I would rather not return so quickly to documenting Dean Esmay’s ongoing internet flameout, but I feel I need to.
Esmay, as readers of this blog know all too well, has a habit of calling those who disagree with him “abusive” and/or “abusers.” He did this in the brief Twitter exchange with Raquel Willis I wrote about yesterday after she politely pointed out his white male privilege (and after he called her both a “privileged black girl” and a “rich privileged bitch”).
But in the case of one of Esmay’s recent targets, he’s gone beyond accusations of metaphorical abuse, declaring that the feminist YouTuber who calls herself Laughing Witch is a “violent” pedophile he knew “years ago … who liked to masturbate to violent fantasies involving children.”
Esmay has of course, provided no evidence whatsoever to back up this extraordinary claim, and Laughing Witch has not only denied it; she is contemplating suing him for libel.
I don’t know Laughing Witch personally, but I have been following her Youtube channel for some time and have exchanged messages with her. She seems to be a very straight-up, honest, decent person, and I absolutely believe that she is telling the truth.
My experience with Esmay has been rather different. Much of what comes out of his mouth — or from his keyboard — is patently untrue; indeed, so much of what he has said about me personally has been so grotesquely false that I have found myself contemplating filing my own libel suit against him. I don’t believe a word of his accusations.
Here are two brief videos Laughing Witch has made documenting and challenging what he’s said about her.
Hey Deano, if you REALLY know a violent pedophile, why didn’t you call the cops on that person YEARS ago, when you knew what they were up to? Or was it YOU doing the wanking, and is this just one of your many deflections and projections?
Could he have been abused as a child?
My answer to “should she sue?” is “if she can afford it”. Because I have no doubt that Dean would try to slow down the process as much as possible. But if she can handle/afford a possibly long drawn-out process, I say go for it. He’s had it coming a long time now.
(I never introduced myself here. Hey, Peaches. Longtime feminist/pro-choice activist, lives in the Deep South.)
Peaches: Have a welcome package.
I neither mean this to be an attempt at internet diagnosis nor as an excuse for his general assholery, but…it seems like dude might be experiencing a break from reality.
I really, really (REALLY) don’t mean this in a stigmatizing way – if he is suffering from a mental illness that has caused his perception of events to sharply diverge from what is manifest, it’s happening on top of / is being filtering by his being a generally vile person (which I am not and would not try to tie to any illness) – but if someone I loved began saying things which were just not any apparent way linked to reality, I would encourage assessment by a professional.
*winces because I’m not sure if that qualifies as going against WHtM’s code of conduct*
That being said, LaughingWitch should absolutely seek consultation regarding her legal options.
Whatever his problems may be, whether they’re related to his health or just his head being stuck up his ass, they’re not her problems. His making very serious, specific, and public accusations about her is her problem.
The best legal advice you can ever give is ‘never sue for defamation’.
Luckily clients often do the ‘its not the money it’s the principle’ thing 🙂
I’d love to see Esmay get smacked with a civil suit, but I don’t have the legal background to say if this case against him is feasible. I’d suggest seeking out professional legal advice.
“declaring that the feminist YouTuber who calls herself Laughing Witch is a “violent” pedophile he knew “years ago … who liked to masturbate to violent fantasies involving children.””
This is a classic example of the trope that losers have been using against their Internet opponents since the 90s: Calling people “pedos”, as though randomly throwing that accusation at people means something. Back in the day, those of us who battled Internet assholes considered it to be a sign that we’d ‘arrived’ when the Usual Suspects started accusin us of being pedos.
Kat
When beloved was little (20ish years ago), his daddy worked at a radio station. It was against the rules to play two songs by women in a row. Owners “feared” that listeners would get upset and tune to another station rather than listen to two different women sing two different songs consecutively.
2nd all the recs to take the Popehat crew’s advice if you can get it, they’d know way better than me. Lawyers big on first amendment issues who just today were talking about TERFs calling them MRAs and far right shitbirds calling them cucks, simultaneously.
So, Dean Esmay was abused as a child, this now apparently means he gets a free pass for life, as he accuses anyone who criticizes him as attacking boys who have been victims of abuse. He’s now extrapolated this to accusing Laughing Witch of actual child abuse because she called him out on his bullshit?
Isn’t that what the MRAs mean when they talk about professional victimhood?
As far as suing him is concerned, I wouldn’t blame anyone for making him answer for such blatant lies, however if he were sued he would love every moment of it.
Why not see if you can do a class action suit? Find the apparently many others he is treating this way, get a lawyer (Gloria Allred?) and make an example of this guy. Even if it doesn’t come to a full suit, threatening legal action might make him reconsider. Or not. Sigh.
@theseventhguest
Whoa!
@mockingbird
I hear you.
But you don’t want to go there.
There’s nothing we can do about this guy’s state of mind.
I wouldn’t go for a full lawsuit, but I’d at least consult a lawyer and maybe get a cease-and-desist kind of thing put on him?
I don’t know, I can’t lawyer.
@Bina
And our winner in the Thinking Things Through to Their Logical Conclusion category and also in the Words Mean Things category is…
…Bina!
Please accept this virtual bunch of long-stemmed roses.
To quote John Mortimer “All you need for this job (law) is a bit of common sense and clean fingernails”
[I don’t even have the fingernails half the time]
Alan, I think my favorite bit from all the Rumpole stories is when someone (Portia?) tries to explain to his family that he should not retire and teach law for the simple reason that although he’s an excellent trial lawyer (trial barrister? Is that redundant?) he doesn’t know anything about the law.
Episode #9698 of MRA’s believe false rape allegations are common because they have no qualms about making them and assume the rest of humanity is as morally bankrupt as they are.
@ Mari
It’s so true though, especially at the Criminal Bar. Most of the time everything hinges on the facts. There’s an ethos of anti intellectualism on a par with the Khmer Route at times.
I once had a bit of a success in the Court Martial Appeal Court that overturned loads of cases. That was because it turned out I was the only person who’d ever read all the way to the end of the Armed Forces Act.
[I’d been stuck at a railway station in the middle of nowhere and it’s all I had on me]
Oh, and whilst most barristers are specialist advocates there are a few who do nothing but paperwork and have never set foot in a courtroom. The Chancery Bar are considered a bit weird though.
This is the best anecdote ever.
Esmay is chronologically a fucking ADULT. He should be held accountable. It is of course tempting to ignore the ravings of a petulant brat, but if this were happening to me I could not let it go – he has crossed several lines. He is clearly trying to find the most outrageous allegation possible that could possibly be true, as no physical evidence would necessarily remain. But even if no one believes him (and why would they, with his track record) it is still JUST NOT ON.
Alan, I think a friend of mine had to deal with Chancery when wrapping up some needlessly elaborate wills. She’s the only person I ever met who had to deal with entailed property. It all sounded very Dickensian and extremely frustrating.
I too have subscribed to Laughing Witch.
Esmay deserves to be in prison for leading a hate group and for galvanizing shitstains like Elliot Rodger via manosphere ideology. Suing him isn’t enough.