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Pretty Terrible

Pop Culture Criticism by Natalie Luhrs

You are here: Home / Opinion / Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

March 1, 2014

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Jesus fucking Christ, Loncon3. This is why we can’t have nice things. (cache)

I don’t even know what else to say.  After all the discussions over the last year (and more) we’ve had about sexism, racism, and harassment in fandom, you–the Chairs, Steve Cooper and Alice Lawson–have decided that a man who was suspended from the BBC and who has, essentially, made a career out of punching down is the perfect person to host the Hugo Award ceremonies.

This basically says everything:

@wasteofpaint absurd. I’ll happily buy the ticket off you and give it someone less stupid.

— Jonathan Ross (@wossy) March 1, 2014

Seriously, what the actual fucking FUCK, Loncon3? Was everyone else you asked already booked for the evening? Was Jonathan Ross the literal best you could do?

You took people’s labor–Farah Mendlesohn’s in particular–and waited until they were so invested that they couldn’t completely walk away. You waited until after people bought memberships before the deadline for the Hugo nomination period. And this is what you do with all the goodwill you’ve accumulated over the last year by promising that this year’s Worldcon would be different?  You’ve pissed it away because the chance to have an actual celebrity host the Hugos was too good to pass up.

We very much appreciate all of the feedback we’ve gotten about our Hugo host this morning, please continue talking to us about it.

— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) March 1, 2014

I don’t even. I just don’t.

Update. And Ross has withdrawn.

We regret to announce that Jonathan Ross @wossy has graciously withdrawn from his role as Master of Ceremonies for @TheHugoAwards #loncon3

— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) March 1, 2014

 

Good.

Update 2. Mendlesohn has taken her original post down.

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Filed Under: Opinion Natalie Luhrs

About Natalie Luhrs

I'm a lifelong geek with a passion for books and social justice.

Reader Interactions

Linkspam: 02/28/14
Reframing and Punching Down

Comments

  1. Tracy says

    March 1, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    He’s withdrawn!! That only took about 8 hours. Good heavens.

    https://twitter.com/loncon3

    • Natalie Luhrs says

      March 1, 2014 at 12:59 pm

      Amazing!

  2. Ian Mond says

    March 1, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    Not to excuse the Chairs for this mess, but their decision might have been swayed by Neil Gaiman who suggested Ross in the first place.

  3. Cassie says

    March 1, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    The first link, “this is why we can’t have nice things,” is to an entry that has now been made private per the poster.

  4. ULTRAGOTHA says

    March 1, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    I completely agree with you about the message it sends to fans and creators about LonCon 3’s commitment to the con being a safe space.

    I’m having a serious think about my offer to volunteer at LonCon3. This has made me unsure that the highest levels of the con understand what it takes to make a con that is unwelcoming to harassment.

  5. Ann Somerville says

    March 1, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    @Ian Mond: Neil Gaiman’s understanding of behaviour that makes many people’s skins crawl can be pretty shaky at times, and he’s married to someone who has exhibited plenty of it.

  6. GeekMelange says

    March 2, 2014 at 1:45 am

    *reads links about Ross since I have no idea who he is.*

    …. Why in the HELL would this guy have been invited at all to Loncon3 in the first place?!?

Trackbacks

  1. The eight-hour Hugo host | Cora Buhlert says:
    March 2, 2014 at 1:07 am

    […] The Radish, Natalie has a summary of the events, including some screenshots of Tweets that demonstrate exactly why Jonathan Ross would be a […]

  2. oh dear not again | Crime and the Blog of Evil says:
    March 4, 2014 at 12:43 pm

    […]   eta: Wow, that was quick; he seems to have dropped out. I’d suggest it was a stunt except there’s no value in it. Perhaps he was sincere and didn’t realise what a couple of decades of this sort of thing might make people outside his core demographic think about his desirability as a presenter. Who can say? Poorly handed, still, really. I’m more astonished than angry; Radish Reviews is more angry than astonished. […]

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Hello! I’m Natalie Luhrs. I write about books and culture and whatever else strikes my fancy. I have so many opinions.

I was a nominee for the Best Fan Writer Hugo in 2017.

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