"As more Powerful figures reveal themselves to be 'Problematic', we must reckon with how deeply entrenched they are in our lives" -- Sarah Clemens, 10th grade
On June 24th, 2020, something unfortunately commonplace happened: a powerful man in the arts world was accused of sexual assault. The man was Scott Allie, a high profile comic book writer. His accuser was Shawna Gore, relatively unknown. Her statement was one carefully said, likely for fear of not being believed. Shawna did eventually get justice. But not before her tweet became a battleground, for fourteen year olds with band member profile pics and industry professionals alike.
It’s worth noting this wasn’t the first allegation against Allie. Gore says he abused her across 14 years, and there are plenty of other allegations tacked onto him as well. Allie had the power to do so, being an executive at Dark Horse comics and editor of the popular comic-turned-tv-series Umbrella Academy. Some sources claim he started working for the company as early as 1994.
Still, he might never have enraged half a hundred people if it weren’t for Gerard Way. Along with being creator of the Umbrella Academy series, Way has spent years developing a devoted fanbase as the frontman of American rock band My Chemical Romance. They follow him from project to project, and sell out reunion shows in minutes. When his following found out about the allegations, the real trouble began.
It’s worth noting this wasn’t the first allegation against Allie. Gore says he abused her across 14 years, and there are plenty of other allegations tacked onto him as well. Allie had the power to do so, being an executive at Dark Horse comics and editor of the popular comic-turned-tv-series Umbrella Academy. Some sources claim he started working for the company as early as 1994.
Still, he might never have enraged half a hundred people if it weren’t for Gerard Way. Along with being creator of the Umbrella Academy series, Way has spent years developing a devoted fanbase as the frontman of American rock band My Chemical Romance. They follow him from project to project, and sell out reunion shows in minutes. When his following found out about the allegations, the real trouble began.
Way performing at the reunion show for My Chemical Romance, which took place last year
A day after Allie was accused, twitter user cruciopost logged on to say, “TIRED OF MCR DOING THIS SHIT UGHHHHHHH STOPITSTOPITSOTP IT i AM ROOTING FOR YALL. i was THESE MFS deadass make up 50% OF MY PERSONALITY AND TASTE THE OTHER 50% BEING SPLIT BY GD AND FOB. COME ONNNNN. REALLLYYY? STOPPPPPPPPHHHHH LITERALLY STOP.” While not entirely legible, it was a real expression of the frustration that came with refreshing Gerard’s feed and seeing no comment on the situation.
Already, a fracture in the fandom began to form--Should he speak up? Well we can’t make him. It would be nice though. Does he not know? Ugh, I’m so disappointed. Wait, shouldn’t we be supporting Shawna? Guys, don’t give up on Gerard, he loves us.
Of course, nothing in fandom, especially the stan twitter slice of it, is simple. Cute edits of Ray Toro are retweeted in the same breath that death threats are leveled. Hashtags trend on shock alone. Emotions are never not running high. Within all the debate about backlash against Gerard, and backlash against the backlash though, there was one solid point. People felt let down. By a man who called himself a feminist, and told his teen girl fans to punch any rockstar that touched them, no less.
It didn’t help that Allie was fired and denounced by other creators so quickly. Hellboy creator Mike Mignolia issued a short statement, saying “Given what I have read today, I will be discontinuing working with Scott Allie.” For Gerard Way fans, it almost seemed to taunt them. “Ugh”, twitter user philisaphical said, “Gerard Way say something about the Scott Allie allegations challenge.” As you may be able to tell from the tweet’s tone, outrage was dying down. Soon, the “stannies” moved on.
Such is the problem with internet-based rage--it often has the attention span of the internet too. This is why opening social media can feel like having thousands of pebbles thrown at you, all at once. They all sting, but only for so long. There are exceptions though. A recent one is the Ellen Degeneres situation. Another high profile person in the entertainment industry, who has had people complaining about her cruel behavior for years. A quick rundown of what she’s been accused of includes mistreating youtuber NikkieTutorials on set, allowing for a toxic work environment to flourish, abusing workers, disrespecting fan gifts, and quite a few insensitive jokes. To summarize, it’s not the behavior one would expect from a woman so constantly talking of kindness.
Already, a fracture in the fandom began to form--Should he speak up? Well we can’t make him. It would be nice though. Does he not know? Ugh, I’m so disappointed. Wait, shouldn’t we be supporting Shawna? Guys, don’t give up on Gerard, he loves us.
