-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Nick Robinson (Polygon) answers to sexual harassment allegations, leaves Polygon
- Thread starter LordKano
- Start date
ScientificPizza
Banned
what did hbomberguy do? i've been following his stuff for awhile and haven't heard anything
I'm also curious about this Hbomberguy situation.
He's downplaying the incidents by acting like a clueless and naivete soft boy. Aww, the confused lil guy thought was doing nothing more than harmlessly flirting for the past few years! And all it took was him getting caught and ripped apart by tens of thousands of people online for him to realize the error of his flirty ways.
Didn't he have a girlfriend throughout some of this too? I'm almost positive I remember him mentioning being in a relationship already on certain CGI episodes, but it's possible I'm wrong on that one.
Still, I hope this dude is blacklisted by the gaming media for a good long time. With how miserably sexist this hobby of ours is, there absolutely needs to be a one strike and you're out response to this behavior.
Didn't he have a girlfriend throughout some of this too? I'm almost positive I remember him mentioning being in a relationship already on certain CGI episodes, but it's possible I'm wrong on that one.
Still, I hope this dude is blacklisted by the gaming media for a good long time. With how miserably sexist this hobby of ours is, there absolutely needs to be a one strike and you're out response to this behavior.
Conciliator
Banned
wow, where's forgiveness-is-for-moderates GAF? All of the sudden our accommodating, understanding side is really opening up for this poor delicate internet 'flirt.'
The men of GAF accept Nick's apology for his harassment of women.
It took several dozen posts, but someone finally got there.
It took several dozen posts, but someone finally got there.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Games is serious business. Gies was toxic to the industry.
/s
Stormblessed
Member
I don't mean to imply he's guilty of something of similar severity, only that the language and content of apology is similar, as has been the response. You can read it yourself and make up your own mind. Sorry for the derail.
Some of this "flirting" was while he was dating someone, yup!
avatar quote
autoduelist
Member
This. You need to be incredibly careful about what you admit to on paper. Polygon's legal team most likely reviewed this apology before it went out, and they'd be smart to strip stuff like that out. No matter how much some internet people want blanket confessions to all deeds in the words they want to hear them in, only a fool would confess on paper to crimes he wasn't even directly charged with.
perfect free
Member
He could've handled it worse, yeah, but he's still grandstanding to salvage what reputation he has left. I know exactly what insincere, overpolished, slippery apologies sound like, and this is one of them.
CannonFodder52
Member
Nvm, was already answered.
EnlightenedMint
Member
Polygon made the right move letting him go, I imagine there was much more than what we saw.
Hopefully he actually learned something from all this.
Hopefully he actually learned something from all this.
Yearsoflurking
Member
ScientificPizza
Banned
I think this is relevant to this discussion, not because I think the apologies are similar, but the message of not immediately being doubtful of people who come forward about these kinds of issues
why does being married matter at all lmao
they could be in an open relationship idk, but whether or not they're married doesn't factor into this at all
He lost his job, posted a reasonably sincere apology, like I'm not really sure what more people want. He won't get hired again by any major publication. His personal life doesn't make a difference
benicillin
Banned
You know, it's pretty clear now what this was probably written to do. It's a vapid fauxpology for the greater internet audience to feel good about with no substance to the actual people harmed.
CannonFodder52
Member
Yea, I'm not out to defend him. But do these posters know he wasn't in an open relationship. Is this element of it so important.
Trying not to be rude either, but:
1. Cheating on your girlfriend isn't ok, and indicates you knew this was wrong.
2. Lying about having a girlfriend in order to cheat also isn't ok, and indicates you knew you were being manipulative.
We don't know, but he sure as hell hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt in assuming the best.
RichiRamjag
Member
What kind of bullshit is this? Who the hell are you to speak for white people and why are you generalizing them in such a negative way. I'm black/Hispanic and even I think this is a crock of shit. You've gotta cool it.
It's not ok at all imo.
God only judges if you are married.
purseowner
Member
RumbleHumble
Banned
I was going to rag on him for his failure to characterize his behavior as more than mere "flirting while in a position of authority", I remembered he's probably talking to lawyers who may already be annoyed he wrote any kind of apology at all.
Best of luck, Nick. Hopefully you do actually make a change for the better.
But that still doesn't excuse the gravity of your initial bullshit, and I hope that someday you realize it.
Best of luck, Nick. Hopefully you do actually make a change for the better.
But that still doesn't excuse the gravity of your initial bullshit, and I hope that someday you realize it.
Clockwork5
Member
At least he admitted to what he did and the women who were treated poorly aren't going to continue to be called liars by some in Nick's fan base; I hope.
No, we do know. There's accusations* on (now locked) accounts that show he lied about the fact that he was dating anyone.
