Marvel’s Avengers spokesperson removed after offensive tweets were discovered

It’s a tale as old as Twitter itself: a person says stupid, offensive things in the past, a person comes out on top, old tweets get dumped, a person apologizes, and the internet rules. The whole performance has happened again, this time featuring a Crystal Dynamics spokesperson and game design leadership marvel avengersBrian Wagner.

as such Rock Paper Gun reports, over the weekend, a set of old tweets by Waggoner were revealed, which today led to his apology, and Crystal Dynamics’ follow-up to explain how disappointed they are, and that they are taking the position of Waggoner’s spokesperson. Now all concerned, after following the set script, are probably hoping for its demise.

Waggoner’s tweets, dating from around 2010 to 2016 (during which he worked at Marvel and Gazillion), were pretty grim. It was clear that some were attempts at jokes, At least one is based on lazy, racist stereotypeswhile another Just make fun of people with disabilities. but, Others seem to be just blatant racism.

As is often the case, Wagner reports that since then he has had a complete change of character, and these historic letters from a distant annulment of six years ago are now moot, given his modified ways. “Over the weekend,” he explained. In a statement on his current Twitter account“Old tweets I wrote prior to my time on Crystal have resurfaced, and I apologize and take full responsibility for the harm they have caused my followers, the community, and those I work with.”

The boilerplate apology text continues, “Since that time, I have learned and grown and the content I have posted does not reflect who I am today.” For those who are not convinced, he adds: “I understand if you cannot accept my apologies for the pain I have caused. I will continue to listen, learn and work to improve myself.”

Then continue with Crystal Dynamicsstating:

It is incredibly disappointing to see language and perspectives from employees that do not align with the values ​​of our studio. We apologize to our community and co-workers who are upset by the content. Brian is no longer a spokesperson for the studio or communicating about studio projects.

Look, you don’t need my opinion on any of this, because you already have your own, and honestly, this sounds like a story we’ve written three hundred times already, just with a different guy’s name to begin with. But heck, I still have opinions.

What I hate about all of this, every aspect of it, is that none of it is true. on which side.

These written “apologies” are designed to save face, to cover all the bases, and to “draw a line under them,” without actually saying sorry to anyone for anything. It’s empty, performance, onlyThey deceive those entrenched in institutional thinking who write them.

At the same time, Waggoner’s tweets did not indiscriminately cause untold harm to vast communities. It was copious, bigoted comments that were ignored at the time (a single “like” on one, a lone retweet on another), and now reappear to be used as evidence in online courts to convict him (perhaps rightly). The people who pretend to have finally dropped this tyrannical threat from his campaign of hate are ridiculously disingenuous, and it is equally disingenuous for Wagner to “apologise” as if that is what happened.

Then Crystal steps in, too, with nonsense about “language and opinions” that “don’t align with the studio’s values,” as if the corporate entity itself is some kind of moral creature, possessing a purely platonic perfection of ideal values. Have you ever noticed that? Every company is morally impeccable, without ever having to say how, rather allowing one to assume that this means their values ​​happily coincide with their own. Anyone in the company causes anger, at which point this mysterious cuteness adjusts to it don’t have itAnd he asks everyone to assume that this perversion of their perfection has been erased.

Read more: Marvel’s Avengers reminds you it’s still around with the addition of the Winter Soldier

People say and do stupid things. People have terrible views, or make lewd jokes. I know because I do. We all do. Even the most cautious heroes of burlesque have malicious thoughts, say things they regret, or hope that one day something they said will remain forever private. Sometimes people surround themselves with so many people like them that they lose sight of how egregious such things can be when they are said publicly on social media. Later it comes back to bite them on the ass. A must!

I just hope people’s responses They were honest. “Oh my God, yeah, I was really stupid, right? Damn, I really need to think before I speak.” Or, “You know, this is a bigotry that I’ve always espoused, and I really need to do something about it.” Sure, in this particular case, Wagner might very well be reformed, but this notion that the opinions we held last Tuesday do not reflect who we are today is very stressful, and the guarantee we’ve tried is that we’re perfect now, if only everyone else will catch up .

And no one anywhere says “I’m sorry”. It’s always with caveats and rationalizations, and always an “apologize” word as well. An action, not a feeling, a semiotic difference that makes the action external, rather than speaking from the heart. It really seems like the hardest word.

Oh, and then let’s not forget, the braying gallery. “He wasn’t fired!” We have no damn proof if he deserves to be fired, or if he’s a hero for good these days. But most importantly, let’s stop pretending that we care if this is your guy I have never heard of Before today, who said some things a decade ago that you didn’t notice, he’ll keep his job. What people want is for the aggressiveness to go away, and the idea that an ignorant public claiming this man’s head will somehow make it happen is absurd. If he’s a guy he works with, Crystal should fire him. But let’s all be honest too, and stop acting like we know what’s best in every goddamn situation.