Twitter Blasts NYT Columnist Bret Stephens For ‘Defending’ Woody Allen: ‘Holy F*cking Sh*t’
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens caused an uproar on social media over his latest piece that was published Friday night.
In an op-ed titled “The Smearing of Woody Allen,” Stephens responded to a question posed by Dylan Farrow back in December as to why the #MeToo movement has “spared” the famed director, who she accused of child molestation back in the 90s. He argued that unlike Allen, Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey were “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” and that the “facts, not the allegations, prove it,” noting that investigation that took place decades ago concluded that the filmmaker was innocent.
Stephens called Farrow a “persuasive interviewee who seems absolutely sincere” with her allegation and would win the sympathy battle over her former stepfather.
Per Stephens:
But it’s precisely because Dylan’s account plays to our existing biases that we need to treat it with added skepticism. Most parents know that young children are imaginative and suggestible and innocently prone to making things up. The misuse of children’s memories by ambitious prosecutors against day-care center operators in the 1980s led to some of the worst miscarriages of justice in recent U.S. history. You don’t have to doubt Farrow’s honesty to doubt her version of events.
Nor have we learned anything else about Allen in the intervening years that might add to suspicions of guilt. He married Soon-Yi and has been with her ever since. Nobody else has come forward in 25 years with a fresh accusation of assault against him.
If Allen is in fact a pedophile, he appears to have acted on his evil fantasies exactly once. Compare that to Larry Nassar’s 265 identified victims.
Twitter reacted thusly:
meanwhile, on the NYT op-ed page, bret stephens is defending woody allen https://t.co/XLK0dUAzia
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) February 10, 2018
If Bret Stephens were consciously trying to destroy the credibility of the New York Times opinion section by consciously writing the shittiest trollgaze columns he could, what would he be doing differently?
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) February 10, 2018
this take is bad, but I don’t blame Bret; I blame Bret Stephens’ many professors who failed to hold him underwater https://t.co/debx8cp9a7
— Spike Friedman (@SpikeFriedman) February 10, 2018
Yep. Leaving Woody Allen case to one side, Bret Stephens doesn’t understand or even known the basic scientific consensus of psychologists studying pedophilia. https://t.co/k9VCd2Cvys
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens –who was not even in the same STATE where this happened, nor has any knowledge of either Woody Allen or his daughter, nor has any legal background whatsoever — is confident he can tell Dylan Farrow she is mistaken about her own experience. https://t.co/G5d0XGCGMC
— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) February 10, 2018
“If (Woody) Allen is in fact a pedophile, he appears to have acted on his evil fantasies exactly once. Compare that to Larry Nassar’s 265 identified victims.” Nothing was going on in the news this week, so Bret Stephens decided to mount a defense for poor ole Woody Allen.
— Joel D. Anderson (@byjoelanderson) February 10, 2018
The only way men like Bret Stephens will ever believe you is if multiple people report the same abuse.
But of course, someone has to go first. No. 1 will be a liar until others come forward. And then you have to make sure the first 5, 6, 30 victims aren’t conspiring.
— Kate Harding (@KateHarding) February 10, 2018
The New York Times’ Bret Stephens defends Woody Allen, a man accused by his daughter, Dylan Farrow, of “when I was 7 years old, Woody Allen led me into an attic, away from the babysitters who had been instructed never to leave me alone with him. He then sexually assaulted me.” https://t.co/ZYWhn1WNJS
— Ryan Saavedra ?? (@RealSaavedra) February 10, 2018
Holy fucking shit @BretStephensNYT actually wrote this “If Allen is in fact a pedophile, he appears to have acted on his evil fantasies exactly once” https://t.co/bJysfo9dQa
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens is just David Brooks with a head injury.
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) February 10, 2018
(If we all agree to ignore Bret Stephens and stop giving him clicks his byline might disappear from our lives).
— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) February 10, 2018
It takes a lot to make me feel small and make me feel like I’m back in those dark rooms. Bret Stephens did that in the most cruel and thoughtless way.
— Aminatou Sow (@aminatou) February 10, 2018
james bennet fire bret stephens and then retire bitch
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens is such a morose, hangdog sort of self-hating troll, except he also writes columns about how Pinochet saved Chile and how actually, the left are the true fascists
— Dow 50,000 author (@inthesedeserts) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens thinks you’re not a pedophile if you only do it once. pic.twitter.com/Y0pJJ5KeWb
— Stable Genius Sean Kent (@seankent) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens clearly doesn’t think we’ve suffered enough today.
— Maggie Serota (@maggieserota) February 10, 2018
Bret Stephens done lost his whole damn mind.
— Soraya Nadia McDonald (@SorayaMcDonald) February 10, 2018
Honestly who is Bret Stephens’ editor that allows him to excuse child rape? Because that person is also trash.
— Erin Biba (@erinbiba) February 10, 2018
*at the devil’s advocate auditions*
Bret Stephens: “yes hi I am here to defend Woody Allen by comparing him favourably with Larry Nassar”
Judges: pic.twitter.com/g3TMUSp6kh
— stacy-marie ishmael (@s_m_i) February 10, 2018
Every time I think Bret Stephens has plumbed the depths of his own trash fire, he digs deeper for an even fresher, hotter, trashier morsel.
— s.e. smith (@sesmith) February 10, 2018
Whyyyyyy the hell would Bret Stephens just up and decide today was a good day to defend Woody Allen. Just being Bret Stephens I guess
— Lonesome No More! #Swain2020 (@ZJemptv) February 10, 2018
The woman next to me on the A Train just threw up twice in the corner of the car and then fell asleep.
Maybe she could replace Bret Stephens.
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) February 10, 2018
[image via screengrab]
