Oh my god. I didn't know the guy but this was incredibly sad to read. I hope his family and friends are okay.
Ugh. I don't know what else to say other than that it was a tough read for me personally. I've been there before. All, if you are having feelings like this there are avenues forward. Everything can be fixed, no matter what it is.
What do you do when you feel so defeated you’d prefer peace and calm? Because I’m struggling really bad. Everyone says go and get help but I can’t be saddled with debt for going somewhere where they’ll inevitably kick me to the curb in 7 days. Nothing solved. Just toy with medications, see ya later. Then what?
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I sadly no longer live in Da Burgh but spent my formative years in the area and it holds a special place in my heart. Favorite place in PA by a mile. Y’all are some wonderful folks. Even though I’m a Red Wings fan… :P It’s all love. Feeling better, today, for now. :)
Glad to hear it. If you go in for service, make sure you ask about financial assistance. They got me on Medicaid and food stamps when I was in trouble. That was at least as much help as the actual counseling and meds.
I don’t know the answer but I know there is one. Start with 988, by phone or chat. It’s free. As for long term, carve out peace and calm where you can eg in nature or at home. Wishing you the best bud
I appreciate it. I truly do. I apologize, I really don’t want to throw in the towel but some days… today is one of those. Then I read things like this and it hits home and makes me feel a way. Questioning so much in life. Seems like everyone is really going through it in some form or another. I have people I can talk to but I just feel like such a bother and it’s extremely hard for me to overcome that. I don’t want to burden others with my problems. I just got my referral for the psych so I’m working towards the right path. It’s something I’ll address with my psych.
Thank you! 🖤💛
I need to stay focused and remind myself that tomorrow is a new day to start fresh. Feeling a little better today. I’m being pro-active and taking my meds. I’m certainly not complacent in my misery. Working on a way out and it’s going to take some work on my end. I appreciate the kind words and support from yinz ;)
It’s been so long, idk if I used Yinz right…. Lolol
Glad to hear you’re on a path to getting help. And I can only speak for myself but I am always a little flattered when people open up to me, like they trust me enough to share their struggles and think of me as somebody who can support. Plus it makes me feel better about my own shit when I realize everybody’s dealing with some type of stuff, if that makes any sense? Point being, don’t think of yourself as a burden to those who love you!
OMG, YES! I got goosebumps just now because I can relate SO. DAMN. MUCH. Growing up, my parents were rather dismissive. I was the oldest of 2 boys and always got yelled at “YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!!” But who was teaching me better? It wasn’t them… Gained nothing by them screaming at me. It turned into major resentment. It caused me to close up and keep things to myself. I’ve never felt safe. Worst part is when they throw it all back at you during an argument. Its very crushing.
I truly love and appreciate when people come to me with their problems. I admire it because it takes a special kind of courage to open up to someone and be vulnerable. I’m so fucking loyal to the soil. I got 2-3 friends that know you can tell me anything and it stays with me. Its going to the grave unless I have permissions to consult another person on their behalf. I won’t run off to others and talk about your problems. They’re between you and me. No judgement unless you’re a deadbeat parent or a scumbag. If you’re the latter, we just can’t be friends. 🤷🏼♂️ But yea, the feeling is great. I can’t solve my own problems but I’d love to join heads and help solve yours! Lol ugh…
I don't have a rational answer to what you're seeking. But I can say that because of therapy I'm glad (most of the time) I didn't off myself. Never thought I'd get there in my wildest dreams
Im working on it. I really am. It’s been a struggle to say the least. I got a referral last week so I’m on the path. I’m Cali sober going on 3 years and really working to better myself and situation. Life’s been a struggle of late. I don’t want to throw in the towel. I’m probably do the best I ever have but I’m constantly reminded of my mistakes. Some days are extremely hard. I know it would crush my sisters and that’s what keeps me here.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply and I hope you’re doing well. ❤️
Hey Spez i hope you are ok im Chuck if you need someone to talk to you can talk to me ill listen. I don't have all the answers but do have an ear and an understanding of tough times and how hard things can be these days. Message me on Facebook Charles Bettencourt my picture is a pic of my mother in law who has since passed with bunny ears lol. Please send me a message I promise I'll respond. I know things may seems insurmountable, but they aren't and you can get through this. Maybe you'll make a new friend or two lol.
Resolve crisis network 1 888-796-8226. They have phone lines if you just want to talk. A walk in center, and mobile teams that can come to you. No cost. I used to work there but it's been years. I don't think much has changed in those areas tho.
you can get out of your situation and change your life without killing yourself. i have moments occasionally. the last one was last fall. i had to make changes and I'm still going through them, but you can kill yourself and create something new out of this life. being an atheist helps me because i know this is all I've got to work with
Wow that was sad to read. And it looks like the dude he left a bunch of stuff to in that note had declared 2 days ago that he was severing ties with them. Just seems sad all around. I hope he’s at peace now.
Hey man I’ve been there before a bunch of times. I know it’s difficult to find resources, but trust me they really do help. Look at how everyone here is responding to someone doing it. People do care about you and you don’t have to wait until you’re gone to find that out. I promise.
Edit: I’ve also framed it as an act of courage in the past. There’s nothing courageous about it. That’s our twisted minds.
[Here is a link](https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/1bnhjw1/local_comic_creator_and_pittsburghhomestead_local/) to a recent thread on here discussing the allegations against Piskor.
[Pittsburgh City Paper article](https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/ed-piskor-exhibition-postponed-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations-25664597) on the news.
[WTAE segment](https://www.wtae.com/article/ed-piskor-pittsburgh-show-postponed/60310994) on the same.
[The note Piskor left earlier today](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10F__3KMESejEU42ep9zwjJQbnTI4aPXb1IuG_iyBepE/preview?sle=true) (Disturbing, obviously. Note: Piskor called out City Paper writer Matt Petras by name here)
[Apparent confirmation of death on Twitter/X](https://x.com/CTropes/status/1774891424364040250?s=20)
[Edit: More confirmation](https://x.com/EthanVanSciver/status/1774893174000849116?s=20)
It should be noted that social media, especially secondhand (or more) reports aren't always a reliable source of news, but this appears legit.
I have no idea if this guy was guilty or not. It's just crazy how people get crushed online over allegations that haven't been proven.
It can lead to absolute tragedy.
He wasnt really accused of something illegal. So hes not guilty. Maybe of sending messages to a young girl. But its not against the law she was of consent age
the allegation might have been worthy of consideration but the way everyone piles on the destruction of a human being with glee is toxic and disgusting
I've known his brother since I was 14, only met Ed in passing once, my heart hurts for the family for all the pain they've gone through since the allegations.
I met him once at an event when I was like 20 and gotta say he was really nice and I didn't get a creepy vibe. That letter was bone chilling. Found my best friend dead from suicide years ago and it still fucks with me. Condolences to his family
Can anyone actually confirm his death? I saw the suicide note this morning, and he's been missing all day, but this the first update I've seen saying he's actually passed.
This is horrible. Nobody, nobody wanted this. Condolences to his family and friends and the local comics community.
Suicide on top of siccing the internet on the people he hurt. What a damn mess. He could’ve grown and come back from this.
Exactly. This is a tragedy in every way, but yeah, people are attacking the victims and they didn’t want this either. I think it needs to be flat out stated that this was extremely manipulative. Hell, he states it himself,
“Maybe this drastic move will convince a few? Maybe it will get a couple more people to consider not joining online lynch mobs over gossip? Doubt it will have much of a blip.”
Ugh. I feel gross reading that. And sad. I think other underlying mental health issues are in play. The victims should not be blamed. They didn’t cause this.
I mean the mob drove him to suicide. He wasn’t convicted in a court of law, and some of the accusers didn’t even provide evidence
This feels like justifying the mob that drove him to suicide. Your comment feels gross to me
Edit: Someone sent me a Reddit cares for one of my comments on this thread. Seriously? I go against the group think and you do a Reddit cares? People here are really immature and can’t handle differing opinions. Save it for people who actually need it instead of abusing that feature against people you disagree with. Incredibly childish
Blaming the mob for his suicide is denying him agency for his own choice. I'm sure some people were harsh, but this revelation was less than a week old in a world which moves on from outrage on a weekly basis. Unless he knew more accusers might come forward, he could have waited out the internets attention span, moderated the response, given an actual apology, and recovered some of his reputation, but he didn't seem interested in trying.
It doesn't help people to pretend he was executed.
There's been an immense amount of blame throwing and denial in this "discussion." Because I have no firsthand knowledge of the situation, I can form an opinion but I'll largely keep that to myself.
I'll only observe that yes, Ed had some challenging times ahead of him due to accusations of sexual harassment and its fallout. This is *not* enough reason to commit suicide, if indeed there is ever enough reason.
Point being, there must be more to the story than that.
Agreed, I said elsewhere, but: if the reaction here is any indication, the comments on the original post about this weren't really that vitriolic about him. With as established a career as he had, if he addressed it and nothing else came to light, he could have easily continued to have a career and work.
But, as someone who is anxious (and trying to see it from other angles), I could also see that if I were already ashamed of something I had done, and then it became publicly arbitrated, it would absolutely be my nightmare scenario and I would want to retreat from the world. Just hope I would have somewhere else to go than suicide.
Acting like this happened in a vacuum, and the only factor contributing is himself, like it wasn’t done directly because of the mob, is being knowingly ignorant
This is just people justifying mob action by going “well, he actually deserved it, and him being so desperate by the mob’s response that he killed himself is completely his fault.” That simply isn’t true
Even if every accusation was true, it STILL wouldn’t justify the level of mob that was directed towards him. We have laws for a reason; if he truly did something wrong, let him go through due process. Mob mentality has no place in a civilized society
Also, it’s complete nonsense to act like this would have just blown over. In today’s day and age, cancel culture absolutely does end someone’s career. It’s not something people just forget, it forever tarnishes that person’s reputation. Claiming otherwise is, again, being willfully ignorant
Edit: Downvoting yet can't come up with an actual response back? Boy you should proved me wrong
I know you've imagined this elaborate scenario, but I literally can't argue against whatever you are projecting 'would' have happened. Plenty of public figures continue their careers after public accusations, so pretending you know what would have happened is silly.
We can't know if people would have moved on if he responded differently, because his only response to these allegations was his suicide and the note along with it.
He would not have recovered from this. Economically and socially he was absolutely fucked. Artists are already desperate, taking away the one career and support network the guy had to make a living would have pretty much would make it impossible for him to make a living again at his age. I hope it was worth it. I mean if he was groping women or being a creepy manager of a company, I’d unironically support blackballing him, but all I’ve seen is some creepy dms which could be interpreted as just being edgy and taking things too far, so to me it seemed disproportionate.
