I'm sorry you went through that. The irony is that anyone even remotely familiar with your career would see those jokes for what they are.
Cernovich and his compatriots are gonna get theirs. And I wouldn't be surprised if they were all found out to have...um...unhealthy attitudes towards children.
A few years ago I backed a film on Kickstarter which was written, directed, and produced by women. Somewhere, somehow the film caught the ire of some creep in a dark part of the web and the creators and all the supporters of the project were doxxed.
My name and address were attached to a document in which the creator wrote horrible, offensive, and scary things about all of us. He invited his followers to harass us and gave them plenty of ideas on how to do so. I spent many days chasing down the document on various sites and getting it removed only for it to pop up somewhere else. A gross game of Whack a Mole against a jerk who called himself Spaghetti Hitler.
At the time I was a young mother with three little ones. I was terrified that something horrible would happen to my family. That something would happen to any of us on the list.
I went to local law enforcement which proved incredibly futile (It was the early 2000's and I was naive.) The officer assigned to my case berated me for allowing my info to be online.
Then one day it stopped appearing. I was relieved but all the sleepless nights of scouring the web and days of constantly looking over my shoulder were too much and I took emotional damage.
My experience is nowhere near yours but my heart is heavy for you and anyone else who deals with these vicious dickbags. I'm truly sorry.
It's such a weird phenomenon. It's impossible to know who these people are or their motivations, but it's so scary for the victims. As I said in the piece, I've been through it before so I'm used to it but for somebody experiencing it for the first time (like my wife and you), I can understand how terrifying it is. So sorry it happened to you.
I’m going to start calling you Mike now, instead of Mr. Black, because we have something in common. I too, have been vilified online, although on a far, far smaller scale than you, and some of that was pre-internet, in newsprint, where allegations were front page and exoneration of that allegation was buried in the back of the sports section.
There’s always someone unhappy with something I said or did. Your lawyers gave you excellent advice, and your decision of letting go of the anger as much as possible will lengthen your life by years if not decades. You are a wise man.
Like others, I’ve followed your career since The State. Big fan. You’re smart and you’re funny and you see things others don’t see and enlighten us. Hell, you diagnosed my retirement issues spot on with the SAUL column and you were not aware of my existence. I’m even a bigger fan since I began reading this feature and getting to know Mike personally.
Keep on keeping on. The source of these spurious allegations is the best story you can tell about them.
Consider the source. PIZZAGATE…REALLY…THATS THE SOURCE????? Wow! That ended well for the fellow who went in to rescue those kids in the non-existent basement.
The world has always been toxic but it seems far more toxic the last 15 years. Social media allows any keyboard commando living in mom’s leaky basement to speak to millions. Consider the source, are some of the wisest words my late lawyer dad ever gave me.
I know it’s unnerving. Do something nice for yourself and your wife today. You deserve it.
I'm furious for you and so sorry. And for what it's worth, if anything — I have followed your career and those of the other State members since I was a kid and I never once heard anything of this until now. I'm not sure if that will help ease your mind or not, but I hope it may.
I am now in the public eye myself on a much smaller scale, but I relate to your story here. I don't sleep at night because I'm often up checking comments and messages making sure that I am not being threatened or slandered as well. My story is odd, I have a very unique cat that went viral a couple of years ago, and due to various circumstances and disability, managing his online career has become my full time job. I was sent death threats for my intent to use a Sam Smith song in a video. I have been accused of such horrible atrocities concerning my cat that I can't bring myself to put them to words.
I honestly don't know how you handle the stress, and how you have done it for so long. My search history is basically just a record of me paraphrasing the same search term over and over hoping for different results: "mental health help for influencers." We're all fucked. And then people tell you stuff like "Oh, the fact that people are talking shit is just an indicator of your success." Sure, that helps.
I'm so sorry. This is unfair and it's ridiculous that in 2023 we have people that apparently sit up at night devising ways that they can ruin other people's lives and destroy their peace on a whim. I hope that you find a way to keep this from disrupting your peace any further than it already has, but I know that's easier said than done. Still... I hope.
When they come after the cute cat people we're fucked. I'm sorry you're dealing with it; my guess is that it happens to everybody who gains even a modest amount of notoriety online. It's definitely painful but it gets so less over time. Keep your chin up. The world is a bizarre place filled with bizarre people who do bizarre things. Some good, some less so. I guess all any of us can do is to do the best we can.
Great piece. So sorry this has happened to you. They did the same thing to me 2 years ago. I hired someone to block them. It helped. But they are always out there waiting for their next opportunity to be a piece of shit
That sucks. I am very sorry that happened to you. When I see trolls on your Twitter feed, I’m tempted to jump on them, but at the same time,I don’t want to feed them. Lately, unless you retweet them or respond, I tend to just ignore and block. You are clearly a decent person and anyone with two working brain cells can see that.
This is relevant. From the Onion.
https://www.theonion.com/twitter-vs-threads-vs-shouting-into-a-hole-1850660701
I'm sorry you went through that. The irony is that anyone even remotely familiar with your career would see those jokes for what they are.
Cernovich and his compatriots are gonna get theirs. And I wouldn't be surprised if they were all found out to have...um...unhealthy attitudes towards children.
