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Comment by oculusforever | Hacker News Reader

He's not even a little sorry. He's apologized like 5 times for this stuff:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/20/robert-scoble-has-allegedl...

A real apology requires a clear statement of what you did wrong, why it was wrong, and what exactly you'll do better in the future.

This apology doesn't even say what he did wrong. (He "damaged trust," "caused pain," "behaved in ways that were inappropriate.") He didn't admit that he sexually harassed anyone, say nothing of sexual assault.

Without a clear admission of what he did, I have no idea if he knows why it was wrong. He's done this many times! Does he think sexual assault is a bad thing only because it would "damage trust" in him, because it tarnishes his reputation?

On the list of public apologies, I give him a B+. he could have done better and he is not going to make everyone happy with his effort. It looks written by him. It looks sincere. It looks honest.

Yeah, a good apology should be several pages long but this was pretty good and well above some of the others we've seen.

'I am sorry that you felt abused and that your friends encouraged you to humiliate yourself in public...'

So, yeah, it's pretty good compared to some of them.

You're giving him a B+ for an apology that doesn't even state what he did?

Yes, because I'm comparing it with the apologies we usually see.

That's a hell of a curve he gets to take advantage of, but also, even Harvey Weinstein did better than this.

I did t read his, so have graded it yet.

Sorry to say this but people like you who do not understand the gravity of the crime or the appropriate way to address it are part of the problem.

It is ironical that the same kind of people think they are in any position to grade an apology relevant to this matter.

A good apology doesn't have to be "several pages long." A good apology could have been shorter than the bad apology he gave.

For example, he could have said this:

"I apologize for repeatedly sexually assaulting women at conferences, including Quinn Norton. Over the years, I've done this more times than I can count. What I did was is illegal, and rightfully so, because everyone has the right to be safe, and to decide who is allowed to touch their own body. I'll never sexually harass or assault anyone again. Most of the time I did this, I was drunk or high; I went sober over two years ago. I'm also seeing a therapist to help set me straight."

That good apology would have been half the length of the bad apology he actually gave.

Nah, that's still going to leave people angry. He also shouldn't name the victim, that is him asserting control.

> A real apology requires a clear statement of what you did wrong, why it was wrong, and what exactly you'll do better in the future.

He might have apologized directly to his alleged victims we don't know that. I don't think he should admit anything to anyone else, but to his alleged victims on a personal level.

If I read this forum, it sounds like nobody has never done anything wrong, behaved inappropriately in anyway, ever. I don't believe it one second, harassment(or even assault) isn't just sexual, it can manifest through other sorts of psychological violence at work for instance, and nobody is ever called out for it.

I'm not talking about leniency or understanding, something despicable happened and anybody can judge, but it should not be about one name or one guy everybody can scapegoat to mask their own shortcomings and wrongdoings, in a way to expiate them, as it happens way too often when things like that get public.

Why post a bad public apology at all? Regardless of whether he gave a good private apologies to his victims (he surely didn't), there's nothing to be gained from a public apology in which you don't admit to any particular wrongdoing.

> If I read this forum, it sounds like nobody has never done anything wrong, behaved inappropriately in anyway, ever.

This is false. Nothing in the forum implies that if one of the participants of this thread were to be found guilty of an inappropriate behavior, then they should be excused.

In fact, most of the discussion in this forum implies that if one of the participants of this thread, or anyone in the industry were found to be of inappropriate behavior, then it needs to be dealt with seriously.

Could it be to avoid legal issues? Which would only make the apology worse.

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