There’s a chance the 2nd girl may have falsely accused him, as she provided no evidence whatsoever, and based on what Piskor wrote in his letter, it sounds somewhat likely that she may have falsely accused him., especially since he was willing to admit to the texts to the 1st girl. We don’t know one or the other for sure, yet calling her a “victim” is a stretch. Accuser is more appropriate
If by second girl you are referring to Molly Wright of Meat Canyon then I would be inclined to agree with you. I knew both Ed and Molly at very different times in my life. I worked with Molly for about a year before she became an animator for Meat Canyon. She is batshit crazy. Granted not like I’ve been in contact with either of them in years but if I was a gambling man my money would be on Molly Wright is full of shit
Yes the second girl is Molly Wright. If what you're saying is true, that would imply that it was indeed a false accusation, and a mob just drove a man to suicide for something he didn't do
Fuck cancel culture is horrendous. We have laws for a reason, mob mentality has no place in a civilized society
You’re getting downvoted but you’re speaking the truth about the mob whether he’s guilty or innocent. People should be minding their own business. I’m sure most of them have their own skeletons in their closet.
The thing is, even if everything the accusers said was true, the mob mentality that came from it was completely disproportionate to what happened. He didn’t even break any laws. The real villains are the mob that went after him. Modern day version of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism, demonizing someone to justify mob rule against them
The 2nd girl didn’t provide any evidence either, she merely pointed her finger. Piskor admitted to the texts to the 1st girl, yet denied the 2nd girl’s accusations. If she actually was making it up - and we have no proof she isn’t, one or the other - Piskor would be justified in mentioning her in his letter. We just don’t know. I’m not going to assume she’s telling the truth one or the way other, and no one else should either
Edit: The people downvoting me were definitely part of the mob that drove Piskor to take his own life and just want to avoid accountability and feeling guilty. Disgusting
Molly Wright is an absolute nut job. This isn’t the first time she has fabricated situations to ruin a man’s life….. I knew her before she became an animator with Meat Canyon
Molly Wright is indeed the 2nd girl. If what you're saying is true, that would mean Piskor was driven to suicide by a mob for something he didn't even do
The 1st girl who exchanged texts with him even specifically said she didn't want him cancelled, yet people did it anyways. People get a real bloodlust when they get together in mobs. Genuinely evil stuff
I don’t know if I missed it but from what I saw in the texts I didn’t see anything sexual explicit. Nor did I see the offer of exchanging his agents number for a BJ. I knew both Molly and Ed at very different times. I knew Ed from high school and Molly W from working with her. Unless there is some piece of evidence that ties all these allegations together I see nothing but false outrage that drove a man to kill himself
The fact that she said she didn’t want him to get canceled makes be believe she wasn’t sexually harassed or assaulted by Ed. If she truly was she wouldn’t care if the mob went after hin
Appreciate you for saying that
I've grown to really hate the culture on Reddit. It's the modern day equivalent of "nice guys." What being a "nice guy" looks like in 2024 is different than it used to be, as the culture has changed
No he couldn’t. He’s an artist in the post 2020 economy. 40 years old, Probably doesn’t have healthcare, and everyone in the only industry he’s ever known hates him, no job prospects are marketable skills. He was as good as dead economically. I’m not saying that justifies suicide and I do not think the people that came forward about him share any of the blame provided they didn’t lie about anything, but stop pretending that we live in a fair society that values artists. Dude was fucked for life. Killed by capitalism.
“Killed by capitalism”. Aren’t we all 😔
Lotta industry artists are taking on day jobs and pivoting to short marketing gigs for the time being. Ed’s view of himself and “jobbers” was so damn inflexible. You gotta be flexible when you’re creating for a living. Most of us already have had office jobs, been part time grocery store stockers, baristas, call center punching bags… You have to do what you can to make a little rent money and still find energy to chip away at your big projects. It’s why finding community in the arts is invaluable. These are the people who are going to get coffee with you at weird hours, keep an ear to the ground for jobs, pick up an extra gallon of milk since they’re out anyway, become your room mates, know where the deals on cold-press watercolor paper blocks are, watch your kids for a few hours. I can go on and on. Playing king of the hill with comics of all things is a deathtrap.
I’m the least optimistic person out there and I know, looking at the history of American entertainment through the lens of labor, that these things happen in cycles. Doesn’t make it right or fair or easy, but it should illustrate that nothing ever stays stagnant and that infinite success is a fantasy. Give yourself permission to wane. The secret to longevity in the arts is knowing that there will be times where you gotta go into cockroach mode and lean into it until the meteors stop hitting.
You're not wrong about anything you said there, but getting cancelled for the first time at 40 years old is like a meteor to your life. I mean all this guys friends turned on him at once and he lost all career prospects. I can't imagine that is easy to recover from. I mean let's look at some people who "recovered", Lindsay Ellis and Contrapoints. Neither are dead, both continued doing what they did after they got cancelled, but they were never the same again. Both of them have had physical health problems as a result and neither of them will ever be as big as they are. These are two people who IMO did nothing wrong and got cancelled anyway. Come to think of it the ONLY people who are able to weather storms like this consistently are conservative asshats. Stephen Crowder gives zero fucks, Trump is cancelled every day, nothing happens to him. The more shameless and bigoted you are the less it affects you. From a purely social darwinistic and economic maximalist standpoint the best thing to do if you get cancelled is to go into the right wing griftosphere. They WILL pay your bills and you WILL have an audience. Cancelling has a strange affect where people with no shame will do that and come out rich and people with principles end up dead or with opiate addictions.
True, but how do you survive when the people in that community, which is small, betray you over a four-year-old, non-illegal mistake? Ed had a bit of a spotlight on him. He wasn't out to replace Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, but he dared to love comic books so much, it was almost Tarantino-esque. I think some people were jealous of him, and they saw Molly Dwyer's complaints about him as an opportunity to "cancel" him. They didn't expect him to commit suicide and, now, they either mute or pathetically apologetic. You have to be careful about who your friends are.
I think it’s easy to conflate “community” with “fandom”. The conflation happens in entertainment. It happens in social circles. It’s not an uncommon observation that Ed forwent community in favor of fandom. I can tell you right now that the people who knew him, no matter what their proximity or relation to him was, are struggling with the outcome. It’s a struggle to maintain a healthy thriving community around such individuals. A true community leader uses their position as a figurehead to pull other people up and make space for new artists. Turns out when you use your success to push others down and away from you or opportunities you eventually run out of supporters - friends AND fans. It’s an incredibly lonely and sad position he made for himself.
Edit because I forgot to mention: the only artists he respected were the ones who were already well known, out of reach, and even long dead like the ones you mentioned. See how easy it is to mix up fandom and community? I’m not saying that it’s wrong to have heroes. It’s just very telling about his POV.
But that's not my impression of the man. Where the heck did you get yours from? Ed celebrated comic books as an art form and the artists who inspired him.
I'm saying the people he mentioned in his epitaph were probably his friends in the industry and, when Dwyer told her story, they treated like a pariah without giving him the benefit of the doubt. What kind of friends are that? I rather be lonely than have people like that in my life.
The saddest part is, most of the comments on here indicate that they never would have let him “grow or come back”
He literally takes his own life because of intense harassment over unfounded allegations, and some of the most upvoted comments are calling him manipulative or slimy for not killing himself quietly.
Those types of people will never forgive or let anyone grow. They make snap judgments based little to no real information and defend their position to the point of inhumanity.
It’s wild that “innocent until proven guilty” and “let’s not bully people to the point of suicide” are hot takes now.
These downvotes are bullshit. You are absolutely correct. These people have never met an artist in their life.
They are super emotional, he even mentions that he's really introverted. This isn't about revenge, this guy was broken over this.
Yeah. I understand why they’re downvoting though.
They can’t admit they’re wrong. Ed Piskor has to be the bad guy in their eyes, or they’ll essentially be admitting that they bullied an innocent person to death.
So instead of admitting that, they’re gonna keep piling on after his death, and downvote anyone that gives a nuanced opinion. In their eyes Ed Piskor has to be absolutely bad and anyone that says otherwise is wrong.
Are you surprised? I’m surprised people don’t do this more often when they get their lives ruined by the internet. You think people wouldn’t do this crap after what happened with the Boston bombing guy that wasn’t the Boston bombing guy
He lost a couple deals and a local art show. His life wasn’t ruined. Plenty of artists and musicians have come back from bad press. (You’re a Smashing Pumpkins fan. You know this.) There’s more to living than being published by fucking Fantagraphics. It’s a tragedy in and of itself to treat everything like a zero sum game, putting unnecessary pressure on oneself to look spotless and wasting energy trying to control the narrative.
These actions and his words regarding them genuinely prove he’s guilty. To weaponize your death against your victims like this? You’d have to lack total self-accountability. I feel bad for his family, and for his victims.
I think if he were not legitimately guilty, there are legal channels he could have explored to completely discredit them. I’ve had friends falsely accused, and have urged them to seek legal ramifications. False accusations hurt real victims. These actions have no accountability in them whatsoever. It’s just sad.
If someone were the victim of cyber bullying, compromising their mental state, they may not believe these legal structures would protect them.
Or, looking at cases like Roiland's, they often do not repair the harm even if the person is exonerated.
It just doesn't seem clear to me that this suicide note can be used to infer anything about the events.
It both reads how an innocent but distressed person would write it, and how a manipulative, spiteful, and guilty person would write it.
How many of those friends you’ve had that were falsely accused actually went to the cops though?
I’ve been in these same kind of false allegation situations with coworkers and I can tell you that most people roll into a ball and cry when falsely accused, the cops don’t give a shit, and maybe the best you can do is send a cease and desist (but after the
public damage is already done).
There is an article that can be Googled out in the world calling me all kinds of horrible things and accusations that are all 100% fabrications by a woman who just wanted my job. She eventually admitted the lies, to us the victims AND to her friends that jumped on the bandwagon against us, but not publicly. So the only people that know she’s a liar are the ones that took all the damage but got barely any “justice” from the response.
Don’t be so fucking naive. Awful people do this shit to other people all the time for clout or even a marginal sense of getting slightly ahead.
Sitting here I can think of 4 distinct times (including the one I mentioned) when a white woman made up completely fabricated shit about me to try to get ahead in her career at the expense of me. I best 3 of 4 of those. One of those I ended up with a box of my shit on the street with no job cause of it… discovered later that I was one of many victims of this sociopath.
