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Even if I accepted that Virgil's pogrom Facebook post was intended to communicate embarrassment/frustration rather than ironic flippancy about platforming Nazis, it was
1) not an apology for platforming Nazis (I've seen no evidence there ever was one), &
2) still a pogrom joke https://twitter.com/debdrens/status/1250522877746655232
1) not an apology for platforming Nazis (I've seen no evidence there ever was one), &
2) still a pogrom joke https://twitter.com/debdrens/status/1250522877746655232
Afaik, this isn't something that Virgil has ever publicly addressed or made any effort to be accountable on.
And whatever his feelings on it, impact matters more than intention.
Platforming Nazis and joking about pogroms is really, really bad, whether he enjoyed it or not.
And whatever his feelings on it, impact matters more than intention.
Platforming Nazis and joking about pogroms is really, really bad, whether he enjoyed it or not.
I've emceed a lot of events.
Sometimes a live mic ends up in the hands of someone saying something that really, really shouldn't be said into the mic.
You unplug the amp, you get in front of them on stage, and you thank everyone for coming.
You shut it down decisively.
Sometimes a live mic ends up in the hands of someone saying something that really, really shouldn't be said into the mic.
You unplug the amp, you get in front of them on stage, and you thank everyone for coming.
You shut it down decisively.
You don't sit there in the back whine-posting ambiguous shit about pogroms that may or may not be you passively-aggressively complaining about A NAZI HAVING YOUR MIC.
You don't say "oh that's the way the cookie crumbles, Sam's a Nazi, guess I'll wait out the set"
You don't say "oh that's the way the cookie crumbles, Sam's a Nazi, guess I'll wait out the set"
Sometimes it's scary-- sometimes it's a person who you're concerned might hurt you.
This wasn't a case of a Q&A mic taken over by someone erratic or physically aggressive, though.
This was a set by a colleague.
This wasn't a case of a Q&A mic taken over by someone erratic or physically aggressive, though.
This was a set by a colleague.
Sometimes the shock of the terrible and unexpected freezes you in place.
It's fair to show some grace for that sometimes.
But Virgil didn't freeze.
He went and posted pogrom jokes.
It's fair to show some grace for that sometimes.
But Virgil didn't freeze.
He went and posted pogrom jokes.
Sometimes you do epically unwise and not okay shit, like allow your comedy show to become a Nazi open mic and happily (or petulantly, either way) tweeting pogrom jokes about it.
At the very goddamn least, though, you fucking apologize.
At the very goddamn least, though, you fucking apologize.
It seems *very* unlikely to me that Hyde was a Nazi ninja master operative who denied Virgil the slightest clue that Third Reich humor was his new jam.
Even if that were the case, though, I can't find a way to a benefit of the doubt that would have me think that posting an ambiguous pogrom joke and a picture of a Nazi on *his* stage with *his* mic is somehow a sign of remorse or an acceptance of responsibility.