EDIT: *as always "accusations" makes me feel like I'm saying this wasn't the truth, which it is, but I don't know how to word it better.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Do you get upset whenever Feminist go on a rant on white cis men? Chill and examine what the poster is talking about.
CannonFodder52
Member
Sure, that's fair.
It's just when I hear this sentiment, it seems to come from an assumption that monogamous relationships are the normal or expected.
ok nevermind
theangrypirate
Member
No idea who the hell this guy is but I read the tweet he sent to the overcooked devs and he seems like a real dickhead.
From his apology, it seems like he did some pretty scummy shit (couldn't find anything he actually did from google). Glad Polygon took a week to investigate. I trust he was dealt with appropriately.
From his apology, it seems like he did some pretty scummy shit (couldn't find anything he actually did from google). Glad Polygon took a week to investigate. I trust he was dealt with appropriately.
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
Because he makes funny vidz.
I honestly don't see how Nick saying what he did was only insidious because of him being in a position of power is a decent appology.
If he clearly said what he thought was flirting at the time was actually both harassment and him exploiting his position it would be a half decent apology.
He said the least he could say and made himself look as good as he possibly could without mentioning harassment so he'll be in a good position to start up a Patreon in the next few months. This reads exactly like the soft-boy shit Austin was accusing him of.
Yearsoflurking
Member
Random Human
They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
.
RichiRamjag
Member
As that isn't the situation, I'm not even going to entertain it. Both the comment he was responding to and his was out of line and if that shit was said about my race, it'd be a different story all together. You can move right on and ignore me if you're gonna defend that trash.
Bobo Dakes
Member
Man, I didn't realize Colin set the bar so low for this to be seen as genuine and sincere.
Nose Master
Member
I imagine he handled the personal apologies... personally. I understand the voyeur nature of the internet, but it's none of our business. He's not going to drop an itemized list and tag everyone he wronged.
I don't condone his actions, but I disagree with the dogpile from the internet. That said, this couldn't have ended any other way. Griffin is their star, and I imagine he straight up refused to work with the guy going forward. Considering he was just a parrot side-kick to Griffin's shenanigans, it's not worth keeping around someone with this much heat. Anyone could do that.
Nick obviously knows he's done. No one notable is going to be picking him up any time soon. I highly doubt he'll try anything solo. If he ever resurfaces it won't be for a good, long time. Five years, minimum.
Even if the relationship was open (pretty sure it wasn't), him lying about being in it to begin with to his victims is pretty fucked.
EDIT: Also, tbh, what are you even going on about with "marriage" here?
Relationships are relationships.
I think people ITT are twisting what he's actually saying about replacing flirting with harassing. Obviously he's saying that he saw it as "flirting" at the time, and he didn't think about how other people might see it. He's obviously not going to flat out say "yeah I harassed these people" in a public statement.
Rabid Dwarf 76
Member
This sounds pretty racist man.
VibratingDonkey
Member
I think interpreting this as a good apology has a lot to do with expecting a really bad one?
Because that's what tends to happen with these things. "I'm sorry if you were offended." Etc.
But since here he apologizes for his behavior, then that's a comparatively good apology. Even though the behavior he's apologizing for, appears to be just one part of his inappropriate behavior.
By framing it as flirting, he's trying to diminish the seriousness of the offense, make himself look less bad. Doing PR for himself. That's not what an apology should be about.
He's also saying he'll work to improve and regain trust etc. but saying that is the first, easy step. On its own it's meaningless. Considering he's not acknowledging that his "flirting" is a problem, I'm not sure how much he can improve.
Because that's what tends to happen with these things. "I'm sorry if you were offended." Etc.
But since here he apologizes for his behavior, then that's a comparatively good apology. Even though the behavior he's apologizing for, appears to be just one part of his inappropriate behavior.
By framing it as flirting, he's trying to diminish the seriousness of the offense, make himself look less bad. Doing PR for himself. That's not what an apology should be about.
He's also saying he'll work to improve and regain trust etc. but saying that is the first, easy step. On its own it's meaningless. Considering he's not acknowledging that his "flirting" is a problem, I'm not sure how much he can improve.
TheFinalCut
Member
Incredibly weak apology.
Glad he's gone from Polygon, but he deserves no forgiveness from people he didn't sexually harass.
Glad he's gone from Polygon, but he deserves no forgiveness from people he didn't sexually harass.
The best thing to come out of this mess
ScientificPizza
Banned
This disingenuous apology is still better than any apology Colin has done in his entire career. Fuck that dude
Goldfishking
Member
Then why release a statement In the first place? When you release a statement the whole point is to possibly say your side of the story and apologise for what you did. If you don't admit what you actually did then why should anyone believe his apology.
The Ernest is on him to say what he means. Not for us or his victims to decode the meaning of his statement like a puzzle.