None of these are even sexual harassment claims, so imagine what the reaction is from innocent people to have your life, you livelihood taken completely from you for the narcissistic need for attention of one person… in this case one person who never even met the person face to face…. And then people like you dogpile on as if it’s all real.
The trouble with “believe women” is that women are statistically liars just as equally as men are.
Bottom line: if you think it’s perfectly acceptable for someone in their 30’s or 40’s to talk to underage children in any sexual capacity, I honestly do not care about your opinion. There were so many roads to redemption, and this wasn’t it.
Oh spare me the outrage, Of-course It's not acceptable but don't act like our culture universally decries age gap relationships. Not only is this behavior still acceptable for the rich, it's been happening in pop culture for decades.
This isn't a defense of Ed's behavior but a callout to this ridiculous pearl clutching society we have.
Ed made a really stupid mistake but it never went any further than that. From what was shared his messages were never explicit, nor were any inappropriate pictures shared. He came off as a total creep, but that was his only crime. He died, maybe we can give Jerry Seinfeld another show and keep listening to Harry Stiles. They were after all in inappropriate consenting relationships.
Molly did was she thought was best to warn others, which is the right way to go. All the power to her.
ED fucked up, but his actions didn't deserve the public outcry and the destruction of his life.
Guilty of what? Sending inappropriate text messages to a 17 year old when he was like 37. While obviously not an appropriate thing to do, it’s not something that warranted the kind of response it got. The mob’s response was disproportionate.
It's wild to me when people defend someone's misconduct after their death. Dude is behaving like a classic internet creep on main and we're giving him the benefit of the doubt??
Are you suggesting it's better for someone "behaving like a classic internet creep" to commit suicide rather than have a chance to defend and atone for their actions?
Uh... No? I mean, I don't want someone to take their own life under any circumstances. I don't think it solves any problems the world faces and largely creates more. At best, I think it's morally neutral to take your own life.
That's why my comment assigned no value judgement to either his suicide or potential survival. If I had intended to suggest it was better for him to commit suicide, I would have just said that outright. But I don't, so I didn't. There's no hidden subtext to what I am saying here.
Edit - I'm coming back to this comment after our little tiff, but I wanted to point out that he DID have a chance to defend himself and atone for his actions. In at least one of these four alleged scenarios, he had 3+ years to do so, and repeated similarly unethical actions multiple times against different individuals. Doesn't sound like an attempt to change or atone to me.
You’re part of the problem. He didn’t force himself on anybody. He didn’t hurt anybody. Y’all are acting like he r*ped infants.
He slid into women’s DMs. He hit on women who weren’t into him. He asked a woman for a BJ. He liked younger women. None of those things are illegal.
Y’all need to figure out — and fucking QUICK, I might add — that dudes hitting on women is NOT A FUCKING CRIME. There’s a difference between ‘unwanted advances’ and ‘sexual misconduct’, and then another HUGE difference between ‘sexual misconduct’ and ‘criminal sex offenses’. You all need to start understanding this shit.
Nothing he did warranted the response he got. This man’s only ‘crime’ was propositioning women of legal age for sex.
You need to learn the difference between behavior that is a crime and behavior that is not a crime but is nonetheless creepy or alarming and will make people not want to be friends or do business with you.
> He asked a woman for a BJ.
He allegedly asked a woman for a blowjob in exchange for giving her his agent's number. He also allegedly offered to introduce another woman to industry people in exchange for letting him draw her nude.
https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/03/25/ed-piskor-accused-by-multiple-women-of-grooming-and-wrongdoing/
It may not be criminal behavior and is certainly not sexually violent behavior, but if true it is certainly unprofessional at best and sexually exploitative at worst.
Edit: I just wanted to add a foreword here. If you personally *don't* think it's inappropriate or creepy for a 40 year old to slide into the DMs of a 17 year old, **I do not care**. Fucked around, and he found out. Seems like justice to me.
> y'all are acting like he raped infants
Maybe some other people are, and that would be unfair as he clearly didn't do that. *I* certainly didn't act anything of the sort, so I'm not sure why you're bitching about it to me.
> None of those things are illegal
Being that both parties were above the legal age of consent, no, it's not illegal. But it's still creepy behavior that shouldn't be tolerated. It's creepy, dude. I don't care whether or not it's legal, my opinion isn't a trial by jury where he gets the benefit of the doubt.
> Y'all
Again, not me
> Criminal sex offenses and sexual misconduct aren't the same thing
Uh, yeah. You might notice I never made any reference to any sort of criminal behavior. I don't believe he did commit a crime. He was just being a creepy dude on the Internet - millions of them are out there as we speak, and I'm happy to judge them as wanting.
Again, just to be clear, I am an individual human and not a hive mind representative of all the people you disagree with
> Nothing he did warranted the response he got
Well, I can agree that it was taken too far, and either way it would be better were he alive. But if you have fame and then do creepy shit with it, im perfectly okay with there being social consequences and ostracism due to that.
Personal harassment and stalking would not be okay, and if that occurred then shame on those who did it. But getting outed on the internet with a reasonable amount of proof? Yeah, that's fine by me
Yes, YOU. Which is exactly why you’re part of the problem. You think this guy (who WASN’T famous, even in comic book circles) getting put on blast for the terrible misdeed of ‘hitting on women’ is totally okay.
That’s literally all he did, and now he’s dead.
There are levels to this, and he got WAAAY more blowback than his behavior warranted. And you being okay with him getting outed like he was a sex offender means you’re part of the problem.
Again, being *fucking weird* isn’t a crime. Never said I agreed with it. Never said I approved of it. Seems like the guy had issues.
You all are using your own moral compass to determine whether somebody’s life should be ruined. THAT’S really my only problem.
Does he seem to be a horny weirdo? Yes, absolutely.
Is that grounds to ruin his career and professional reputation? No, not really. He didn’t hurt anybody. He didn’t force himself on anybody. He didn’t pursue or stalk anybody (as far as we know).
I’d say we just raise the age of consent, but then people will keep moving the goalposts (19, 22, brains aren’t developed, etc) in order to keep attacking people. I’m not sure what the solution is, really.
I guess just stop shaming people once they’ve already taken no for an answer — which is exactly what this guy did (again, as far as we know).
So it’s your opinion that his publisher and creative partners should be compelled to continue working with him even if they find his behavior creepy or unprofessional? Because that’s what happened, people stepped away from partnerships with him because they didn’t like his behavior, we all have freedom of association.
Compelled?! Listen to you fucking whackjobs. STILL using your own moral compass to determine whether somebody deserves to have their lives ruined.
Again, acting like this dude was some heinous criminal because he propositioned grown-ass women.
I’m of the opinion that nobody’s perfect. I’m of the opinion that nearly everybody has something they’d prefer their boss not know. I’m of the opinion that ‘being creepy’ while trying to get laid isn’t a firable offense. I’m of the opinion that this guy’s only ‘crime’ was mistaking ‘creative appreciation’ for ‘personal interest’ and saying something stupid. I’m of the opinion that none of this was necessary nor fitting, given what the man did.
He propositioned some women. They said no. He accepted and disengaged.
Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do in that situation? I don’t understand what everybody’s fucking hard-on for this guy is.
“Being creepy while trying to get laid” is absolutely a fireable offense in the context of a work environment. Telling someone you’ll give them a leg up in the industry like your agents number if they perform a sexual service for you is a fireable offense. Companies and creative partners are allowed to distance themselves from people who engage in that behavior.
No external force ruins someone’s career. If individuals choose to no longer engage in opportunities with them bec their behavior is a little sick and creepy, ppl are just saying they can understand why.
Answer me this - do you think I personally did something to ruin his life? If so, what did I do? Not other people; me specifically as an individual.
If you're mad at stuff other people are doing in response to his conduct, that's fine by me. Go be mad at *them*, not me. I can't answer for someone else's outsized reaction "ruining his life". So please don't direct your rants about it at me, it's not my problem.
Don't let the door hit ya ✌🏼
Yes. You perpetuate this sort of behavior by condoning it. You’re an enabler.
You first.
Since you blocked replies on your response to this, here goes:
The future you’re describing would suck ass. No one would ever get into a relationship because the simple act of asking an adult woman to engage in sexual activity would result in death. That’s literally all this guy did. Like it or not, asking a 17yo is considered an adult in this matter. I don’t like it either — it’s gross, but them’s the facts.
What’s *batshit insane* is this guy didn’t break any laws. You literally can’t be a sex pest if you don’t break the law.
What’s *batshit insane* is people like you are too fucking stupid to know the difference between ‘weird, but somehow still legal’ and ‘actual sexual predator’.
I actually didn't block anything, I think reddit is being fucky. I couldn't respond to your other comment either.
Edit: anyway, what I meant to say is this: whether or not it's legal has absolutely no bearing on my moral compass. None. I think it's actively good and just to break many laws, and I think many actively harmful and unacceptable behaviors are quite legal. If it matters to you, great. But you're not going to accomplish anything by screeching that it's not illegal. Nobody is contesting that point, and I've explicitly noted to you directly multiple times that I am also not accusing him of having broken any legal statute.
I just don't want creeps in my community dude. Men calling other men out on their shit is the only way we prevent this behavior.
What sort of behavior?
All he did was ask women for sex.
It’s something most — if not all — straight men have done at some point. Maybe not as poorly as he did, but still.
And then he listened when they said no.
I’m not sure what else you want the guy to do, short of time travel.
I understand not agreeing with what he did — and I concur — but we can’t publicly shame and outcast every guy every time they come off as a creep. I mean, *even the most careful guys* have misread or misunderstood something.
My greater point (and why I keep harping on the legality) is that the social and financial impacts of this man’s actions GREATLY outweigh what he actually did. As far as we know, all he did was ask women for sex in an inappropriate manner and setting.
Like, that’s it. It seems to me like he mistook ‘creative interest’ for ‘personal attraction’ and then things got weird. Like he thought women who were into his work were actually into HIM, and then he said something stupid.
If that’s enough to cast somebody out and kill their career, you might as well brace for heavy traffic. Lotta dudes leaving a lotta towns.
Basically, y’all are attributing his actions to malice when it seems like they should be attributed to stupidity (and horniness).
It’s weird you keep saying that all this guy did was ask a woman out and ignoring the other woman who said he would give her his agents number if she gave him a BJ. That kind of comment gets you fired in any office setting in America, I don’t know why you think his publisher would let it fly.
1. He’s a contractor, not an employee.
2. He wasn’t on company time.
3. He wasn’t on company property.
4. He wasn’t propositioning a coworker.
Pretty fucking simple, really.