Sue the fucker. GoFundMe a war chest Ann bury his ass.
Ugghhhh!!! This makes me so angry! Nasty little cowards. I'm so sorry your family had to deal with this.
A few years ago I backed a film on Kickstarter which was written, directed, and produced by women. Somewhere, somehow the film caught the ire of some creep in a dark part of the web and the creators and all the supporters of the project were doxxed.
My name and address were attached to a document in which the creator wrote horrible, offensive, and scary things about all of us. He invited his followers to harass us and gave them plenty of ideas on how to do so. I spent many days chasing down the document on various sites and getting it removed only for it to pop up somewhere else. A gross game of Whack a Mole against a jerk who called himself Spaghetti Hitler.
At the time I was a young mother with three little ones. I was terrified that something horrible would happen to my family. That something would happen to any of us on the list.
I went to local law enforcement which proved incredibly futile (It was the early 2000's and I was naive.) The officer assigned to my case berated me for allowing my info to be online.
Then one day it stopped appearing. I was relieved but all the sleepless nights of scouring the web and days of constantly looking over my shoulder were too much and I took emotional damage.
My experience is nowhere near yours but my heart is heavy for you and anyone else who deals with these vicious dickbags. I'm truly sorry.
It's such a weird phenomenon. It's impossible to know who these people are or their motivations, but it's so scary for the victims. As I said in the piece, I've been through it before so I'm used to it but for somebody experiencing it for the first time (like my wife and you), I can understand how terrifying it is. So sorry it happened to you.
Well, I do enjoy pizza. I also think that loser is the garbage water at the bottom of a pizzarias dumpster.
I’m going to start calling you Mike now, instead of Mr. Black, because we have something in common. I too, have been vilified online, although on a far, far smaller scale than you, and some of that was pre-internet, in newsprint, where allegations were front page and exoneration of that allegation was buried in the back of the sports section.
There’s always someone unhappy with something I said or did. Your lawyers gave you excellent advice, and your decision of letting go of the anger as much as possible will lengthen your life by years if not decades. You are a wise man.
Like others, I’ve followed your career since The State. Big fan. You’re smart and you’re funny and you see things others don’t see and enlighten us. Hell, you diagnosed my retirement issues spot on with the SAUL column and you were not aware of my existence. I’m even a bigger fan since I began reading this feature and getting to know Mike personally.
Keep on keeping on. The source of these spurious allegations is the best story you can tell about them.
Consider the source. PIZZAGATE…REALLY…THATS THE SOURCE????? Wow! That ended well for the fellow who went in to rescue those kids in the non-existent basement.
The world has always been toxic but it seems far more toxic the last 15 years. Social media allows any keyboard commando living in mom’s leaky basement to speak to millions. Consider the source, are some of the wisest words my late lawyer dad ever gave me.
I know it’s unnerving. Do something nice for yourself and your wife today. You deserve it.
As a final word, I so miss President Obama.
I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. Absolutely sucks.
I'm furious for you and so sorry. And for what it's worth, if anything — I have followed your career and those of the other State members since I was a kid and I never once heard anything of this until now. I'm not sure if that will help ease your mind or not, but I hope it may.
I am now in the public eye myself on a much smaller scale, but I relate to your story here. I don't sleep at night because I'm often up checking comments and messages making sure that I am not being threatened or slandered as well. My story is odd, I have a very unique cat that went viral a couple of years ago, and due to various circumstances and disability, managing his online career has become my full time job. I was sent death threats for my intent to use a Sam Smith song in a video. I have been accused of such horrible atrocities concerning my cat that I can't bring myself to put them to words.
I honestly don't know how you handle the stress, and how you have done it for so long. My search history is basically just a record of me paraphrasing the same search term over and over hoping for different results: "mental health help for influencers." We're all fucked. And then people tell you stuff like "Oh, the fact that people are talking shit is just an indicator of your success." Sure, that helps.
I'm so sorry. This is unfair and it's ridiculous that in 2023 we have people that apparently sit up at night devising ways that they can ruin other people's lives and destroy their peace on a whim. I hope that you find a way to keep this from disrupting your peace any further than it already has, but I know that's easier said than done. Still... I hope.
When they come after the cute cat people we're fucked. I'm sorry you're dealing with it; my guess is that it happens to everybody who gains even a modest amount of notoriety online. It's definitely painful but it gets so less over time. Keep your chin up. The world is a bizarre place filled with bizarre people who do bizarre things. Some good, some less so. I guess all any of us can do is to do the best we can.
Thank you so much. This really, really helps me more than you can know. ❤️
Great piece. So sorry this has happened to you. They did the same thing to me 2 years ago. I hired someone to block them. It helped. But they are always out there waiting for their next opportunity to be a piece of shit
Didn't know you went through it, too. It's the worst. They're the worst.
That sucks. I am very sorry that happened to you. When I see trolls on your Twitter feed, I’m tempted to jump on them, but at the same time,I don’t want to feed them. Lately, unless you retweet them or respond, I tend to just ignore and block. You are clearly a decent person and anyone with two working brain cells can see that.