Mark Waid Goes On Nerdist to Ask for Money – Nerdist Censors and Deletes Comments
Mark Waid, who is currently being sued by Richard C. Meyer aka YouTuber Diversity & Comics for tortious interference and defamation, went live with Nerdist to ask their viewers to donate to his Go Fund Me.
Nerdist host Hector Navarro hosted the live session with Waid that appears to be setup for Waid to ask people to donate to his Go Fund Me and fund his legal defense against Meyer. Navarro didn’t even feign objectivity when he broached the subject of the lawsuit declaring that Comicsgate is “an online harassment group.” He even admits why Waid is even on the show saying, “You are here for a very serious reason, Mark. You have unfortunately become the target of a lawsuit.”
https://youtu.be/gKB7wn7NnKc?t=1428
Waid believes it will be hard for Meyer to win his defamation claim stating:
“Now, it’s turned into a lawsuit that hinges a huge part on defamation. I don’t know how you defame who says that Ta-Nehisi Coates is a race hustler. That black people working at Marvel Comics is a minstrel show. I don’t know how you defame a guy like that. But that’s for the court to decide.”
Waid claimed that Richard Meyer was promoting white supremacy while discussing his interactions with Antarctic Press while attending a Comic Con in Houston. Antarctic Press was the publishing company that had announced they would publish Meyer’s Jawbreakers – Lost Souls.
While discussing the situation, Waid admitted that he was actively kicking people out of the comic book industry saying, “We’re throwing assholes out. That’s what we’re doing.” He also admitted that he contacted Antarctic Press to let them know “why the hordes of hell are descending upon [them].”
Antarctic Press would eventually drop Meyer’s Jawbreakers – Lost Souls and they admitted that Waid was involved in the decision writing, “Mark shed more light on the situation, and other factors came into play that do not involve any staff or freelancers at any other company, that led us to our decision.”
Much like his Go Fund Me, Waid paints himself as a victim.
“I’ve gotten a lot of heat. I’m not saying that to complain. I’m saying that to make the point that I’m a straight white guy and I’m getting that level from these guys. You can only imagine what women, people of color, LGBTQ, creators in this industry, and fans in this industry get, not just from comicsgate, but toxic fandom in general.”
Waid then declares why he thinks the lawsuit was filed.
“I firmly believe the lawsuit was filed specifically to try and intimidate and silence people who are trying to stand up against that sort of behavior and take a stand.”
Mark Waid then gets to the point of the entire interview by discussing his Go Fund Me and asking viewers for money.
“I work in comics. I’m not a rich guy. Lawsuits are expensive. I launched a Go Fund Me about a week ago, and it’s been huge. It’s been great. Neil Gaiman has contributed and Colleen Doran, and Gail Simone, Scott Snyder, a list that could go on and on about my colleagues that have joined in on this fight. Help me make this stand. Help me make this stand that this is not okay. If you can join in, the Go Fund Me is up. You can find me ‘Mark Waid Go Fund Me.’ If you can jump in there that’s great. It’s a lawsuit there’s a long road ahead of us. Those things are not cheap to fight. I’m not poor mouthing. I’m not here to beg with a tin cup as much as I am to say this is a call to action. Come join us. Come join Neil and the rest of us and me, and all the rest of us that have stood up. Help us fight back and push back against this sort of toxic online harassment. That’s just not cool.”
When asked about how to make the comic book industry better, Waid said, “I think the only thing I can think of is try to restrain yourself when you are angry online.” Waid does admit that he’s “popped off online.”
He then makes an absurd tangent about national politics.
“The state of the country is just anger all the time. We are all a jack-in-the-box with one note left to go. So, I get it. Unfortunately, that national dialogue trickles down into everything including pop culture.”
Waid then talks about what he’s trying to do to address this:
“I’m redoubling my efforts to try to understand that escalating it is not the answer. Immediately shifting from zero to your a Nazi is probably not the best way to go. That’s not going to make anything better. I don’t know how to engage with a certain toxic fandom where there is no good faith argument. No matter what you do to extend a hand, it becomes soyboy, cuck, SJW. I don’t know how to deal with that. All we can do is try and take the high road as much as we can.”
Anyone trying to push back on Waid’s interview in the comments would see Nerdist actively censoring and deleting comments. You can see they deleted comments in the screenshot below.
Not only was Nerdist censoring and deleting comments, but they were also putting users in “timeout” for a set period of time before they could post again. I can confirm this happened as I posted our article containing the initial lawsuit and was promptly put in timeout.
One thing is clear is that since Waid is specifically asking for people to give him their hard-earned money, he doesn’t appear to be optimistic that his lawyer’s motion to dismiss will go through.
What do you make of Waid’s interview with Nerdist? What do you make of Nerdist’s actions in censoring comments during the interview?
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