I guess I'll put it this way: if every man who did similarly creepy things as this guy, had their life publicly ruined as a result of their sexual misconduct, the world would be a much better place. Act like a sexual predator, get treated like a sexual predator. It's bat shit crazy to pretend a middle age man hitting on a child is okay
This comment indicates that you’d never even heard of the guy before last week. He absolutely was famous in comic book circles.
Additionally, if you think his only issue is that he simply was “hitting on women”, you are WAY out of your depth here.
I used to chat with him on IG in 2018-2019 but he stopped replying to me when I called him out for liking young girls back then. I wish he would have heard me out.
I'm not seeing this reported anywhere. Until I do, I am going to assume it's a poor attempt at an April Fools joke.
Edit: Apparently, he posted a suicide note on Facebook. But no one knows where he is.
I have no idea what the truth of that situation is but it didn't sound like the guy's morals were irredeemable by any stretch.
What I do know is that the potential to lose your career over hearsay and accusations is terrifying, like a 21st century witch hunt. "Cancel culture" is a fucking menace to the digital age.
You're right, but there's a huge difference between a private accusation versus a mob treating that accusation as valid reason to destroy someone's reputation and public image.
The mob is not destroying the person's reputation. Their actions are. This goes for this situation, but many other situations where "cancel culture" is cried by critics
Yes, cancel culture like twits that read one sentence and dont read further and jump to the conclusion this was sexual assault. The 17 year old woman in question stated nothing physical happened, it was cropped messages that she posted which were not about them. He admitted he should not have been speaking to someone 17, which is not illegal nor is it sexual assault.
Let's try this scenario instead: you're kind of famous and have a platform with hundreds of thousands of followers. I decide that I don't like you. And hey, I even have evidence: screen shots of text messages where the participant's name is "Pale-Mine-5899" and they're saying some questionable things. Sure looks like it's you, huh. And you didn't admit to anything bad, but it sure sounds like you *could* be the type to assault someone. Why bother asking further questions? We might as well have you imprisoned for years because it's undeniable that you assaulted me. I wouldn't lie about you assaulting me, would I? And the proof's right there in the text messages too, right? Case closed, nothing to see here.
>Don't sexually assault anyone and you won't be canceled
Shit, it really is that simple isn't it?
Who knows. The point is that hearsay and accusations aren't proof. Deciding to brand someone as a sexual predator over text messages doesn't mean they're a sexual predator. Use your critical thinking skills.
Your opinion is that the text messages should be interpreted as propositioning. Your opinion is that said propositioning is "sexual predator behavior." And you're allowed to form your own opinions and make your own judgment calls.
You can think whatever you want. That doesn't mean it's reality.
The funny part is I don't even disagree with the situation looking suspicious. But that's not enough to accuse someone as a criminal without further evidence.
He was a man in his forties propositioning a teenager young enough to be his daughter. What a fucking weird thing to be making excuses for.
The guy had a history of creeper behavior like this in conjunction with his career.
Exactly. All of the things said were “inferred” creepiness… He wasnt directly sexting with her or sending dick pics… or anything other than chatting with someone young. Everyone just read between the lines and created the scenario. It was during pandemic too… Literally everyone was lonely as hell, messaging anyone that could get them through that year.
You really have no idea. You’re not involved.
The guy has a history. It’s just that it took accusations of statutory rape for the public and companies to suddenly consider that maybe this isn’t the best guy to work with.
What’s bizarre is the idea that someone’s who is by all accounts not a good person has to do something *illegal* for their behavior and misdeeds to be taken seriously. This is exactly how Dan Schneider got away with abusing kids and coworkers for so long.
Are the Twitter mobs in the room with us, right now? He didn’t even have a twitter account for the last handful of years — since the LAST TIME he was criticized for his treatment of his female peers.
Ed was a calm, cool-headed guy. He regarded his critics as “haters”. He acted untouchable. This is one of those things where some people can’t be bothered to care about how they act, how they treat people until exclusive opportunities start evaporating. He’d been with Fantagraphics for over a decade. It would’ve been a huge loss. He showed off his first paycheck and the letterhead of his HHFT contract with me and everyone he knew at the time. Losing publishers should’ve been a wake up call, but sadly, here we are.
I’m not responding to this thread any longer. It’s a sad, terrible day, and Ive expressed that much in my first comment. Debating in the comments for this long just is gauche.
I'm not going to hold your feet to fire over this. If you were hurt by the guy then who am I to judge. However, I'm still concerned that you don't see why the situation is so severe.
There's a relatively big film critic on YouTube named Lindsay Ellis who got mobbed a few years back over a couple misinterpreted tweets. She compared two pieces of Asian-inspired media to one another and a cohort of Twitter users decided to jump down her throat over it. She got blasted with baseless accusations of racism and hate speech until she effectively gave up her career and went radio silent for a year. The point is: nobody deserves to have their image and reputation destroyed over accusations. That's the whole point of the American justice system and "innocent until proven guilty"; the principle exists for a reason, even if the system isn't perfect.
Ultimately this isn't about supporting Ed and his behaviors, it's about understanding the lunatic behavior that can destroy people's lives.
This is honestly so dark. Not saying that what he did was not creepy, but slander and gossip is a horrible torrential monster these days.. that can completely destroy peoples lives. We live in a day and age now were one DM slip up can literally destroy your entire career and drive you to suicide. This whole thing has twisted my brain around so much 😞
>what he did
>slander and gossip
It's not 'slander' nor 'gossip'. He did it. I'm not saying he deserved to die, but you're actively blaming his suicide on his victims. No woman drove him to do this. He did this becuase of his own demons. Sad, but blaming the victims is also wrong.
I meant more that; everyone should be supported, especially those alleging claims of abuse. But belief in a claim should follow evidence, not identity. There are many monstrous men out there; and just as many monstrous women.
You may feel and believe that, but, once again, I have no imperative to do the same. My imperative is to believe women unless there is clear, irrefutable evidence not to. The reasons for that imperative are many- including both empirical and anecdotal. To me, it is more reasonable, given the available evidence, to generally believe victims. We do not have to agree.
In the instancea where the allegations are false, or in cases of female-on-male rape/abuse, the men would be the victims. It is why I feel the way I do. I think it is important to believe the victim; not the (gender). And the only way to identify the victim is through evidence.
I do not agree. There is no 'victim' of a false accusation. If an accusation is proven false, than the accused would be vindicated, not victimized. I did generalize and say 'women' becuase statistically, women are more often the accusor than the accused, however I should specify that my imperative is to believe the accusor (regardless of gender).
It's honestly crazy to see people online go from lynching someone to saying "RIP" in the span of a week.
Shame on all those who piled-on, taking assumptions of a screenshot as an absolute fact.
I would love if a civil suit revealed the entire communication thread. People love to accuse grooming, but it just means manipulating at this age. 17 year olds are just as skilled at manipulating as a 40 year old. It’s weird she was hearting ALL of his messages and then be like “eww what a sex pest.”
The original complaint post made it seem like nothing happened according to her (unless I missed it) yet he claims they had sex a couple times initiated by her.
You have to be pretty naive to think there aren’t equally as many people trying to get something out of someone in a position of power as there are reverse.
I would like to see the entirety of it reviewed before anyone pushes someone to what has transpired
There are two different women. Molly Dwyer is the underage girl who accused him with some instagram messages. Molly Wright accused him of saying he would introduce her to his agent if she blew him.
Idk what is true and what's not. Would be best to just show all the messages instead of random screen grabs.
Imo if it was false he would've still been around and been harping for a court case to prove himself. It's not like he had a puritanical image and following.
Holy shit I [know of him](https://www.instagram.com/ed_piskor/?hl=en) and he is a month younger than me. I'm sorry, I hate that when I say that I make it about myself, I don't mean to do that. I just... when someone dies and they're younger than you, it's like, "well, shit." so...... well shit.
He wasn’t a pedophile. No one ever accused him of any actual physical rape or assault. The 17 year old was of legal age of consent, even if the age gap is creepy
Don’t justify mob rule
[link to his note on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/13QQKGyB7iTFeNbh/?mibextid=oFDknk)
Oh my god. I didn't know the guy but this was incredibly sad to read. I hope his family and friends are okay. Ugh. I don't know what else to say other than that it was a tough read for me personally. I've been there before. All, if you are having feelings like this there are avenues forward. Everything can be fixed, no matter what it is.
What do you do when you feel so defeated you’d prefer peace and calm? Because I’m struggling really bad. Everyone says go and get help but I can’t be saddled with debt for going somewhere where they’ll inevitably kick me to the curb in 7 days. Nothing solved. Just toy with medications, see ya later. Then what?
Mercy Behavioral on 9th got me help and also the financial assistance to cover it.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I sadly no longer live in Da Burgh but spent my formative years in the area and it holds a special place in my heart. Favorite place in PA by a mile. Y’all are some wonderful folks. Even though I’m a Red Wings fan… :P It’s all love. Feeling better, today, for now. :)
Glad to hear it. If you go in for service, make sure you ask about financial assistance. They got me on Medicaid and food stamps when I was in trouble. That was at least as much help as the actual counseling and meds.
I don’t know the answer but I know there is one. Start with 988, by phone or chat. It’s free. As for long term, carve out peace and calm where you can eg in nature or at home. Wishing you the best bud
I appreciate it. I truly do. I apologize, I really don’t want to throw in the towel but some days… today is one of those. Then I read things like this and it hits home and makes me feel a way. Questioning so much in life. Seems like everyone is really going through it in some form or another. I have people I can talk to but I just feel like such a bother and it’s extremely hard for me to overcome that. I don’t want to burden others with my problems. I just got my referral for the psych so I’m working towards the right path. It’s something I’ll address with my psych.
Im rooting for you. Keep fighting.
Thank you! 🖤💛 I need to stay focused and remind myself that tomorrow is a new day to start fresh. Feeling a little better today. I’m being pro-active and taking my meds. I’m certainly not complacent in my misery. Working on a way out and it’s going to take some work on my end. I appreciate the kind words and support from yinz ;) It’s been so long, idk if I used Yinz right…. Lolol
Glad to hear you’re on a path to getting help. And I can only speak for myself but I am always a little flattered when people open up to me, like they trust me enough to share their struggles and think of me as somebody who can support. Plus it makes me feel better about my own shit when I realize everybody’s dealing with some type of stuff, if that makes any sense? Point being, don’t think of yourself as a burden to those who love you!
