Bad Art Friend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m bothered by Grub Street’s statement saying the controversy referenced race. That’s only the case because people desperate to defend Larson wedged it in when it didn’t apply to the conflict, the plagiarism, or the bullying. God!

They also barely mentioned class, and didn't mention the enormous ableism displayed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is why, even though I'm totally on Dawn's side and think she was treated terribly, in the same situation I would have chosen to just move on, remove myself from that "community" and see if I could put it behind me.

I say this as someone who went through something similar with an organization like Grubstreet (not in writing/publishing). The problem with an org like that is that it's many things all at once. It's a clique-y cult of friends who use their positions in the organization to exclude people they don't like. BUT it's also a legitimate source of community for many members despite that. The longer the org is around the more true this is. There are almost certainly students and writers and teachers who met their spouse's, best friends, agents, writing partners, etc. through Grubstreet and for whom it's a kind of permanent fixture in their life. Many of these people have nothing to do with what happened to Dawn. They will defend the organization and remain loyal. Most will not bother to learn enough about this situation to see the problems. And on a deep level, they have likely bought into those ingroup/outgroup dynamics of that clique-y cult.

Here is the worst part. Many of those people will simply blame Dawn for all of it, including the fact that a group of women have now had to step down from their previous positions in the organization. They will blame her for awkwardness in the organizations and any changes that result in what they view as a loss of what they liked about the place before (even if those changes are merited). Certainly Dawn will never feel welcome there again.

Ask me how I know.

Well said, and I agree. You see this on Twitter from GrubStreet members. "Well they said they were sorry ISN'T THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU." Never mind that they didn't actually apologize, never mind that the problematic conditions that created the issue are still there, never mind that the leadership remains the same. But there is a cadre of paying GrubStreet members who actively want this to all just go away so they can forget it and get back to whatever appalling things they were doing.

[Anonymous]

Just popping in to say I hope their attempts don’t work and they get dragged even further for this. They deserve it. They’re hoping it will go away. Wouldn’t be surprised to find out one of the Cms gets Larson a plush job or else that Grub Street rehires her in Jan 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m bothered by Grub Street’s statement saying the controversy referenced race. That’s only the case because people desperate to defend Larson wedged it in when it didn’t apply to the conflict, the plagiarism, or the bullying. God!

It only involved race because Allison invoked it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m bothered by Grub Street’s statement saying the controversy referenced race. That’s only the case because people desperate to defend Larson wedged it in when it didn’t apply to the conflict, the plagiarism, or the bullying. God!

It only involved race because Allison invoked it!

So did the terribly stupid Jennifer DeLeon. So glad she’s resigned, may she suffer at least a little. Her utterly embarrassing letter to the director of the Boston Book Festival contained that crap. I guess I should be grateful, though, because had she not been so nakedly and shamelessly manipulative, I would never have had the chance to see the director’s glorious response, which backhanded her and later Larson. Things of beauty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

+1 how did this guy come across as LESS likable in his no doubt professionally wordsmithed “apology.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

+1 how did this guy come across as LESS likable in his no doubt professionally wordsmithed “apology.”

+1

It is remarkable.

[Anonymous]

Becky Tuch again showing integrity, spine, and class when she is the only author doing so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

+1 for the puke

[Anonymous]

What is amazing about both Castellani's statement and GrubStreet's is how little they care. They make no effort to clear Dorland's name, obfuscate some of the facts (Larson sued, Dorland), falsify the issues at play (no mention of ableism), and do not apologize.

This is not an institution that GAF. They want money from new writers and the government, and that's it.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe how little repercussions there has been for the men involved, and also for the Grub Street board at the top. Who or what is Lorde Lock? Can we have a look at any connections? I would hope that charity navigator gives them a bad rating, but I truly want to see the founders step away. It’s a non profit, not your company. The board sounds too insular and it gives off an unethical vibe. And how is “performative” Castellani not being fired? And how the hell do they praise those bad actors out the door? If I were a potential student I would not be at all reassured by this. And as a donor I would be removing my support.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone reviewed the 990 of Grub Street to see who gets paid how much, who their top donors and sources of revenue are? I’m slammed at work but if nobody else does this before I have time I’m going to.

[Anonymous]

This is PP again. Found the link. Haven’t read through it yet.

https://pp-990.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/03_2021_prefixes_77-82/800005516_201912_990_2021033117845405.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA266MJEJYTM5WAG5Y%2F20211030%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20211030T222552Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=12a5a93a744ff6ca1c621ad1c8cca8dea4674bbcd8c1104429ff1fe3ef3f56c8

[Anonymous]

I wonder if Locke Lord approved the GrubStreet statement (or the other two law firms mentioned). My guess is that GrubStreet's perception and description of their advice and investigation doesn't match what they actually did. It makes Locke Lord in particular look bad.