Tuesday, November 21

What Happened to the Jann Wenner Story?

The latest Rolling Stone cover, featuring Elon Musk — one of
the few public figures not accused of sexual harassment 
It took less than a day for Charlie Rose to lose his CBS morning gig, his late-night PBS perch, and his long, respected career as one of TV's premier interviewers. He's the biggest media figure to date to get snagged up in this sexual harassment hideousness, joining disgraced colleagues from The New York Times, NBC News, Vox Media, E! News, The New Republic and Artforum on a list of purported pervs that's become so challenging to keep track of that it's being updated in real time on the Times's website. One accused offender the Times has opted to not include in its Hall of Shame, oddly, is Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner, who was accused by a writer of offering him a job in exchange for sex, a story BuzzFeed broke back on Nov 10. While the revelation did get a little pickup in the immediate aftermath — Wenner's photo was included, alongside shots of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K. and others, in the New York Daily News's front-page "Perv Nation" roundup, and his accuser was interviewed on CNN — it's been pretty much ignored ever since. Besides the Times leaving Wenner off its running list, there was the Recode piece this week speculating on potential suitors for what's left of Wenner's publishing company but mentioning nothing of the alleged sexual harassment against its founder, even though there is no bigger story right now than the deluge of alleged sexual offenses by powerful men. Most of the articles about Wenner lately have had to do with a new biography about him, called Sticky Fingers — while charges of his alleged behavior seem to have been swept under the rug. (It is also interesting — though not at all surprising — that the Rolling Stone homepage features stories on sexual harassment charges against Al Franken and the cofounder of Pixar, but no mention of the accusations leveled against its own proprietor.) If Wenner is getting a pass, he shouldn't be. His accuser's story is every bit as disturbing and as credible as those about other alleged offenders. And while he's not nearly as important as he used to be, Wenner is still as much a boldface name as his fellow reported reprobates — and much more relevant than some of them (Andy Dick comes to mind). It may well be that nothing sinister is afoot (other than Wenner's alleged behavior) and that he simply got lost in the news cycle, what with there being a new bombshell and another perp dominating the headlines every day. If that is the case, then Jann Wenner owes Charlie Rose, Roy Moore and the other recent entrants to this contemptible club of creeps a steak dinner.

Monday, November 6

YOU Get a Shotgun, and YOU Get a Shotgun!!

Advertising weaponry in the Sunday paper is always of questionable taste, if you ask me. But the fact that this particular promotion, from Dick's Sporting Goods, arrived on this especially awful Sunday, where another mass killing dominates headlines, definitely falls under the category of unfortunate timing. Still, what better way for red-blooded Americans to celebrate the birth of their Lord and Savior than by gifting a loved one a marked-down semi-automatic? This country kills me. Let's hope not literally.

Wednesday, November 1

There Is Actually Just One "Never" in Fashion (Or in Life), Donna: Never Suggest That Harvey Weinstein's Victims Had It Coming


At a time when Harvey Weinstein defender Donna Karan has made her notorious slut-shaming even worse with an awkward morning-TV apology, Ad Age's Barbara Lippert looks back at this ad depicting the first female president from the formerly influential fashion designer, back when she believed in empowering instead of blaming women. But I wonder how many of you remember Karan's brief, pre-fame career as a deoderant pitchwoman?

How Agencies Are Remaking the Retail Media Market

"As agencies have moved more aggressively into the domain of commerce media, one has to wonder about the role of Amazon — specifically,...