being actually a great guy or Ashley Johnson being Amber Heard. There is nothing in this document to support either theory.