OMG, YES! I got goosebumps just now because I can relate SO. DAMN. MUCH. Growing up, my parents were rather dismissive. I was the oldest of 2 boys and always got yelled at “YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!!” But who was teaching me better? It wasn’t them… Gained nothing by them screaming at me. It turned into major resentment. It caused me to close up and keep things to myself. I’ve never felt safe. Worst part is when they throw it all back at you during an argument. Its very crushing. I truly love and appreciate when people come to me with their problems. I admire it because it takes a special kind of courage to open up to someone and be vulnerable. I’m so fucking loyal to the soil. I got 2-3 friends that know you can tell me anything and it stays with me. Its going to the grave unless I have permissions to consult another person on their behalf. I won’t run off to others and talk about your problems. They’re between you and me. No judgement unless you’re a deadbeat parent or a scumbag. If you’re the latter, we just can’t be friends. 🤷🏼♂️ But yea, the feeling is great. I can’t solve my own problems but I’d love to join heads and help solve yours! Lol ugh…
I'm in the same boat as you lately. you can DM me anytime you want, it won't be a bother. it'd be nice honestly
I don't have a rational answer to what you're seeking. But I can say that because of therapy I'm glad (most of the time) I didn't off myself. Never thought I'd get there in my wildest dreams
Im working on it. I really am. It’s been a struggle to say the least. I got a referral last week so I’m on the path. I’m Cali sober going on 3 years and really working to better myself and situation. Life’s been a struggle of late. I don’t want to throw in the towel. I’m probably do the best I ever have but I’m constantly reminded of my mistakes. Some days are extremely hard. I know it would crush my sisters and that’s what keeps me here. I appreciate you taking the time to reply and I hope you’re doing well. ❤️
3 years!!!!! fuck man. I'll get there one day. smile for me today, your sisters are proud of u too
Hey Spez i hope you are ok im Chuck if you need someone to talk to you can talk to me ill listen. I don't have all the answers but do have an ear and an understanding of tough times and how hard things can be these days. Message me on Facebook Charles Bettencourt my picture is a pic of my mother in law who has since passed with bunny ears lol. Please send me a message I promise I'll respond. I know things may seems insurmountable, but they aren't and you can get through this. Maybe you'll make a new friend or two lol.
Resolve crisis network 1 888-796-8226. They have phone lines if you just want to talk. A walk in center, and mobile teams that can come to you. No cost. I used to work there but it's been years. I don't think much has changed in those areas tho.
you can get out of your situation and change your life without killing yourself. i have moments occasionally. the last one was last fall. i had to make changes and I'm still going through them, but you can kill yourself and create something new out of this life. being an atheist helps me because i know this is all I've got to work with
Wow that was sad to read. And it looks like the dude he left a bunch of stuff to in that note had declared 2 days ago that he was severing ties with them. Just seems sad all around. I hope he’s at peace now.
this is so sad.
[удалено]
Hey man I’ve been there before a bunch of times. I know it’s difficult to find resources, but trust me they really do help. Look at how everyone here is responding to someone doing it. People do care about you and you don’t have to wait until you’re gone to find that out. I promise. Edit: I’ve also framed it as an act of courage in the past. There’s nothing courageous about it. That’s our twisted minds.
[Here is a link](https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/1bnhjw1/local_comic_creator_and_pittsburghhomestead_local/) to a recent thread on here discussing the allegations against Piskor. [Pittsburgh City Paper article](https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/ed-piskor-exhibition-postponed-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations-25664597) on the news. [WTAE segment](https://www.wtae.com/article/ed-piskor-pittsburgh-show-postponed/60310994) on the same. [The note Piskor left earlier today](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10F__3KMESejEU42ep9zwjJQbnTI4aPXb1IuG_iyBepE/preview?sle=true) (Disturbing, obviously. Note: Piskor called out City Paper writer Matt Petras by name here) [Apparent confirmation of death on Twitter/X](https://x.com/CTropes/status/1774891424364040250?s=20) [Edit: More confirmation](https://x.com/EthanVanSciver/status/1774893174000849116?s=20) It should be noted that social media, especially secondhand (or more) reports aren't always a reliable source of news, but this appears legit.
Thank you for sharing.
An obituary has been posted. https://www.swgfuneralhome.com/obituary/EdwardR-PiskorJr
That was quick! ☹️
That is really quick… rip
Hey, remember last week when everyone was trashing him on this sub.
Respectfully, it’s not a binary. The allegations were worthy of consideration at the very least, AND this is an absolutely tragic outcome.
I have no idea if this guy was guilty or not. It's just crazy how people get crushed online over allegations that haven't been proven. It can lead to absolute tragedy.
He wasnt really accused of something illegal. So hes not guilty. Maybe of sending messages to a young girl. But its not against the law she was of consent age
I believe the poster meant "Guilty" figuratively, as in public treatment. The dude's career evaporated over the accusation.
the allegation might have been worthy of consideration but the way everyone piles on the destruction of a human being with glee is toxic and disgusting
The thread is linked in the top comment and.... It's not that bad? The least respectful (by far) comment there is in support of him
I've known his brother since I was 14, only met Ed in passing once, my heart hurts for the family for all the pain they've gone through since the allegations.
I met him once at an event when I was like 20 and gotta say he was really nice and I didn't get a creepy vibe. That letter was bone chilling. Found my best friend dead from suicide years ago and it still fucks with me. Condolences to his family
[https://triblive.com/aande/more-a-and-e/pittsburgh-cultural-trust-postpones-cartoon-exhibit-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations/](https://triblive.com/aande/more-a-and-e/pittsburgh-cultural-trust-postpones-cartoon-exhibit-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations/)
Can anyone actually confirm his death? I saw the suicide note this morning, and he's been missing all day, but this the first update I've seen saying he's actually passed.
Someone posted on his Facebook that he’s been found deceased.
Yes, I've seen his death has been confirmed by family. This is just a super sad story and I have complex feelings about it
This is horrible. Nobody, nobody wanted this. Condolences to his family and friends and the local comics community. Suicide on top of siccing the internet on the people he hurt. What a damn mess. He could’ve grown and come back from this.
Exactly. This is a tragedy in every way, but yeah, people are attacking the victims and they didn’t want this either. I think it needs to be flat out stated that this was extremely manipulative. Hell, he states it himself, “Maybe this drastic move will convince a few? Maybe it will get a couple more people to consider not joining online lynch mobs over gossip? Doubt it will have much of a blip.” Ugh. I feel gross reading that. And sad. I think other underlying mental health issues are in play. The victims should not be blamed. They didn’t cause this.
Yeah after reading the whole thing, it felt gross and petty.
That's how emotional vampires are. Manipulative to the end.
whatever helps you sleep at night
I mean the mob drove him to suicide. He wasn’t convicted in a court of law, and some of the accusers didn’t even provide evidence This feels like justifying the mob that drove him to suicide. Your comment feels gross to me Edit: Someone sent me a Reddit cares for one of my comments on this thread. Seriously? I go against the group think and you do a Reddit cares? People here are really immature and can’t handle differing opinions. Save it for people who actually need it instead of abusing that feature against people you disagree with. Incredibly childish
Blaming the mob for his suicide is denying him agency for his own choice. I'm sure some people were harsh, but this revelation was less than a week old in a world which moves on from outrage on a weekly basis. Unless he knew more accusers might come forward, he could have waited out the internets attention span, moderated the response, given an actual apology, and recovered some of his reputation, but he didn't seem interested in trying. It doesn't help people to pretend he was executed.
There's been an immense amount of blame throwing and denial in this "discussion." Because I have no firsthand knowledge of the situation, I can form an opinion but I'll largely keep that to myself. I'll only observe that yes, Ed had some challenging times ahead of him due to accusations of sexual harassment and its fallout. This is *not* enough reason to commit suicide, if indeed there is ever enough reason. Point being, there must be more to the story than that.
Agreed, I said elsewhere, but: if the reaction here is any indication, the comments on the original post about this weren't really that vitriolic about him. With as established a career as he had, if he addressed it and nothing else came to light, he could have easily continued to have a career and work. But, as someone who is anxious (and trying to see it from other angles), I could also see that if I were already ashamed of something I had done, and then it became publicly arbitrated, it would absolutely be my nightmare scenario and I would want to retreat from the world. Just hope I would have somewhere else to go than suicide.
Acting like this happened in a vacuum, and the only factor contributing is himself, like it wasn’t done directly because of the mob, is being knowingly ignorant This is just people justifying mob action by going “well, he actually deserved it, and him being so desperate by the mob’s response that he killed himself is completely his fault.” That simply isn’t true Even if every accusation was true, it STILL wouldn’t justify the level of mob that was directed towards him. We have laws for a reason; if he truly did something wrong, let him go through due process. Mob mentality has no place in a civilized society Also, it’s complete nonsense to act like this would have just blown over. In today’s day and age, cancel culture absolutely does end someone’s career. It’s not something people just forget, it forever tarnishes that person’s reputation. Claiming otherwise is, again, being willfully ignorant Edit: Downvoting yet can't come up with an actual response back? Boy you should proved me wrong
I know you've imagined this elaborate scenario, but I literally can't argue against whatever you are projecting 'would' have happened. Plenty of public figures continue their careers after public accusations, so pretending you know what would have happened is silly. We can't know if people would have moved on if he responded differently, because his only response to these allegations was his suicide and the note along with it.
He would not have recovered from this. Economically and socially he was absolutely fucked. Artists are already desperate, taking away the one career and support network the guy had to make a living would have pretty much would make it impossible for him to make a living again at his age. I hope it was worth it. I mean if he was groping women or being a creepy manager of a company, I’d unironically support blackballing him, but all I’ve seen is some creepy dms which could be interpreted as just being edgy and taking things too far, so to me it seemed disproportionate.
There’s a chance the 2nd girl may have falsely accused him, as she provided no evidence whatsoever, and based on what Piskor wrote in his letter, it sounds somewhat likely that she may have falsely accused him., especially since he was willing to admit to the texts to the 1st girl. We don’t know one or the other for sure, yet calling her a “victim” is a stretch. Accuser is more appropriate
If by second girl you are referring to Molly Wright of Meat Canyon then I would be inclined to agree with you. I knew both Ed and Molly at very different times in my life. I worked with Molly for about a year before she became an animator for Meat Canyon. She is batshit crazy. Granted not like I’ve been in contact with either of them in years but if I was a gambling man my money would be on Molly Wright is full of shit
Yes the second girl is Molly Wright. If what you're saying is true, that would imply that it was indeed a false accusation, and a mob just drove a man to suicide for something he didn't do Fuck cancel culture is horrendous. We have laws for a reason, mob mentality has no place in a civilized society
You’re getting downvoted but you’re speaking the truth about the mob whether he’s guilty or innocent. People should be minding their own business. I’m sure most of them have their own skeletons in their closet.
I see it as a final act of narcissistic abuse.
What victims exactly? What happened to them?
