Stassi Schroeder apologizes after mocking & criticizing #MeToo campaign, victims
I don’t watch Vanderpump Rules, so I have no idea who Stassi Schroeder is, but apparently people do know who she is and they listen to her podcast and everything. In her podcast last week, Stassi spent hours discussing the #MeToo campaign and the wave of sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations which are ripping through the entertainment and media industries and Washington too. Stassi wanted everyone to know that she’s not like those other women, those supposed feminists who listen to victims and believe them and have empathy. Stassi’s podcast was called “Are we on a male witch hunt?” and it apparently involved two hours of Stassi and her friend Jennifer Hoffner criticizing the women who have come forward, calling them attention-seeking famewhores, mocking their stories and more. The podcast has since been deleted, and Stassi’s advertisers pulled out. She waited several days before issuing an apology.
Stassi Schroeder says she “crossed a line” with her controversial comments about sexual assault on her Straight Up with Stassi podcast. On an episode titled “Are We on a Male Witch Hunt?” she referenced people who have accused men of misconduct in a way that angered many listeners. Many felt her remarks mocked victims and the #MeToo campaign. The podcast was later deleted, but two companies, Rent the Runway and Simple Contacts, announced Friday that they’d cut ties with the Vanderpump Rules star over the reported comments.
“My podcast is an outlet for me to share my unfiltered opinion with my listeners,” Schroeder tweeted on Saturday afternoon. “But on my latest episode I crossed a line. It was irresponsible for me to make generalized statements about a very serious topic, such as sexual harassment, as it is not my place to speak about anyone else’s experiences. I apologize. I will continue to speak my mind on my podcast, but will put more thought behind my dialogue moving forward.”
“These 24 hours have been sobering: I want to share your stories on my podcast: on either side, being accused of something you didn’t do or being victimized & left helpless,” she added.
In a statement, Rent the Runway had said they were “shocked” by Schroeder’s remarks regarding sexual assault and the #MeToo movement, adding, “It goes against everything RTR stands for as a company and has publicly advocated. Our 1st ads were slated to run on Mon. but effective immediately we’ve terminated our relationship with her podcast.”
Simple Contacts said in their own statement, “Women are harassed in and out of the workplace and to suggest that the #metoo campaign is made up of attention seekers belittles the pain and suffering so many women experience on a regular basis.”
For the life of me, I can’t find any real quotes from the original podcast, so I have no idea how angry I should be. I think it must have been really f–king bad if her advertisers were immediately like “NO, GTFO” instead of “let’s put this under review” or whatever. The Daily Mail seems to have gotten a few quotes from the podcast, and damn, it doesn’t sound good. She basically says that if you’re making out with a guy, that’s like a down payment on oral sex, and that we shouldn’t “condemn” men just because some women say they’re sexually harassing perverts. For the love of God. The lesson here? Stop listening to podcasts from third-tier reality stars?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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