Of course, nothing in fandom, especially the stan twitter slice of it, is simple. Cute edits of Ray Toro are retweeted in the same breath that death threats are leveled. Hashtags trend on shock alone. Emotions are never not running high. Within all the debate about backlash against Gerard, and backlash against the backlash though, there was one solid point. People felt let down. By a man who called himself a feminist, and told his teen girl fans to punch any rockstar that touched them, no less.
It didn’t help that Allie was fired and denounced by other creators so quickly. Hellboy creator Mike Mignolia issued a short statement, saying “Given what I have read today, I will be discontinuing working with Scott Allie.” For Gerard Way fans, it almost seemed to taunt them. “Ugh”, twitter user philisaphical said, “Gerard Way say something about the Scott Allie allegations challenge.” As you may be able to tell from the tweet’s tone, outrage was dying down. Soon, the “stannies” moved on.
Such is the problem with internet-based rage--it often has the attention span of the internet too. This is why opening social media can feel like having thousands of pebbles thrown at you, all at once. They all sting, but only for so long. There are exceptions though. A recent one is the Ellen Degeneres situation. Another high profile person in the entertainment industry, who has had people complaining about her cruel behavior for years. A quick rundown of what she’s been accused of includes mistreating youtuber NikkieTutorials on set, allowing for a toxic work environment to flourish, abusing workers, disrespecting fan gifts, and quite a few insensitive jokes. To summarize, it’s not the behavior one would expect from a woman so constantly talking of kindness.
Ellen's long running self-titled talk show has made kindness it's central motif
When reading the long list of complaints against Ellen, it’s hard not to think back to how long Allie’s abuse went on, too. He harassed Gore at company parties, surely someone would’ve seen. This person would then have to reckon with their silence. How large Scott Allie loomed in their corporate world. A new member on Ellen’s staff was told “every day she picks someone different to really hate. It's not your fault, just suck it up for the day and she'll be mean to someone else the next day.”
This anecdote is striking not just because it’s about Ellen Degeneres being mean. It’s also a stark reminder of the culture of silence that forms around any person with power who abuses it.
Of course, when Shawna Gore was being abused, and those staff members were being yelled at, fans were none the wiser. Victims carry around their experiences like a heavy weight. Fans have it dropped on them all at once. Under a video of Ellen making insensitive remarks to famous actress Priyanka Chopra, twitter user NJLuvsPCJ wrote: “WAS a fan of Ellen until Pri's first appearance. And then realized Ellen's always been that way. It hits hard when it's someone you love.” Simple, but easily relatable. A similar statement was echoed by twitter user kurroochii, even after backlash had begun to fade: “As much as it pains me to say, I'm disappointed in Gerard Way's silence. I expected more from someone who wrote a story like True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.”
There’s a common thread here: of trusting someone to do right, and being disappointed when they fall short. When one rarely talks about how a celebrity is without screens, it allows for them to project a persona, and speak ideals they might not truly act on. That’s a dilemma for any person in the public eye, absolutely, but in the meantime, what do fans do? What does the 15 year old who made a sculpture of Ellen do, knowing her time was used on someone who didn’t care? Even as you are confronted with evidence of a celebrity being a bad person, there’s a natural tendency to cling on to them. To excuse their actions because of all the good memories attached.
At first, that can seem like an explanation for all the celebrities rushing to Ellen’s defense. Katy Perry, Kevin Hart, and Jay Leno are among the famous people who rushed to make a statement for no clear reason. They’re all essentially saying the same thing--”while yes of course being mean to people is bad, Ellen was always very nice to me.” It’s almost something to lose your mind over. Why defend her? Why now? Then, realization hits you. No matter how bad a powerful person seems in the moment, there will always be people ready to stand by them. Ellen will continue to exert her influence over us--as long as people verified on twitter keep defending her.
Gerard Way still follows Scott Allie on Instagram, and still hasn’t acknowledged the situation. While he loudly posts about the new Umbrella Academy season, he stays silent on this, and he likely will for the foreseeable future. When people in power get called out, the whole thing can seem frustratingly blurry. Ellen might be under investigation, but she sure isn’t acting like it. Allie was ‘fired’ in 2017 but then continued to work on an Umbrella Academy spinoff. What’s to say this time is different?
The responsibility ends up falling squarely in the celebrities’ hands. By not talking about the elephant in the room, they allow people to quietly forget. That in turn allows abusive people to hurt others. The cycle goes on.