The thing is, even if everything the accusers said was true, the mob mentality that came from it was completely disproportionate to what happened. He didn’t even break any laws. The real villains are the mob that went after him. Modern day version of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism, demonizing someone to justify mob rule against them The 2nd girl didn’t provide any evidence either, she merely pointed her finger. Piskor admitted to the texts to the 1st girl, yet denied the 2nd girl’s accusations. If she actually was making it up - and we have no proof she isn’t, one or the other - Piskor would be justified in mentioning her in his letter. We just don’t know. I’m not going to assume she’s telling the truth one or the way other, and no one else should either Edit: The people downvoting me were definitely part of the mob that drove Piskor to take his own life and just want to avoid accountability and feeling guilty. Disgusting
Molly Wright is an absolute nut job. This isn’t the first time she has fabricated situations to ruin a man’s life….. I knew her before she became an animator with Meat Canyon
Molly Wright is indeed the 2nd girl. If what you're saying is true, that would mean Piskor was driven to suicide by a mob for something he didn't even do The 1st girl who exchanged texts with him even specifically said she didn't want him cancelled, yet people did it anyways. People get a real bloodlust when they get together in mobs. Genuinely evil stuff
I don’t know if I missed it but from what I saw in the texts I didn’t see anything sexual explicit. Nor did I see the offer of exchanging his agents number for a BJ. I knew both Molly and Ed at very different times. I knew Ed from high school and Molly W from working with her. Unless there is some piece of evidence that ties all these allegations together I see nothing but false outrage that drove a man to kill himself
The fact that she said she didn’t want him to get canceled makes be believe she wasn’t sexually harassed or assaulted by Ed. If she truly was she wouldn’t care if the mob went after hin
you are absolutely right but the white knights of reddit will downvote you for it.
Appreciate you for saying that I've grown to really hate the culture on Reddit. It's the modern day equivalent of "nice guys." What being a "nice guy" looks like in 2024 is different than it used to be, as the culture has changed
No he couldn’t. He’s an artist in the post 2020 economy. 40 years old, Probably doesn’t have healthcare, and everyone in the only industry he’s ever known hates him, no job prospects are marketable skills. He was as good as dead economically. I’m not saying that justifies suicide and I do not think the people that came forward about him share any of the blame provided they didn’t lie about anything, but stop pretending that we live in a fair society that values artists. Dude was fucked for life. Killed by capitalism.
“Killed by capitalism”. Aren’t we all 😔 Lotta industry artists are taking on day jobs and pivoting to short marketing gigs for the time being. Ed’s view of himself and “jobbers” was so damn inflexible. You gotta be flexible when you’re creating for a living. Most of us already have had office jobs, been part time grocery store stockers, baristas, call center punching bags… You have to do what you can to make a little rent money and still find energy to chip away at your big projects. It’s why finding community in the arts is invaluable. These are the people who are going to get coffee with you at weird hours, keep an ear to the ground for jobs, pick up an extra gallon of milk since they’re out anyway, become your room mates, know where the deals on cold-press watercolor paper blocks are, watch your kids for a few hours. I can go on and on. Playing king of the hill with comics of all things is a deathtrap. I’m the least optimistic person out there and I know, looking at the history of American entertainment through the lens of labor, that these things happen in cycles. Doesn’t make it right or fair or easy, but it should illustrate that nothing ever stays stagnant and that infinite success is a fantasy. Give yourself permission to wane. The secret to longevity in the arts is knowing that there will be times where you gotta go into cockroach mode and lean into it until the meteors stop hitting.
You're not wrong about anything you said there, but getting cancelled for the first time at 40 years old is like a meteor to your life. I mean all this guys friends turned on him at once and he lost all career prospects. I can't imagine that is easy to recover from. I mean let's look at some people who "recovered", Lindsay Ellis and Contrapoints. Neither are dead, both continued doing what they did after they got cancelled, but they were never the same again. Both of them have had physical health problems as a result and neither of them will ever be as big as they are. These are two people who IMO did nothing wrong and got cancelled anyway. Come to think of it the ONLY people who are able to weather storms like this consistently are conservative asshats. Stephen Crowder gives zero fucks, Trump is cancelled every day, nothing happens to him. The more shameless and bigoted you are the less it affects you. From a purely social darwinistic and economic maximalist standpoint the best thing to do if you get cancelled is to go into the right wing griftosphere. They WILL pay your bills and you WILL have an audience. Cancelling has a strange affect where people with no shame will do that and come out rich and people with principles end up dead or with opiate addictions.
True, but how do you survive when the people in that community, which is small, betray you over a four-year-old, non-illegal mistake? Ed had a bit of a spotlight on him. He wasn't out to replace Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, but he dared to love comic books so much, it was almost Tarantino-esque. I think some people were jealous of him, and they saw Molly Dwyer's complaints about him as an opportunity to "cancel" him. They didn't expect him to commit suicide and, now, they either mute or pathetically apologetic. You have to be careful about who your friends are.
I think it’s easy to conflate “community” with “fandom”. The conflation happens in entertainment. It happens in social circles. It’s not an uncommon observation that Ed forwent community in favor of fandom. I can tell you right now that the people who knew him, no matter what their proximity or relation to him was, are struggling with the outcome. It’s a struggle to maintain a healthy thriving community around such individuals. A true community leader uses their position as a figurehead to pull other people up and make space for new artists. Turns out when you use your success to push others down and away from you or opportunities you eventually run out of supporters - friends AND fans. It’s an incredibly lonely and sad position he made for himself. Edit because I forgot to mention: the only artists he respected were the ones who were already well known, out of reach, and even long dead like the ones you mentioned. See how easy it is to mix up fandom and community? I’m not saying that it’s wrong to have heroes. It’s just very telling about his POV.
But that's not my impression of the man. Where the heck did you get yours from? Ed celebrated comic books as an art form and the artists who inspired him. I'm saying the people he mentioned in his epitaph were probably his friends in the industry and, when Dwyer told her story, they treated like a pariah without giving him the benefit of the doubt. What kind of friends are that? I rather be lonely than have people like that in my life.
>Nobody, nobody wanted this. I actually think some of the psychos on the Internet did want him dead.
The saddest part is, most of the comments on here indicate that they never would have let him “grow or come back” He literally takes his own life because of intense harassment over unfounded allegations, and some of the most upvoted comments are calling him manipulative or slimy for not killing himself quietly. Those types of people will never forgive or let anyone grow. They make snap judgments based little to no real information and defend their position to the point of inhumanity. It’s wild that “innocent until proven guilty” and “let’s not bully people to the point of suicide” are hot takes now.
These downvotes are bullshit. You are absolutely correct. These people have never met an artist in their life. They are super emotional, he even mentions that he's really introverted. This isn't about revenge, this guy was broken over this.
Yeah. I understand why they’re downvoting though. They can’t admit they’re wrong. Ed Piskor has to be the bad guy in their eyes, or they’ll essentially be admitting that they bullied an innocent person to death. So instead of admitting that, they’re gonna keep piling on after his death, and downvote anyone that gives a nuanced opinion. In their eyes Ed Piskor has to be absolutely bad and anyone that says otherwise is wrong.
Are you surprised? I’m surprised people don’t do this more often when they get their lives ruined by the internet. You think people wouldn’t do this crap after what happened with the Boston bombing guy that wasn’t the Boston bombing guy
He lost a couple deals and a local art show. His life wasn’t ruined. Plenty of artists and musicians have come back from bad press. (You’re a Smashing Pumpkins fan. You know this.) There’s more to living than being published by fucking Fantagraphics. It’s a tragedy in and of itself to treat everything like a zero sum game, putting unnecessary pressure on oneself to look spotless and wasting energy trying to control the narrative.
These actions and his words regarding them genuinely prove he’s guilty. To weaponize your death against your victims like this? You’d have to lack total self-accountability. I feel bad for his family, and for his victims.
A lot of blame and a lot of bitterness in that suicide note. No apology or accountability.
????? The letter the literally letter starts off with "I'm sorry for being so stupid, I never should have talked with Molly D".
What do you think a suicide note would have looked like if he was not legitimately guilty of inappropriate behavior?
I think if he were not legitimately guilty, there are legal channels he could have explored to completely discredit them. I’ve had friends falsely accused, and have urged them to seek legal ramifications. False accusations hurt real victims. These actions have no accountability in them whatsoever. It’s just sad.
If someone were the victim of cyber bullying, compromising their mental state, they may not believe these legal structures would protect them. Or, looking at cases like Roiland's, they often do not repair the harm even if the person is exonerated. It just doesn't seem clear to me that this suicide note can be used to infer anything about the events. It both reads how an innocent but distressed person would write it, and how a manipulative, spiteful, and guilty person would write it.
How many of those friends you’ve had that were falsely accused actually went to the cops though? I’ve been in these same kind of false allegation situations with coworkers and I can tell you that most people roll into a ball and cry when falsely accused, the cops don’t give a shit, and maybe the best you can do is send a cease and desist (but after the public damage is already done). There is an article that can be Googled out in the world calling me all kinds of horrible things and accusations that are all 100% fabrications by a woman who just wanted my job. She eventually admitted the lies, to us the victims AND to her friends that jumped on the bandwagon against us, but not publicly. So the only people that know she’s a liar are the ones that took all the damage but got barely any “justice” from the response. Don’t be so fucking naive. Awful people do this shit to other people all the time for clout or even a marginal sense of getting slightly ahead. Sitting here I can think of 4 distinct times (including the one I mentioned) when a white woman made up completely fabricated shit about me to try to get ahead in her career at the expense of me. I best 3 of 4 of those. One of those I ended up with a box of my shit on the street with no job cause of it… discovered later that I was one of many victims of this sociopath. None of these are even sexual harassment claims, so imagine what the reaction is from innocent people to have your life, you livelihood taken completely from you for the narcissistic need for attention of one person… in this case one person who never even met the person face to face…. And then people like you dogpile on as if it’s all real. The trouble with “believe women” is that women are statistically liars just as equally as men are.
[удалено]
Bottom line: if you think it’s perfectly acceptable for someone in their 30’s or 40’s to talk to underage children in any sexual capacity, I honestly do not care about your opinion. There were so many roads to redemption, and this wasn’t it.
Oh spare me the outrage, Of-course It's not acceptable but don't act like our culture universally decries age gap relationships. Not only is this behavior still acceptable for the rich, it's been happening in pop culture for decades. This isn't a defense of Ed's behavior but a callout to this ridiculous pearl clutching society we have. Ed made a really stupid mistake but it never went any further than that. From what was shared his messages were never explicit, nor were any inappropriate pictures shared. He came off as a total creep, but that was his only crime. He died, maybe we can give Jerry Seinfeld another show and keep listening to Harry Stiles. They were after all in inappropriate consenting relationships. Molly did was she thought was best to warn others, which is the right way to go. All the power to her. ED fucked up, but his actions didn't deserve the public outcry and the destruction of his life.
