This is about the money.
If Ryan Seacrest was not the face of E!, was not the producer of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," would the outlet take this stand?
I don't know what happened here. I was not there. But all I know is the word of women, especially when they're not rich and powerful, is not believed by men in charge of making financial/network/legal decisions.
That team that cleared Seacrest... How many women were on it?
And what was the standard? Was the standard that he didn't do it, or that it couldn't be proved? Believe me, there's a world of difference, that's what the public does not understand about the legal system. Just because someone is guilty, that does not mean they're prosecuted, never mind convicted.
So we've got this story of the stylist...
I've got to ask, why would she make it up? Why would she bring it up now? What exactly is her motivation?
Seacrest says cash. And where there's a hit there's a writ, get famous and lowlifes come out of the woodwork, but why now, why would this woman wait all this time?
Furthermore, she sacrificed her career. She changed industries.
But no, we've got to sustain the life of the rich and famous, read on TMZ about who Seacrest is dating, hear about how fabulous he is. Furthermore, it's been well-documented that so many of the rich and famous have lost touch with reality and believe they're untouchable.
Once again, I've got no personal knowledge here, but I do know we live in changed times.
Due process. Yup, that's the standard we lived by forever, wherein men harassed and abused women and got away with it. And if you made enough noise they wrote you a check and sent you away and told you you could not play. Which is why so many women just shut up.
And the HR department reported to the same men who offended.
So now we've got women who are using the media to spread their stories and men are claiming how this is unfair. No, this is payback for generations of abuse.
There is a continuum of behavior, and there should be a continuum of punishment, but we've got to develop that. Meanwhile, pent-up anger is dominant. And even men who've been accused by multiple women deny, believing if they just stonewall they can triumph in the end. So are we supposed to believe Seacrest's denial?
"Rolling Stone" prints the stories of more women harassed by Charlie Walk and the exec just says it didn't happen. It's like living in Russia, where Putin denies, denies, denies, watch "Icarus," your head will spin. So when another man says he didn't do it, we tend not to believe him.
But it's too late for Ryan, the court of public opinion has turned against him.
Women are talking about ignoring him at the Oscars. Believe me, we're just hours away, a day or two at most, from E! pulling Seacrest from the telecast, because this is gonna be bad TV, this is gonna hurt the brand, and it's all about the brand.
And Seacrest's brand is the milquetoast host. And when you're everywhere you've got to be squeaky clean. And if you're not...it's no defense that everybody is doing it. And so many are sick of Seacrest, they'd be glad to see him go.
So Fox stood by O'Reilly and Ailes for so long because they were cash cows. The corporation kept paying and paying for fear of hurting Fox. The irony is, the men's absence hasn't seemed to hurt the outlet at all, and O'Reilly has disappeared into the ether. Proving that E! has more power than it thinks it does, no one really cares if it's Ryan Seacrest interviewing stars on the red carpet. Then again, E! is challenged in the cable melt-down, when we all go to streaming services is E! gonna survive? Probably not.
As for ABC and "Idol"...
They've got too much invested, they've already shot footage, they're hoping it will all blow over.
But where there's smoke there's fire.
Now we've got another worker corroborating the stylist's story.
So Seacrest is a victim of all the males who came before him, a President whose bad behavior is caught on tape who then denies it. Denials ring hollow.
Best to say you did it, say you were out of your mind, and then wait for other bad actors to steal your thunder and then sneak back in when the time is right. That's what Louis C.K. seems to be doing. You never read about him anymore, he admitted his crime and will ultimately come back, just like Mel Gibson, just you wait.
But Brett Ratner??
The more you deny, the bigger pariah you become. Can you say Lance Armstrong?
Yup, that's the society we live in, where men lie again and again.
Sure, the Duke lacrosse players were innocent, but just like women don't shoot up schools, it's not usually the women harassing, and more claims of harassment are true than false.
So unless you're truly innocent, you're better off owning it. Who's gonna come out of the woodwork next re Ryan Seacrest? You know we haven't heard the end of it.
And once again, we're supposed to believe that this stylist just made it all up, with the underwear and the penis...
It's the court of opinion that rules America. Too many skate free, but when you're a public figure and the winds turn against you...
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Ryan Seacrest is toast.
--
Visit the archive:
lefsetz.com/wordpress/ --
www.twitter.com/lefsetz --
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters,
Unsubscribe To change your email address
this link
