The boys are away so today we have a special episode featuring Mary Kish from Twitch, Riana from What's Good Games, and Merrit K from Fanbyte! We discuss games like Tell Me Why, Paradise Killer, and the Last Campfire. Also, listen close for amazing first date ideas as well as our terrible nick names!
The Giant Bomb East team gathers to talk about the week in video games, their lives, and basically anything that interests them. All from New York City!
Producer's Note: Hello, Abby here! It has come to my attention that there have been allegations against Merritt K, one of our guests on the podcast today. I didn't learn about these allegations until halfway through the podcast livestream when I looked at chat.
I do my best to bring on diverse voices and guests to GB, while also maintaining an inclusive space for everyone. We try to vet our guests to assure GB is a safe and inclusive space for everyone and I have failed that for this episode. Unfortunately, sometimes with these allegations they may seem very loud in certain circles but are silent in others. In this case, I simply did not know these allegations even existed before today.
If you would like to speak to us directly about these allegations or anything else, you can email beastcast@giantbomb.com. I read every email. Thanks.
This was a great episode, and I did not know about the accusations against Merritt K., so that is disappointing. I understand why Abby would not have known. Doing any kind of search on Merritt K doesn't bring up anything on Google or Twitter.
Everyone saying that Abby should "do better" - how should she have done that? She had no idea, and clearly no one else on staff that she shared the guest list with did either.
I 100% believe Abby wasn't aware of the situation prior to inviting this person as a guest, but should this Bombcast _really_ be up on the site now that everyone's aware of what's going on? This is still giving an accused abuser a wide platform, which isn't exactly a great thing.
Gonna skip this one for clear reasons - appreciate the note though. Sometimes people with some awful views just slip through without being noticed. Glad Abby owned up to the fact, would expect nothing less of her, her commitment to inclusion seems real.
So Giant Bomb is supposed to be Abuse police or what? If normal google search pops nothing then who cares..This is podcast about video games not CIA clearance... F twitter
Whilst it seems like one of the guest choices was unfortunately misjudged – I think Abby is doing her best, by bringing different voices on to the Beastcast – and we should support that.
Giant Bomb needs to take the podcast or put something in audio about allegations in the episode. You are actively adding to her ability to to cover for her bullshit by only having something in writing here most people that listen to the podcast will have no idea that Merritt is a piece of shit. Next they go search for Merritt because she's been given the cover of the podcast and then they may be follow her on Twitter and that makes her cover even better.
Biphobic, bigoted against non-binary and ace people, grooming, and just an asshole. And the only thing said about it is a note under the podcast on the site alone.
So Giant Bomb is supposed to be Abuse police or what? If normal google search pops nothing then who cares..This is podcast about video games not CIA clearance... F twitter
I absolutely agree that they should stick to games, but by their own will they've actively started engaging with this stuff on a more direct basis and with that come responsibilities and obligations.
Shownotes only reach those that go to the desktop website to click a play button or decide to open up the more details tab on the mobile website. You're still giving a platform to someone that you regret putting on the show.
Whilst it seems like one of the guest choices was unfortunately misjudged – I think Abby is doing her best, by bringing different voices on to the Beastcast – and we should support that.
Absolutely! Can't fault her for what appeared to be a great lineup. I'm just not going to listen to this one (much like I don't like watching clips with Max or Jack) and will look forward to the next one. It just sucks that it's ended up happening.
It is kind of funny this very podcast had almost a whole hour devoted to people that have allegations against them regardless of severity and promising to do better that this happened just a few months llater. Bad luck.
@ericsmith: Absolutely this. The crew has said in the past that there are people who listen to the podcast and don’t set foot on the site. There’s also nothing about the allegations in the episode description on Apple’s podcast app. The content of Abby’s message is good, I just wish it was more accessible to people listening to this episode.
I understand Abby was in a tough spot this week but I am still extremely disappointed. Part of me is surprised they even uploaded the archive. The production note is half assed, easy to miss and comes across as disingenuous and in the end without some kind of note in the podcast itself is just giving a platform to a known abuser. Do better. Don’t talk about taking these things seriously and then hand wave them away in the footnotes.
Leaving this podcast up seems in bad taste at best and more likely irresponsibly signal boosting someone who even a cursory search reveals is a serial abuser and has a history of racism and biphobia.
After having an entire apology podcast, an "oops, my bad!" notice that will reach a fraction of the podcast audience is embarrassing. How do you hear these allegations mid recording and not think maybe you should pause and investigate?
I had also never heard of Merritt K, but Abby inviting her was - at worst - an honest mistake. This is the first all-female podcast to ever happen on GB and I feel like it's even more special for being in one of the two main feeds.
Anyway, just wanted to show my appreciation for the idea and initiative.
This is a real bummer because I would love to listen to a podcast with Abby, Riana and Mary. Totally seems like an honest mistake, it's a real shame and I hope Abby gets another chance to do it.
Having said that, there's a case that GB should probably take it down, along with the Jack Gallagher stuff etc, because if anyone searches for them and sees they've been on the Giant Beastcast they're probably not going to see the production note and just assume "oh hey, they're friends with GB, they must be cool"
@stumpsock: I did a few google searches but couldn't find anything concrete, can you link me to what you found? A lot of people here are tsk-tsking but no one is actually coming up with any receipts.
Taking Abbys word for it, if she found out about the allegations halfway through or afterwards, maybe question putting this up. You dont need to platform abusers and people with awful gender/sexuality and race politics
What exactly are the allegations against her? Everyone is complaining about the “we’ll do better” thing, but frankly they fucked up then by Dragging Matt Pascual through the mud for no reason. Based on a lot of “controversy” I have heard about lately, I’m willing to bet that her controversy is nothing but a bunch of super woke people being dumb.
@oni: this waypoint thread has links to several twitter threads by people confessing they'd been subject to abuse by Merritt. https://forum.waypoint.vice.com/t/tw-sexual-assault-alec-holowka-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-zoe-quinn/23664/33
Here's a twitter thread by the person who alleges that Merritt tried to get her fired from Fanbyte https://twitter.com/acvalens/status/1166363730990571520?s=20 - it also points out that "What drives me wild is how many queer women (usually trans women) have their own stories about merritt and yet whenever I talk to someone outside of the community it's like this is totally news to them."
This now closed reddit post has more stuff in the comments. https://www.reddit.com/r/giantbomb/comments/iqb31s/merritt_k_on_the_beastcast_is_super_disappointing/
Putting an editor's note on the site is not enough Abby. Mistakes happen but at least edit a visual/audio disclaimer onto the podcast. A note will not be seen by the majority of ppl who listen to this.....
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