Thread by @keikoinboston, 1. Hadn’t thought about this in a while until I saw someone [...]

1. Hadn’t thought about this in a while until I saw someone mention Bruce Hay the other day in connection to a different story. Turns out he just filed a 125 page complaint against New York Magazine over their bizarre tale in The Cut last July.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/bruce-hay-paternity-trap-maria-pia-shuman-mischa-haider.html https://twitter.com/eriqgardner/status/1291425856930426882

2. Link for complaint is downthread in Eriq’s thread.

Here is The Cut’s follow-up from last August. It doesn’t appear that Hay has been in the news in the past year. https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/bruce-hay-paternity-trap-maria-pia-shuman-mischa-haider-follow-up.html

The Harvard Professor Scam Gets Even Weirder

Six other men describe their encounters with the same mysterious Frenchwoman.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/bruce-hay-paternity-trap-maria-pia-shuman-mischa-haider-follow-up.html

3. Brief article from UCLA Law professor Eugene Volokh. https://reason.com/2020/08/06/the-most-gullible-man-in-cambridge-story-gets-even-stranger/

"The Most Gullible Man in Cambridge" Story Gets Even Stranger

The legally strange dimension: A claim that the magazine article author sexually harassed the subject of her article, apparently by "seek[ing] inappropriate personal and romantic intimacy with...

https://reason.com/2020/08/06/the-most-gullible-man-in-cambridge-story-gets-even-stranger/

4. Here’s my previous thread on this story. https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1154063659196395520

https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1154063659196395520

5. Oof, I am on p. 9 of the complaint. Not unlike The Cut’s first article, this is reading like a bizarro polyamorous romance novel/horror story and sounds like the complaint is on behalf of the Shumans whom Hay writes about in glowing terms. https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.541599/gov.uscourts.nysd.541599.1.0.pdf

Complaint – #1 in Hay v. New York Media LLC (S.D.N.Y., 1:20-cv-06135) – CourtListener.com

COMPLAINT against Kera Bolonik, David Korzenik, New York Media LLC. Document filed by Bruce Hay. (sac) (Entered: 08/06/2020)

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.541599/gov.uscourts.nysd.541599.1.0.pdf

6. Guaranteed that if right-leaning media decides to take an interest in this complaint they will have a field day portraying the Shuman’s gender non-conforming, heteronormative-rejecting life as representative of what “the left” wants.

7. The Shumans and their lovers/marks aren't even representative of how most queer and/or poly people live.

They should not be taken as representative of any group that they claim membership of and that they claim to be “uncompromising activists” on behalf of.

8. Day 2 of reading Hay v. New York Media LLC...

Currently on p. 41 and it’s the first indication of why Hay is filing this complaint. Hay says that in early 2020 he figured out he’d "been badly used by Defendants” because the Shumans were not “predators”.

9. The Title IX case at Harvard that resulted from Mischa Haider’s 2018 complaint against him “had ended in late 2019”.

I haven’t been able to find any follow-up coverage on the Title IX case.

Excerpts from the original article about the case:
http://archive.is/BY2Mr

10. Finally got to the details of what the lawsuit is about on p. 47.

1. Breach of Contract
2. Bad Faith
3. Defamation
4. Sexual Harassment

Hay claims “loss of income exceeding $75,000, as well as other economic and nonpecuniary losses."

11. The rest of the document contains the exhibits.

Exhibit A (pp. 51–75) are copies of the 2 articles written by Kera Bolonik for The Cut last summer.

Exhibit B (pp. 77–125) is a -49- page letter from Hay to David Korzenik (New York Media’s attorney) dated 6/8/20.

12. Saw some tweets from people commenting on Hay’s signature on the complaint.

Will note that the signatures on the complaint and the 6/8/20 letter to Korzenik don’t match.

