hey gawker dudes. what the fuck is wrong with you?

i would. the story at the center of this suit was FASCINATING. anna merlan is a very good reporter. (also, maybe think about slippery slopes and precedents before you sneer at a website that probably isn't for you anyway)

http://jezebel.com/inside-superstar-machine-which-ex-members-say-is-a-cul-1775494367

I would think that bullying Univision will be much tougher than GawkerMedia.

Did they delete like every article that had a pending lawsuit, yeah they really sound like they're ready to go to the mat

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/univision-deletes-gawker-stories-due-active-litigation-article-1.2787121

I got the impression that was their way of pretending they bought only the non-litigious content and the writing staff, not the baggage. Which makes no real sense ideologically or legally, but whatever.

This was a new article, and a well-done one, imo. It'll be interesting to see how they react to something that was created under their umbrella

And good god, I think I saw the original article before people were commenting on it, and the astroturfing in the comments is surreal

do we have an ilx thread on self-help cults, etc.

I swear someone's talked about landmark or something similar but I'm not sure where

❀ the cult of: ➥motivational speakers ➥life coaches ➥personal growth gurus ➥new-age charlatans ➥AWESOMENESS FEST

hmm close enough, that one was a little more for passive scams

i worked at organic avenue (the company founded by the juicero dude) in 2010 and through that i ended up acquaintances with a few ppl in superstar machine (one of whom is named in that piece). my best friend who worked with me at oa even went to a few of that guy's events. it is suuuuuuch an evil cult/scam

OMG BRAD

I feel very bad for these people but I want to knoooow

q1: how much emotion lotion was involved

https://youtu.be/JvCmvSKenzY

just the name "superstar machine" alone

Charles Harder should die of smoke inhalation in his own home

And Thiel should be convicted of arson and homicide

Also, sleepingbag really working on worst poster status - at least carpet schmuck has the decency to pity himself on the depression thread

I forgot the sentencing phase. Thiel should become the last American to be executed under the law - using whatever leftover, long-expired chemicals Oklahoma has lying around in 2039 or whenever.

Thanks for the shout out, I think. I actually kinda miss Gawker, so I'm not sure where I fit into this.

Ask me how I really feel about people who decide to become bullies after having been bullied themselves. Ask me.

is the problem that there weren't bullied enough?

xp: you're probably an OK person, I just find your style tremendously grating. You don't seem to like many people either, so it's a wash.

is the problem that there weren't bullied enough?

No. That is never the problem. Are you being serious?

It's a reference to a gawker tweet

I swear to fucking god

El Tomboto, I apologize if I was a dick to you in an earlier incarnation, but you kinda started at me out of nowhere. You put yourself on my radar! Which isn't really a great idea. Play with fire, get burned, baby. I have no personal problem with you, but it's not a great idea to mess with random-ass people you know nothing about.

Let's just ban all you fucking clowns and just replace everyone with @dril - does that work? You could all go back to your jobs and your families, as could I. Jesus fuck with the twits today.

Lol xp

it's bad that we can't be mean to carpet_kramer anymore imo

I intend to be mean to all of you for the weekend

Whatever Tomboto, you're the one with the gripe, and I never knew who you even were. Be mean, I don't give a shit, but I'll be mean right back, the kind that you just saw rattle Tomboto's brain. I've been holding back too much, really.

Ah screw it, I don't need this shit.

jus chiiiiil

"grim reapah!" burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb

El tomboto used to be tombot fyi

i thought he was Edward James Olmos

That was luna

what brought out strongman tombot

can we get back to "emotion lotion"

guys, http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

I've been holding back too much, really.

lol I definitely recommend getting banned slightly quicker this time

hey mh: YOU GOT THE GOODS

lol

so the superstar machine thing came to mind last week, and i genuinely hope it was just me hearing about a weird cult thing and then reading something that reminded me of it and not a real reference

finally went back and finished melissa broder's "so sad today" book that she did after having some success with the twitter account and there's a brief aside where, becoming sober, she says she ended up finding a group that helped and to contact her via email if you have any questions about it

i mean, i'm 99% sure it's AA or a similar meeting group, but there was this jarring "oh no what if she's actually involved with this superstar thing" moment! hearing about groups like this always plants that seed of doubt, wondering who all these people meeting are and if i'd know of them

lol at Tombot going h on carpet_k here and then being Captain Save-a-Stevolende two days later

It's a strange one alright even tho obv it's not a total parallel

blame flopson

the John Cook send-off is a good read. I've really enjoyed all of their roast posts for departing staff. Denton might be a bit of an asshat, but he did allow a lot of very good and smart people to inhabit what seems to have been an incredibly collegial environment under frequently terrible circumstances (often self-inflicted, as many of these godspeed pieces have suggested, and as this thread itself generally argues)

https://specialprojectsdesk.kinja.com/how-can-you-mend-a-broken-shitheart-1819115519

i love the roasts/send-offs

nick denton was the best boss i ever had who i wasn't already friends with

at least when he was selling off idolator he was honest about why, you know? instead of being a shithead about it

That’s cool. Never met the guy.

I’ve learned there’s often a chasm between good boss and good employee. And when the latter concept starts squeezing on the former, the turnover rate almost reaches the spectrum of human hearing.