He does not disparage Donegan for creating the list, nor does he plan to take legal action. "I think that the goals of the list and things like the list really require men to take a hard look at the way that they treat people that they are in sexual relationships with and professional relationships with." He believes all men - including those not on the list - should take time to do similar soul-searching. When you're accused of something like that it's hard not to suspect yourself, I guess, in the way other people might suspect you." "I spent months just thinking through everything that I had ever done and looking for something that would back up. Every interaction that I've had," he says. It makes you call into question every potential or actualized romantic or sexual relationship. "Being accused of sexual assault is a really difficult thing to deal with. When you're accused of something like that it's hard not to suspect yourself, I guess, in the way other people might suspect you.Ī man who appeared on the 'S****y Media Men' list, who asked to be quoted anonymously "It's breached every corner of my life," he says. He denies the allegations made against him. Aside from Elliott, only one agreed to an interview on the condition that his name not be used. NPR reached out to several men on the list. Some are still working and have even gotten new jobs. Some of the men on the list lost their jobs or freelance work. "A few editors reached out to me who had worked with him in the past to say that they would not work with him again and, in some cases, that they were warning other editors they knew not to work with him, which I appreciated," says Coyle. One of the roughly 70 names on an early version of the list included the freelance journalist she alleges raped her and other women she knows. Writer Deirdre Coyle says she did not contribute to the list but was "happy" it existed. And for alleged victims of sexual violence, the list felt like the closest they would get to justice. In October 2017, as the world was reeling from the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, women fired up by the #MeToo movement saw the "S****y Media Men" list as a necessary agitator. A date for oral arguments on that motion has not been set. Kaplan has filed a motion to dismiss Elliott's defamation suit. And under the First Amendment, given the fact that she did in good faith and given the fact that that was her motive, she can't be sued for doing it." "What Moira was doing with this list was a very good faith effort," says Kaplan, "not to try to get men in trouble - but to protect women from not being in these situations going forward. If you see a man you're friends with, don't freak out." Roberta Kaplan, attorney for list creator Moira DoneganĪt the top of the spreadsheet, Donegan included a disclaimer that reads: "This document is only a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors. What Moira was doing with this list was a very good faith effort, not to try to get men in trouble - but to protect women from not being in these situations going forward. Long before the #MeToo movement reached its peak, women shared the names of the men they believed to be sexual predators informally, through "whisper networks." Moira Donegan has compared the "S****y Media Men" list to those networks. You cannot be in this community anymore.'" Elliott figured: "The only way to clear my name is to file a lawsuit." "I just realized that my community was not going to engage with me on this in good faith," says Elliott. Within the literary community, he contends, minds were made up. But, he says, even that didn't make things better. Elliott wrote a long essay - published on Quillette - in which he denied the allegations and talked about how the list damaged his career. Some sources close to his agents' decisions deny Elliott was dropped because of the list. Writer Stephen Elliott, on appearing on the 'S****y Media Men' listĮven so, he says that media coverage planned for a new book he had coming out was canceled and that he was uninvited from book events.
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