L: p. 49
R: p. 125

12. Saw some tweets from people commenting on Hay’s signature on the complaint. Will note that the signatures on the complaint and the 6/8/20 letter to Korzenik don’t match. L: p. 49R: p. 125

13. Here’s a Medium post from 11/25/19 that purports to be written by Joshua Holt, Maria-Pia Shuman’s ex-boyfriend.

The post makes similar claims against Bolonik as Hay's complaint, although they are also directed at Hay.

http://archive.is/m6odj https://medium.com/@Joshua389/i-have-become-that-person-dragged-into-a-mess-because-i-thought-i-was-doing-the-right-thing-and-ad498ee07779

I have become that person dragged into a mess because I thought I was doing the right thing and…

For context I’m dealing with the self proclaimed “most gullible man in Cambridge” Bruce Hay featured in a summer article in The Cut…

http://archive.is/m6odj

14. No one by the name of Joshua or Josh is named in either article and I haven’t yet been able to figure out if his story is even mentioned. He claims to have dated Maria-Pia Shuman briefly when she was going by “Maria Vizia”.

15. Reading Hay v. New York Media LLC felt more like reading a sadomasochistic play than a legal document. I will be surprised if the complaint isn’t dismissed.

17. Them magazine executive editor Meredith Talusan obtained exclusive interviews with the Shumans, who say they did not know Hay was also filing suit, & Hay. Story published yesterday.

https://www.them.us/story/maria-pia-mischa-shuman-new-york-magazine-defamation-lawsuit
https://archive.vn/BHM38

Archive of thread: http://archive.is/xcEtU

18. Vox Media, who purchased New York Magazine (which owns The Cut website) in September 2019, is standing by Kera Bolonik’s reporting on the Shumans and they entanglement with Hay.

19. The 37 page complaint in Shuman v. New York Magazine is available here.
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=vf_PLUS_EmPHvo0IQltXFKPxKcg==

Rest of documents including 21 exhibits (A through U) are available here:
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=5qgifHlRhPxsF26ZKCycDQ==&display=all&courtType=New%20York%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1

20. The Shumans are suing for libel and seeking “an amount in excess of $25,000 to be determined at trial, and interest” as well as removal of articles, an apology, and legal costs.

21. The Shumans are represented by radical feminist legal scholar Catherine McKinnon (based in Michigan) and attorneys from two New York firms, Edwards Pottinger & Boies Schiller Flexner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharine_A._MacKinnon

22. Edwards Pottinger, who represent victims of Jeffrey Epstein, advertise themselves as “Sexual Abuse Lawyers"
https://www.epllc.com/

23. Someone in the legal field will have to explain the choice of Boies Schiller Flexner. They are best known for antitrust litigation and representing convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein and defunct medical startup Theranos.

https://www.bsfllp.com/about-us/overview.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boies_Schiller_Flexner_LLP

About Us

Over two decades, Boies Schiller Flexner has established a record of taking on and winning complex, groundbreaking, and cross-border matters in diverse circumstances and industries for many of the...

https://www.bsfllp.com/about-us/overview.html

24. I deleted tweet #16 because I realized that I misstated that both Bruce Hay and the Shumans filed their lawsuits on the same day. Screenshot & archive of tweet. for transparency. Correction below.

https://archive.vn/57Wuv

25. Although Hay’s complaint is dated 7/21/20, the same day the Shumans filed, Hay v. New York Media LLC et al was not filed until 8/5/20.

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/new-york/nysdce/1:2020cv06135/541599

26. The Them article about the Shumans' suit states that this was "a development the Shumans did not expect” yet they included a draft of Hay’s complaint (exhibit C) when they filed on 7/21/20. Unclear when they became aware of Hay’s suit which is in federal court.

27. Apparently Hay’s signature is different every time he signs.

1: 4/23/20 - Exhibit Q - Letter from Bruce Hay to David Korzenik in Shuman et al v. New York Magazine et al

2: 6/8/20 - Exhibit B - Letter to Korzenik in Hayes v. New York Media et al

3: 7/21/20 - Hayes v. NYM

28. Update:

I read the 37-page Shuman complaint this afternoon. It is the inverse of what’s in the original Cut article. According to Mischa and Maria-Pia, they are the real victims in this case. I’m working on pulling together some highlights but there’s so much to untangle.

29. Found another example of Hay’s signature on an endorsed check from July 2017. He really does sign differently every time. See tweet #27 for sources for other signatures.

