Cut to, Mike Boudet's pathetic response to all of this, where he blames Rabia and Lore podcast host Aaron Mahnke for 'censoring him' (cue my eyes rolling into the back of my head). He starts off by saying 'censorship works'. Going on to say, 'the mob can censor you through intimidation and boycotts just because they don't like what you say.'
No, honey bear. That's called a market. You provide content and then the consumer and marketplace decide if that content is worth listening to, or paying into (if you are an advertiser). You see, just because you think you are a special snowflake doesn't actually mean you are entitled to a platform. You earn a platform within the market by having a product people want to buy or consume. What happened is that the number of people you offended outweighed the number of people who enjoyed your childish bullshit. That's not censorship. That's you losing a platform just like people do all the time. Wondery doesn't owe you a spot on their platform. Advertisers do not owe you advertising deals. You lost them. You. Because being an offensive little prick was more important to you than all those people you claim to care about being laid off due to your mouth writing checks you weren't prepared to cash.
He calls what is happening a 'culture war' (where have I head that before?) where the likes of 'the mob' want to control not only what they personal hear but what anyone is allowed to hear. This is, of course, tyranny.
I've heard all this before. Typical white male bullshit when your ideas are antiquated and gross and somehow you got convinced that just having an opinion made you special and everyone must hear it! The fact of the matter is, just like you have a right to say offensive things, everyone else has a right to take your own words and use them to limit your platform. If you don't like it, choose your words more carefully or don't make your living off of being a public figure that relies on the reputations of advertisers and platform makers. Make your own platform or STFU.
Next, he accuses Aaron and Rabia of personally ruining his company - as if they did it all by themselves - totally ignoring how he'd been on a steady decline for a while given that he can't keep his disgusting yap closed for more than half a second. His words have been taken 'out of context' (okay Jordan Peterson), and besides, he's only sharing other people's content - because apparently, that means something?
See my above note. Rabia and Aaron didn't destroy your business. You did. At any point you could have stuck to podcast making and put aside the fat shaming, skeevy fan flirting, calling women 'cunts', and being an all-around edge lord. You could have done that if you cared about your business. You cared far more about your ego and perception that your shitty voice was too important to be silenced! (Direct quote: 'my words have been silenced!') For the record, you also haven't been silenced. You are literally talking right now. You are literally telling everyone where they can continue to find your podcast on another platform. You aren't being silenced, people just aren't required to give you a voice.
Then he whines that he's been 'deemed a bad person', asserting that those who take issue with his social media presence are 'virtue signaling' (he really is playing douche bag BINGO, isn't he). He's being persecuted for believing in 'independent thought and speech'.
Oh, yep. There went my eyes. They did roll so hard as to fall out of my head that time. First of all, 'virtue signaling' the way white assholes use it is never really a thing. Secondly, how independent are his thoughts and his speech when they are just regurgitated forms of the same toxic male bullshit we've heard for millennia? Ohhh, so independent! Much new! Very profound fat joke, there, guy!
But to his claim that he's been unfairly deemed a 'bad person' let's talk about his long history of being garbage. First, he routinely gets creepy with female fans, asking them to send him nudes, creepily commenting on their attractiveness. Then, when a fan tagged him on twitter, he mocked her for being fat:
He was constantly searching out social media fights and place himself in the middle of them, baiting people, doxing people, and wading into trivial social media group 'wars' including subreddits, and harassing critics. His vitriol was at its worst when talking to women, whom he regularly called 'cunts'. Wondery and advertisers had been getting negative feedback for a long time before things escalated this week - likely due to Boudet's insistence that Adnan Sayed (form Serial Podcast's first season) was guilty. Full disclosure: I think Adnan is guilty too. Rabia Chaudry's Undisclosed podcast is famously a defense of Adnan which is an issue very important to her. Whether or not that's the motivation for Rabia going hard on Boudet is unclear, but she is hardly the only person who has taken issue with him.
Likely, the straw that broke the camel's back was this self-indulgent tweet by Boudet:
Likely, the straw that broke the camel's back was this self-indulgent tweet by Boudet:
If only we understood the independent spirit of his profound and important speech! He closes his pouting announcement with 'Maybe I am an asshole. I'm one that you will no longer be able to hear.'
Oh, if only that were true, Mike. Unfortunately, you still have like 50 other mediums and platforms to be garbage in - it just won't be with ad revenue or at Wondery.
Oh, if only that were true, Mike. Unfortunately, you still have like 50 other mediums and platforms to be garbage in - it just won't be with ad revenue or at Wondery.
1 comment:
Well said, thanks!
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