Was there an actual instance of an assault/abuse…Or was this all done electronically?
I’m torn on this b/c obviously what Clark did is inappropriate & damaging to the alleged victim…But if we’re talking about the pictures & text messages that’s different than a physical assault.
As a survivor of abuse, I feel like if this was all some online stuff, then Dream needs to be suspended w/o pay for at least 3 months and should have to go to mandatory therapy sessions b/c there’s something going on there that needs to be addressed before he can return to his day job. But if he’s actually out here physically abusing kids, he needs to be behind bars, IMO.
Obviously there is a difference, but this is stilll wrong.
Clark has multiple accusers with evidence, that shows a pattern of targeting underage teens and speaking and acting inappropriately with them. The guy has shared explicit photos with teenagers.
This stuff feels like the definition of “grooming”.
Definitely unacceptable behavior either way, but the previous poster mentioned an assault & I didn’t know if that was a factual statement or not (or if I had missed some news).
Both are damaging to the victim(s). I feel like in this instance, I’d suspend Clark indefinitely & only allow his reinstatement upon completion of a counseling/therapy program. Now if it’s a physical assault…You goin’ straight to jail, my man!
*WWE chose to believe Riddle rather than the accuser.
Or you could say that they didn’t know what the truth was so they didn’t take any drastic action. That’s one way you could compare it to the Velveteen Dream situation.
It’s not always a case of “you have to make a decision and be 100% on one side and be 100% against the other” like crazy people on social media think it is.
People that believe the accuser, attack the person accused. People that believe the person accused, attack the accuser. Unfortunately these people that attack others with such certainty do exist regardless of how much they have to go on. Saying you don’t know what happened and attacking neither side isn’t an issue though in my opinion and that’s where I position WWE’s reaction.
Mentioned this during the Speaking Out movement, the barrier to attacking someone is higher than when you want to sympathise with someone. You might be swayed one way but attacking someone requires a lot more solid justification (and that includes suspending/firing someone).
I disagree. Grooming and sending dick pics to a minor is in many ways just as bad as physical assault. It’s a total abuse of power. These kids were just fans wanting to become wrestlers and Dream became very creepy very fast. Who knows if he has done it to others
I don’t think anything was done physically. From my understanding (not that I’m an expert by any stretch) the accusation is that he sent photos to someone underage, and asked for photos back.
Fans can be gross and disgusting. This is the epitome of why Twitter is a cess pool. Online bullying of an accuser is abhorrent behaviour.
Here is the reality, none of us know what happened. Statistically, I believe accusers are telling the truth about 92% (I believe, don’t quote me) of the time, and I believe our responsibility as fans is to listen to the accusations, take them seriously, and hope that true justice plays out one way one way or another.
Discussion is fine, but when people start to go after the people involved without knowing for sure what happened, it crosses a line IMO.
Fair point, it’s definitely bad, & both cause trauma…But just speaking from personal experience, adding that physical component is a bitch. Because not only do you have to deal with the loss of trust & the erosion of boundaries…But now you also are fundamentally changed in the way you personally interact w/folks & it can take a long time to feel safe in those settings (plus the domino effect of the abused becoming abusers in some cases).
Also from the punishment vs. rehabilitation standpoint, I feel like the difference between the online stuff & physically assaulting someone is that it’s harder to rehabilitate someone once they’ve committed acts of violence vs. the kind of manipulation that Dream allegedly engaged in online. Like one is a suspendable (or even fireable) offense, and the other calls for incarceration, IMO.
I don’t discount the physical stuff at all but we don’t know a whole lot yet about what all this online harassment does to people because it’s all so new.
Agree about incarceration but anything to do with minors and someone using their power to abuse is serious. I just feel like WWE didn’t investigate this whole thing enough and it’s way too soon for Dream to be main eventing NXT and being featured prominently
Yeah, time will tell. That’s part of the blessing/curse with the expansion of online interaction. You have the access now to be able to talk with anybody…And now everybody has access to you as well.
In terms of punishment, I feel like the WWE has shown their cards. If they really cared, guys like Dream & Riddle would’ve been put on indefinite suspension versus only missing a week or two. I don’t think either should be fired (unless there’s concrete evidence of assault), but they shouldn’t be on TV right now.
I think a big reason why they don’t want to cut Dream loose is that he’s really the only potential male success story ever at the PC.
Everyone else they have built came from somewhere else. For all the millions and millions HHH has spent he has to raid the indies for talent and can’t make a guy on his own.
Dream is the one guy who might become that so they are hanging onto him as desperately as they can
The PC didn’t open till 2013, well after he made his main roster debut. It’s been seven years and no real big male star has been produced. Anyone who has had any success has come from the indies - which makes you wonder why the PC was needed in the first place.
Other than Alexa Bliss I don’t think they’ve built someone from the ground up but I do think having the PC just as a base is a pretty good idea. Working on stuff in the ring, rehabbing talent from injury, and in this pandemic specifically it’s been a big plus for them.
Either way, I doubt justifying spend is a reason for how they’ve decided to deal with this matter. They have money. Velveteen Dream isn’t integral in anyway to anything. There isn’t a conspiracy, it’s just that they didn’t want to punish someone over shit that isn’t confirmed. Which makes sense.
I think some of them had indie experience prior to going to the PC. But yeah probably would be indie stars being brought in like a lot of the male talent of late.
Not that you are saying this, but I think there is a difference between being someone who worked as a relatively unknown on the indies (ie. a Becky Lynch) vs someone who was a star on the indies like a Somoa Joe or Prince Prince Devitt. I would never count either of those two guys as “WWE projects”, but I think for the most part you could classify the 4 horsewomen as that. I do get the argument though.