1. Exhibit J - Hayes v. New York Media et al

30. Here is the CourtListener page for Hay v. New York Media LLC if you want to check back for new documents later. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17419569/hay-v-new-york-media-llc/

Docket for Hay v. New York Media LLC, 1:20-cv-06135 - CourtListener.com

Docket for Hay v. New York Media LLC, 1:20-cv-06135 — Brought to you by the RECAP Initiative and Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17419569/hay-v-new-york-media-llc/

31. Continuing this thread with highlights from Shuman et al v. New York Magazine et al.

Would recommend reading articles & complaints if you have any interest in defamation cases, Title IX, paternity issues, fraud, and trans & poly issues. https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1292138519767416833

https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1292138519767416833

32. The Shumans’ complaint paints Hay as an obsessed stalker who sexually assaulted both Mischa & Maria-Pia on numerous occasions that appear to span 2015–2017, lied to the Cambridge Police, Harvard, and his wife about them.

33. Shuman complaint alleges that Hay made suicidal and homicidal threats.

34. Should also note that the context of texts quoted here seems different when looking at the full screenshot (Exhibit D).

35. Complaint alleges that Hay & his adult son physically assaulted Mischa & Maria-Pia in separate incidents. (Hay’s incident was allegedly in front of the entire Shuman/Klein family— Maria-Pia, Mischa, Andrew Klein (Mischa’s partner) & their 3 children (borne by Maria-Pia).

36. This appears to be Hay’s version of events.

“...Maria-Pia mistakenly believed that she had been kicked."

Hay v. New York Media et al, p. 14.

37. This is the version of the story that Bolonik wrote last year.

38. From 2015—2017, the Shumans continued to invite Hay into their home and their lives, even traveling with him.

39. The complaint alleges that Hay engaged in retaliatory behavior at Harvard against Mischa, a physics PhD student. That and his previous sexual misconduct resulted in Mischa’s Title IX complaint.

40. The outcome of Mischa’s Title IX complaint is not public. The Shumans' complaint notes that those proceedings are confidential.

Hay’s complaint said that "the bitter Title IX dispute at Harvard had ended in late 2019”.

41. The Shumans’ complaint make numerous mentions of Hay’s drinking problems and mental health issues including a 4-day stay in a “mental institution” (Exhibit F).

42. Bolonik had written about Hay’s struggles with depression and drinking but made no mention of the 4-day “mental hospital” stay. (Hay’s language in the email he sent to Maria-Pia.)

43. On 8/9/17, allegedly on the advice of Cambridge Police, Mischa obtained restraining orders against Hay and his ex-wife, Jennifer Zacks, with whom he lived with their children.

44. The Shuman complaint includes a police report from the Cambridge Police (Exhibit N) about a call Mischa made after Hay came to their home before the order had been served. The complaint narrative is more dramatic than the police narrative, altho neither makes Hay look good.

45. Bolonik wrote in her article that both women had filed for restraining orders against Hay (no mention of Zacks) that were “ultimately denied”.

46. The Cambridge District Court did in fact issue an Abuse Prevention Order to Hay and a Harassment Prevention Order to Zacks on 8/9/17, but at follow-up hearings (8/16/17 for Zacks & 8/18/17 for Hay), both orders were terminated. (Exhibits M & L)

47. The Shumans’ complaint claims that New York magazine’s editors and counsel were fully aware of all falsehoods in their articles as a fact checker had reached out to them and they sent two detailed replies via their lawyer.

48. There are some parenthetical responses from Maria-Pia in the article. We don’t yet know why Bolonik’s editor decided to publish the story despite the Shuman’s claims that the whole premise was false.

[Bolonik Shuman denies 1, Bolonik Shuman says 2, Bolonik Shuman denies 3]

49. There’s a lot more in the complaint that I’m not going into here, some of it very sexually explicit.

Some of it I just couldn’t follow (there are numerous claims involving the Shumans’ house and the Hay/Zacks house).

50. According to the complaint, Hay has been attempting to resolve this with New York magazine since at least 4/23/20. It appears that the Shumans’ attorneys have access to all of Hay’s emails to New York magazine & Vox editors + New York Media attorney.