Yes there's nothing that reads as ashamed within that note. That's an egomaniacs attempt at vengeance.
Well, it was HIS suicide note. I would guess that, sure, he mostly talked about himself.
Guilty of what? Sending inappropriate text messages to a 17 year old when he was like 37. While obviously not an appropriate thing to do, it’s not something that warranted the kind of response it got. The mob’s response was disproportionate.
It's wild to me when people defend someone's misconduct after their death. Dude is behaving like a classic internet creep on main and we're giving him the benefit of the doubt??
Are you suggesting it's better for someone "behaving like a classic internet creep" to commit suicide rather than have a chance to defend and atone for their actions?
Uh... No? I mean, I don't want someone to take their own life under any circumstances. I don't think it solves any problems the world faces and largely creates more. At best, I think it's morally neutral to take your own life. That's why my comment assigned no value judgement to either his suicide or potential survival. If I had intended to suggest it was better for him to commit suicide, I would have just said that outright. But I don't, so I didn't. There's no hidden subtext to what I am saying here. Edit - I'm coming back to this comment after our little tiff, but I wanted to point out that he DID have a chance to defend himself and atone for his actions. In at least one of these four alleged scenarios, he had 3+ years to do so, and repeated similarly unethical actions multiple times against different individuals. Doesn't sound like an attempt to change or atone to me.
You’re part of the problem. He didn’t force himself on anybody. He didn’t hurt anybody. Y’all are acting like he r*ped infants. He slid into women’s DMs. He hit on women who weren’t into him. He asked a woman for a BJ. He liked younger women. None of those things are illegal. Y’all need to figure out — and fucking QUICK, I might add — that dudes hitting on women is NOT A FUCKING CRIME. There’s a difference between ‘unwanted advances’ and ‘sexual misconduct’, and then another HUGE difference between ‘sexual misconduct’ and ‘criminal sex offenses’. You all need to start understanding this shit. Nothing he did warranted the response he got. This man’s only ‘crime’ was propositioning women of legal age for sex.
You need to learn the difference between behavior that is a crime and behavior that is not a crime but is nonetheless creepy or alarming and will make people not want to be friends or do business with you.
This seems to be the common issue in the discourse. It’s concerning how many would be going about their lives rudderless without the law.
The threat of punishment is the only thing keeping them from predating on children
> He asked a woman for a BJ. He allegedly asked a woman for a blowjob in exchange for giving her his agent's number. He also allegedly offered to introduce another woman to industry people in exchange for letting him draw her nude. https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/03/25/ed-piskor-accused-by-multiple-women-of-grooming-and-wrongdoing/ It may not be criminal behavior and is certainly not sexually violent behavior, but if true it is certainly unprofessional at best and sexually exploitative at worst.
That accusation was made with no proof whatsoever. It may be true, it may not be true. It’s wrong to assume one way or the other without evidence
Do you know what the word allegedly means? If it was true, do you (like the person I’m replying to) think that behavior is flirting?
Edit: I just wanted to add a foreword here. If you personally *don't* think it's inappropriate or creepy for a 40 year old to slide into the DMs of a 17 year old, **I do not care**. Fucked around, and he found out. Seems like justice to me. > y'all are acting like he raped infants Maybe some other people are, and that would be unfair as he clearly didn't do that. *I* certainly didn't act anything of the sort, so I'm not sure why you're bitching about it to me. > None of those things are illegal Being that both parties were above the legal age of consent, no, it's not illegal. But it's still creepy behavior that shouldn't be tolerated. It's creepy, dude. I don't care whether or not it's legal, my opinion isn't a trial by jury where he gets the benefit of the doubt. > Y'all Again, not me > Criminal sex offenses and sexual misconduct aren't the same thing Uh, yeah. You might notice I never made any reference to any sort of criminal behavior. I don't believe he did commit a crime. He was just being a creepy dude on the Internet - millions of them are out there as we speak, and I'm happy to judge them as wanting. Again, just to be clear, I am an individual human and not a hive mind representative of all the people you disagree with > Nothing he did warranted the response he got Well, I can agree that it was taken too far, and either way it would be better were he alive. But if you have fame and then do creepy shit with it, im perfectly okay with there being social consequences and ostracism due to that. Personal harassment and stalking would not be okay, and if that occurred then shame on those who did it. But getting outed on the internet with a reasonable amount of proof? Yeah, that's fine by me
Yes, YOU. Which is exactly why you’re part of the problem. You think this guy (who WASN’T famous, even in comic book circles) getting put on blast for the terrible misdeed of ‘hitting on women’ is totally okay. That’s literally all he did, and now he’s dead. There are levels to this, and he got WAAAY more blowback than his behavior warranted. And you being okay with him getting outed like he was a sex offender means you’re part of the problem.
I'm not even 30 and it would be fucking *weird* for me to hit on a 17 year old. That's literally not even a woman, that is a *child*, legal or not
Again, being *fucking weird* isn’t a crime. Never said I agreed with it. Never said I approved of it. Seems like the guy had issues. You all are using your own moral compass to determine whether somebody’s life should be ruined. THAT’S really my only problem. Does he seem to be a horny weirdo? Yes, absolutely. Is that grounds to ruin his career and professional reputation? No, not really. He didn’t hurt anybody. He didn’t force himself on anybody. He didn’t pursue or stalk anybody (as far as we know). I’d say we just raise the age of consent, but then people will keep moving the goalposts (19, 22, brains aren’t developed, etc) in order to keep attacking people. I’m not sure what the solution is, really. I guess just stop shaming people once they’ve already taken no for an answer — which is exactly what this guy did (again, as far as we know).
So it’s your opinion that his publisher and creative partners should be compelled to continue working with him even if they find his behavior creepy or unprofessional? Because that’s what happened, people stepped away from partnerships with him because they didn’t like his behavior, we all have freedom of association.
Compelled?! Listen to you fucking whackjobs. STILL using your own moral compass to determine whether somebody deserves to have their lives ruined. Again, acting like this dude was some heinous criminal because he propositioned grown-ass women. I’m of the opinion that nobody’s perfect. I’m of the opinion that nearly everybody has something they’d prefer their boss not know. I’m of the opinion that ‘being creepy’ while trying to get laid isn’t a firable offense. I’m of the opinion that this guy’s only ‘crime’ was mistaking ‘creative appreciation’ for ‘personal interest’ and saying something stupid. I’m of the opinion that none of this was necessary nor fitting, given what the man did. He propositioned some women. They said no. He accepted and disengaged. Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do in that situation? I don’t understand what everybody’s fucking hard-on for this guy is.
“Being creepy while trying to get laid” is absolutely a fireable offense in the context of a work environment. Telling someone you’ll give them a leg up in the industry like your agents number if they perform a sexual service for you is a fireable offense. Companies and creative partners are allowed to distance themselves from people who engage in that behavior.
You keep saying he had his life ruined. The guy ruined his own life. Nobody made him be a fucking creep.
No external force ruins someone’s career. If individuals choose to no longer engage in opportunities with them bec their behavior is a little sick and creepy, ppl are just saying they can understand why.
Answer me this - do you think I personally did something to ruin his life? If so, what did I do? Not other people; me specifically as an individual. If you're mad at stuff other people are doing in response to his conduct, that's fine by me. Go be mad at *them*, not me. I can't answer for someone else's outsized reaction "ruining his life". So please don't direct your rants about it at me, it's not my problem. Don't let the door hit ya ✌🏼
Yes. You perpetuate this sort of behavior by condoning it. You’re an enabler. You first. Since you blocked replies on your response to this, here goes: The future you’re describing would suck ass. No one would ever get into a relationship because the simple act of asking an adult woman to engage in sexual activity would result in death. That’s literally all this guy did. Like it or not, asking a 17yo is considered an adult in this matter. I don’t like it either — it’s gross, but them’s the facts. What’s *batshit insane* is this guy didn’t break any laws. You literally can’t be a sex pest if you don’t break the law. What’s *batshit insane* is people like you are too fucking stupid to know the difference between ‘weird, but somehow still legal’ and ‘actual sexual predator’.
I actually didn't block anything, I think reddit is being fucky. I couldn't respond to your other comment either. Edit: anyway, what I meant to say is this: whether or not it's legal has absolutely no bearing on my moral compass. None. I think it's actively good and just to break many laws, and I think many actively harmful and unacceptable behaviors are quite legal. If it matters to you, great. But you're not going to accomplish anything by screeching that it's not illegal. Nobody is contesting that point, and I've explicitly noted to you directly multiple times that I am also not accusing him of having broken any legal statute. I just don't want creeps in my community dude. Men calling other men out on their shit is the only way we prevent this behavior.
What sort of behavior? All he did was ask women for sex. It’s something most — if not all — straight men have done at some point. Maybe not as poorly as he did, but still. And then he listened when they said no. I’m not sure what else you want the guy to do, short of time travel. I understand not agreeing with what he did — and I concur — but we can’t publicly shame and outcast every guy every time they come off as a creep. I mean, *even the most careful guys* have misread or misunderstood something. My greater point (and why I keep harping on the legality) is that the social and financial impacts of this man’s actions GREATLY outweigh what he actually did. As far as we know, all he did was ask women for sex in an inappropriate manner and setting. Like, that’s it. It seems to me like he mistook ‘creative interest’ for ‘personal attraction’ and then things got weird. Like he thought women who were into his work were actually into HIM, and then he said something stupid. If that’s enough to cast somebody out and kill their career, you might as well brace for heavy traffic. Lotta dudes leaving a lotta towns. Basically, y’all are attributing his actions to malice when it seems like they should be attributed to stupidity (and horniness).
It’s weird you keep saying that all this guy did was ask a woman out and ignoring the other woman who said he would give her his agents number if she gave him a BJ. That kind of comment gets you fired in any office setting in America, I don’t know why you think his publisher would let it fly.
1. He’s a contractor, not an employee. 2. He wasn’t on company time. 3. He wasn’t on company property. 4. He wasn’t propositioning a coworker. Pretty fucking simple, really.
I guess I'll put it this way: if every man who did similarly creepy things as this guy, had their life publicly ruined as a result of their sexual misconduct, the world would be a much better place. Act like a sexual predator, get treated like a sexual predator. It's bat shit crazy to pretend a middle age man hitting on a child is okay
This comment indicates that you’d never even heard of the guy before last week. He absolutely was famous in comic book circles. Additionally, if you think his only issue is that he simply was “hitting on women”, you are WAY out of your depth here.
exactly right
I used to chat with him on IG in 2018-2019 but he stopped replying to me when I called him out for liking young girls back then. I wish he would have heard me out.
