Hi, I’m on the Shitty Media Men list, but maybe you already knew that

Hi Mike,

I have one limited question and I want to be careful. This is what it is:

You don't wholly disavow any bad behavior. Can you please truthfully, fulsomely and in detail, describe the original conduct that underlies the complaint against you?

For example, here is a range of situations, can you state where you conduct fell under?:

A. You are powerful, systematic predator, like Harvey Weinstein, or Roger Ailes, who sits on top of a power system whose social, legal, economic dynamics you systematically exploit to abuse and entrap your victims.

B. Without significant official power, you abuse a coworker, by opportunistically exploiting her/his weaknesses or your institutional knowledge (note that this can also be extremely damaging to an individual even without official power).

C. Inside of some sort of relationship, you committed bad behavior, by say, reacting poorly to a conflict, and took undue actions (messaging, following).

D. You are wholly innocent of any bad behavior. Your inclusion on this list is is the result of an deliberate campaign of someone with a malicious agenda.

Note that for many reasons and on many layers, I can't judge your situation. I can't judge your truthfulness. I can't judge the impact to the victim(s), if any.

The motivation behind this question:

You asked us to read and consider this lengthy personal story, and to be sympathetic to you.

In this context, the request seems like a useful piece of information, and its omission would be problematic. Furthermore, even an admission of some guilt, seems small next to the consequences that you seem to have already endured, and a natural step toward the "rehabilitation" you presumably seek (I acknowledge the possibility you are totally innocent).

Finally, and frankly, if you are innocent, you write and act in ways that raise flags for a perceptive or skeptical reader. For example, you do make some rejections, "punished for things I didn’t do". However, these aren't total disavows of bad behavior. Similarly, you focus on details "No HR claim", all embedded in a highly sympathetic personal narrative.

I've never been accused of any "metoo" behavior. However, I've seen people "railroaded" many times. Many people react by either gathering overwhelming force (authority, connections) to vehemently smash the opposing actor, or else slip away if am unable to do so (I'm not sure this is optimal but seems reputationally useful). However, I've never seen an innocent person plead or begged like this.