51. Two of those emails are exhibits in the Shumans’ complaint.

52. The complaint states that the Shumans, who now reside in Paris, France, have not had contact with Hay since the second restraining order hearing in August 2017.

53. The Shumans do appear to have extensive receipts that support their story, although as with all legal cases one wonders what they’re not sharing. I’ve also found that a closer examination shows that at least some of those receipts are presented with misleading context.

54. Despite Hay’s 180 on what happened to him with the Shumans and with Kera Bolonik, her editors, and New York Media’s attorney, there are still discrepancies between his complaint and the Shumans’ complaint.

55. The Shumans’ complaint makes no mention of Hay’s claims that both they and Hay were manipulated into believing & sharing falsehoods about one another but their attorneys do cite Hay’s draft complaint and other communications.

56. Bolonik wrote in her article that Hay had “wondered aloud whether he might be “on the spectrum.””

57. In his complaint, Hay states that he has “mental health problems, including a history of clinical depression, mild autism spectrum disorder, and the aftereffects of childhood sexual abuse."

58. I wrote a little about the possibility that Hay might have ASD last year: https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1154063665894699008

https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1154063665894699008

59. Some research suggests that both children and adults with ASD are more likely to have a harder time deceiving others and difficulty with deception detection that make them more susceptible to being manipulated. (Links for screenshots below.)

60. (Sources for screenshots in tweet #59.)

1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27981390/

2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482107/

3: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aur.1962

61. However one recent small study "found that participants with ASD were equally likely—and in complex cases of deception even more likely—to deceive and detect deception, and learned deception at a faster rate.”

(Link below.)

61.

“However, participants with ASD initially deceived less frequently, and were slower at detecting deception. These results suggest that people with ASD readily engage in deception but may do so through conscious and effortful reasoning about other people’s perspective."

62. “Strategic Deception in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder” https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-020-04525-0

Strategic Deception in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often associated with impaired perspective-taking skills. Deception is an important indicator of perspective-taking, and therefore may be thought to pose difficult...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-020-04525-0

63. Hay does claim at length that he was manipulated and used by people in his life including his ex-wife, Jennifer, Bolonik and others at New York Media.

64. This is the opposite of the picture of Hay the Shuman complaint describes as a devious abusive criminal, although they are happy to cite and quote from his complaint and letters where it suits them.

65. Hay was physically and emotionally abusive, manipulative, and physically and sexually assaultive, according to them. He appeared to use his mental illness as an excuse for his actions. And he lied to everyone about almost everything.

66. I haven’t been able to read everything yet but from what I’ve read so far I still have the impression that there is more going on here than these complaints seem to present.

67. When I was re-reading Bolonik’s first article, this quote stood out:

“Maria-Pia and Mischa want money,” Hay told me last summer, “but only for the sake of squeezing it out of people — it’s the exertion of power.”

68. Of course you’d expect that someone trying to paint himself as a victim of powerful people would say something like this.

69. Maria-Pia does seem to have the means to pay for a lengthy legal battle with her high-priced team of attorneys.

70. According to Bolonik’s reporting, Maria-Pia reportedly owns a $25m share of her late father’s label, Mort Shuman Songs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Shuman

Per Zillow the Shumans sold their Cambridge home in May 2017 for $2,070,000.

71. There are far too many documents (emails, text messages, legal documents, videos, etc.) mentioned in both complaints and in the original articles that we don’t have access to.

72. It’s impossible to assess what’s really going on here given the conflicting narratives and gaps in information.

73. If these cases don’t get dismissed, good luck to the judges and juries trying to sort out this mess.

I look forward to reading the judges opinions.

74. Will also be interesting to see what Harvard does. There have been numerous reports in recent years of sexual misconduct allegations against male faculty in anthropology, economics, government, and at Harvard Medical.

75. In at least one case a professor was forced to retire.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/5/23/the-dominguez-case/

Another resigned. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/1/5/medical-school-professor-sexual-harassment/

Medical School Professor Resigns Amid Harassment Allegations | News | The Harvard Crimson

Medical School Professor Resigns Amid Harassment Allegations | News | The Harvard Crimson

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/5/23/the-dominguez-case/

76. Beginning of thread starts here. https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1291536546122825728