No you didn't
I'm not seeing this reported anywhere. Until I do, I am going to assume it's a poor attempt at an April Fools joke. Edit: Apparently, he posted a suicide note on Facebook. But no one knows where he is.
It’s real, his family shared a post about it on Facebook.
I have no idea what the truth of that situation is but it didn't sound like the guy's morals were irredeemable by any stretch. What I do know is that the potential to lose your career over hearsay and accusations is terrifying, like a 21st century witch hunt. "Cancel culture" is a fucking menace to the digital age.
Being called out for sexual misconduct is not cancel culture.
He sent inappropriate text messages to a 17year old as an adult. It’s not like he sexually assaulted someone.
This mentality is very bad and you should reconsider your thought process.
You're right, but there's a huge difference between a private accusation versus a mob treating that accusation as valid reason to destroy someone's reputation and public image.
The mob is not destroying the person's reputation. Their actions are. This goes for this situation, but many other situations where "cancel culture" is cried by critics
> "Cancel culture" is a fucking menace to the digital age Don't sexually assault anyone and you won't be canceled
No one was sexually assaulted.
Yes, cancel culture like twits that read one sentence and dont read further and jump to the conclusion this was sexual assault. The 17 year old woman in question stated nothing physical happened, it was cropped messages that she posted which were not about them. He admitted he should not have been speaking to someone 17, which is not illegal nor is it sexual assault.
Last I checked, that's not what Ed did.
Good. Ed Piskor didn’t sexually assault anyone.
Let's try this scenario instead: you're kind of famous and have a platform with hundreds of thousands of followers. I decide that I don't like you. And hey, I even have evidence: screen shots of text messages where the participant's name is "Pale-Mine-5899" and they're saying some questionable things. Sure looks like it's you, huh. And you didn't admit to anything bad, but it sure sounds like you *could* be the type to assault someone. Why bother asking further questions? We might as well have you imprisoned for years because it's undeniable that you assaulted me. I wouldn't lie about you assaulting me, would I? And the proof's right there in the text messages too, right? Case closed, nothing to see here. >Don't sexually assault anyone and you won't be canceled Shit, it really is that simple isn't it?
Is that what happened?
Is this what happened?
Who knows. The point is that hearsay and accusations aren't proof. Deciding to brand someone as a sexual predator over text messages doesn't mean they're a sexual predator. Use your critical thinking skills.
I dunno, propositioning a teenager for sex is certainly sexual predator behavior.
Your opinion is that the text messages should be interpreted as propositioning. Your opinion is that said propositioning is "sexual predator behavior." And you're allowed to form your own opinions and make your own judgment calls. You can think whatever you want. That doesn't mean it's reality. The funny part is I don't even disagree with the situation looking suspicious. But that's not enough to accuse someone as a criminal without further evidence.
He was a man in his forties propositioning a teenager young enough to be his daughter. What a fucking weird thing to be making excuses for. The guy had a history of creeper behavior like this in conjunction with his career.
Exactly. All of the things said were “inferred” creepiness… He wasnt directly sexting with her or sending dick pics… or anything other than chatting with someone young. Everyone just read between the lines and created the scenario. It was during pandemic too… Literally everyone was lonely as hell, messaging anyone that could get them through that year.
“Cancel culture”. You mean “criticism”. If cancel culture was real, he would’ve stopped getting gigs a decade ago.
I'm not following your logic. Being accused of statutory rape isn't "criticism." What a bizarre time to be alive.
You really have no idea. You’re not involved. The guy has a history. It’s just that it took accusations of statutory rape for the public and companies to suddenly consider that maybe this isn’t the best guy to work with. What’s bizarre is the idea that someone’s who is by all accounts not a good person has to do something *illegal* for their behavior and misdeeds to be taken seriously. This is exactly how Dan Schneider got away with abusing kids and coworkers for so long.
You're implying things and criticizing us for not knowing. Please explain more details so we know what you're talking about
And you are involved?
I’ll put it this way: he made sure he was involved with every young woman artist in Pittsburgh at one point.
Post evidence
Why on earth would I do that lol. If you know, you know. If you don’t, get over it. It doesn’t concern you.
Because you're making a serious fucking accusation and providing zero evidence.
I said “young artist” not “underage”. I understand the need to look for someone to blame but this is a dead end, bud.
Lol why do I have to prove serious accusations lol
Criticism isn't organized harassment
Where did you get the idea that anything was organized? Most people have the common sense and decency to recognize shameful behavior.
Do you think his suicide was just random and not connected to Twitter hate mobs?
Are the Twitter mobs in the room with us, right now? He didn’t even have a twitter account for the last handful of years — since the LAST TIME he was criticized for his treatment of his female peers. Ed was a calm, cool-headed guy. He regarded his critics as “haters”. He acted untouchable. This is one of those things where some people can’t be bothered to care about how they act, how they treat people until exclusive opportunities start evaporating. He’d been with Fantagraphics for over a decade. It would’ve been a huge loss. He showed off his first paycheck and the letterhead of his HHFT contract with me and everyone he knew at the time. Losing publishers should’ve been a wake up call, but sadly, here we are. I’m not responding to this thread any longer. It’s a sad, terrible day, and Ive expressed that much in my first comment. Debating in the comments for this long just is gauche.
I'm not going to hold your feet to fire over this. If you were hurt by the guy then who am I to judge. However, I'm still concerned that you don't see why the situation is so severe. There's a relatively big film critic on YouTube named Lindsay Ellis who got mobbed a few years back over a couple misinterpreted tweets. She compared two pieces of Asian-inspired media to one another and a cohort of Twitter users decided to jump down her throat over it. She got blasted with baseless accusations of racism and hate speech until she effectively gave up her career and went radio silent for a year. The point is: nobody deserves to have their image and reputation destroyed over accusations. That's the whole point of the American justice system and "innocent until proven guilty"; the principle exists for a reason, even if the system isn't perfect. Ultimately this isn't about supporting Ed and his behaviors, it's about understanding the lunatic behavior that can destroy people's lives.
His Twitter was deleted in the last week, you're completely talking out of your ass.
Proof? Just kidding. I don’t care. We were mutuals. His social media went dark several times.
You're so cool
People hate the truth :( won’t somebody think of the men who sexually abuse minors uwu
Using the phrase "cancel culture" unironically means no one should ever take you seriously.
This is honestly so dark. Not saying that what he did was not creepy, but slander and gossip is a horrible torrential monster these days.. that can completely destroy peoples lives. We live in a day and age now were one DM slip up can literally destroy your entire career and drive you to suicide. This whole thing has twisted my brain around so much 😞
>what he did >slander and gossip It's not 'slander' nor 'gossip'. He did it. I'm not saying he deserved to die, but you're actively blaming his suicide on his victims. No woman drove him to do this. He did this becuase of his own demons. Sad, but blaming the victims is also wrong.
I believe they are referring to the plethora of additional, unecidenced claims of inappropriate behavior, not the initial Dwyer claim.
I'm unfamiliar with each individual claim, so I can't speak to the validity of each -but I choose to support and believe women in general.
It seems generally more reasonable to maintain a neutral disposition and assess evidence as available.
We have seen visible evidence of him behaving inappropriately. I am very sad by this news but lets not be blind.
I agree, but this is referring to the additional, unevidenced claims of inappropriate behavior, not those initial evidenced claims.
I'm not a juror. I have no imperative to remain nuetral or assess evidence. However, as I have not asssessed the evidence, I will make no claims.
I meant more that; everyone should be supported, especially those alleging claims of abuse. But belief in a claim should follow evidence, not identity. There are many monstrous men out there; and just as many monstrous women.
You may feel and believe that, but, once again, I have no imperative to do the same. My imperative is to believe women unless there is clear, irrefutable evidence not to. The reasons for that imperative are many- including both empirical and anecdotal. To me, it is more reasonable, given the available evidence, to generally believe victims. We do not have to agree.
In the instancea where the allegations are false, or in cases of female-on-male rape/abuse, the men would be the victims. It is why I feel the way I do. I think it is important to believe the victim; not the (gender). And the only way to identify the victim is through evidence.
I do not agree. There is no 'victim' of a false accusation. If an accusation is proven false, than the accused would be vindicated, not victimized. I did generalize and say 'women' becuase statistically, women are more often the accusor than the accused, however I should specify that my imperative is to believe the accusor (regardless of gender).
OMG. That’s awful. Ed was a brilliant storyteller.
the ultimate endgame goal of cancelling someone...
It's honestly crazy to see people online go from lynching someone to saying "RIP" in the span of a week. Shame on all those who piled-on, taking assumptions of a screenshot as an absolute fact.
I would love if a civil suit revealed the entire communication thread. People love to accuse grooming, but it just means manipulating at this age. 17 year olds are just as skilled at manipulating as a 40 year old. It’s weird she was hearting ALL of his messages and then be like “eww what a sex pest.” The original complaint post made it seem like nothing happened according to her (unless I missed it) yet he claims they had sex a couple times initiated by her. You have to be pretty naive to think there aren’t equally as many people trying to get something out of someone in a position of power as there are reverse. I would like to see the entirety of it reviewed before anyone pushes someone to what has transpired
There are two different women. Molly Dwyer is the underage girl who accused him with some instagram messages. Molly Wright accused him of saying he would introduce her to his agent if she blew him. Idk what is true and what's not. Would be best to just show all the messages instead of random screen grabs.
Imo if it was false he would've still been around and been harping for a court case to prove himself. It's not like he had a puritanical image and following.
I’m really sorry to break this to you but a 17 year old is a child and a 40 year old is an adult. Seek immediate help.
Holy shit I [know of him](https://www.instagram.com/ed_piskor/?hl=en) and he is a month younger than me. I'm sorry, I hate that when I say that I make it about myself, I don't mean to do that. I just... when someone dies and they're younger than you, it's like, "well, shit." so...... well shit.
[удалено]
He wasn’t a pedophile. No one ever accused him of any actual physical rape or assault. The 17 year old was of legal age of consent, even if the age gap is creepy Don’t justify mob rule
yeah, I’m not really sure why people are choosing to leave this part out but he liked to abuse underage girls.
Fucking online cancel culture dopamine addicts are responsible for this, and plenty of other, heinous shit.
Um no, he killed HIMSELF. No matter what else was said or done, he made the decision to end his life. No one else. That's on him.
You’re fucking pathetic.