• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Harry Knowles Allegedly Assaulted Woman and Drafthouse Owners Didn’t take action.

Rootbeer

Banned
How do you guys feel about most other film sites not really covering the whole Alamo/Drafthouse/Harry Knowles news? Most sites that have picked it up have been relatively removed from the industry. I get why Birth Movies Death doesn't cover the Tim League stuff, since that site is basically a funcitoning ad for Alamo Drafthouse, but I feel it's a bit tacky for sites like Slashfilm to just ignore it. I know it's a grey area, and a lot of the writers have close relationships with each other, I just feel it's kind of their duty to at least report objectively what's going on.

I dunno, I can see both sides, but it feels slightly icky to me that a lot of film sites are acting as if none of this is going on.
/Film has discussed it on their podcast /Film Daily. Peter, the owner of the site, is the host. So, at least they aren't totally ignoring it.
 

Random Human

They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.

Rootbeer

Banned
Considering he was caught pretending to be his sister a day ago, no shit.
He has since replied to a tweet where he said they hadn't finished setting up her account yet, which is why it was posted the way that it was.

https://twitter.com/headgeek666/status/912868061031608320

Anyway, I'm highly skeptical as well. Whatever the case may be on who is writing the articles, the end result is the same: any revenue from the site is going to support Harry and his eventual attempt to rebuild his and AICN's reputation, so consider voting with your clicks.
 
He has since replied to a tweet where he said they hadn't finished setting up her account yet, which is why it was posted the way that it was.

https://twitter.com/headgeek666/status/912868061031608320

Anyway, I'm highly skeptical as well. Whatever the case may be on who is writing the articles, the end result is the same: any revenue from the site is going to support Harry and his eventual attempt to rebuild his and AICN's reputation, so consider voting with your clicks.

Seems like bs, there were already many articles posted under her, with the correct name.

Why did only 1 article have his real moniker, Headgeek and not the others, if that is the case? The rest had that bullshit name, whatever, it is, so it wasn't because they hadn't finished setting up her account.

AICN might trudge along, but Harry is done. I'm guessing the sister is in on it, and Harry is just going to post under her name whenever he needs to.
 

Dan-o

Member
I've been thinking the same thing. Nothing from comingsoon or any other outlet that I've seen. Seems really odd given how powerful he was for a long time. Yes AICN hasn't been what is was for years but it's still news worthy and sites not covering it seem suspect to me.
Alan Cerny (Nordling) is with comingsoon, and all he's said is that he'll say more when he's back from FF. I'm very curious what he really has to say since he's been pretty cryptic on Twitter about his own feelings, despite showing support for those that have spoken up against Knowles. Cerny seems like a really good guy...
 
I actually can’t envision a scenario where AICN stays afloat.

The site was already dying slowly due to the gross mismanagement of the content coupled with Harry’s ever-dwindling irrelevance and the handful of contacts he still enjoyed – people like Jackson, Del Toro and Tarantino – are going to place a great gulf of space between themselves and him now that these allegations have surfaced.

If the site limps along, it’ll be even worse than it is now and ultimately end up some relic maintained only to assuage Harry’s bloated ego.
 

Random Human

They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
I actually can’t envision a scenario where AICN stays afloat.

The site was already dying slowly due to the gross mismanagement of the content coupled with Harry’s ever-dwindling irrelevance and the handful of contacts he still enjoyed – people like Jackson, Del Toro and Tarantino – are going to place a great gulf of space between themselves and him now that these allegations have surfaced.

If the site limps along, it’ll be even worse than it is now and ultimately end up some relic maintained only to assuage Harry’s bloated ego.

Just on a practical level I can't imagine how it continues since all the writers but Harry (and his maybe-real-maybe-him Sister) have left, and the entire talkback community is dead. Who's left to write and read articles?
 
Hmm, this is super weird. I'm worried it's going to end with something super drastic, and I don't know what that is. Harry clearly isn't handling this in the best way, and now he's pretending to be someone else? I dunno, something about this seems really off to me, that's bizarre. I hope he doesn't do something stupid...

Harry is a 400 lb man who has been slowly murdering himself with food for years.

I'm not advocating for him to kill himself but clearly, he's already on that path and has been most of his life.

He's always been unstable and apparently, he's also a shitty person. Maybe this fiasco will be a serious wake-up call but I doubt it.

Honestly, I'm amazed he hasn't had even more health problems. The man is a heart-attack waiting to happen.
 
You realize that Billy is very possibly the worst high profile film writer of all time, was unilaterally hired by Harry, and spammed the site with multiple Miami-only giveaways per day, right? It's not a huge surprise that he wasn't treated like a friend by the other writers. And it's not surprising that his appearance and continued presence put everyone in an awkward situation, since no one other than Harry could have (very deservedly) fired him. His attempt to correlate what happened to him with sexual assault does not make me feel better about him.

Oh no Miami gets some attention how horrible. Capone does Chicago only giveaways all the time. Austin has a million, but not Miami, how dare they!!!! Oh and I remember the talkbacks making fun of all the Hispanic names in the winners lists too.

I went to quite a few screenings, met Billy, followed him to his new site after the mess. He's a normal guy, seems genuine. I didn't care for his reviews or writing but during that time AICN was dead and he was about the only guy doing stories and updates. What he describes in that story is disgusting behavior by the main heads of the site. Under no circumstance should you not be paid for your work.
 
Just on a practical level I can't imagine how it continues since all the writers but Harry (and his maybe-real-maybe-him Sister) have left, and the entire talkback community is dead. Who's left to write and read articles?


Agreed.

And it's not like the site was exactly pumping out tons of content to begin with. Harry's own output has diminished considerably in the last several years.

And who in their right mind would work for them now?
 

Random Human

They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
Agreed.

And it's not like the site was exactly pumping out tons of content to begin with. Harry's own output has diminished considerably in the last several years.

And who in their right mind would work for them now?

Yeah, especially with the revelation that top people like Beaks weren't being paid.
 
You realize that Billy is very possibly the worst high profile film writer of all time, was unilaterally hired by Harry, and spammed the site with multiple Miami-only giveaways per day, right? It's not a huge surprise that he wasn't treated like a friend by the other writers. And it's not surprising that his appearance and continued presence put everyone in an awkward situation, since no one other than Harry could have (very deservedly) fired him. His attempt to correlate what happened to him with sexual assault does not make me feel better about him.

Really?

Because Knowles is an atrocious writer who peppers his prose with sexual vulgarity that would make a middle-school boy blush.

As to Billy, he may have an ax to grind but that doesn't mean what he's saying isn't true. I was a longtime patron of AICN and clearly, much of what Billy claims to have experienced was reflected in the way that site was run.
 

killroy87

Member
He'll have plenty of time to write now. Unfortunately.

Haha, I don't think his life consisted of anything except taking a wage from the site, and watching movies. The dude consumed an inhuman number of movies, multiple per day. I don't expect that to change.

I do however wonder how the site generates any income, even enough to support one person full time.
 
Haha, I don't think his life consisted of anything except taking a wage from the site, and watching movies. The dude consumed an inhuman number of movies, multiple per day. I don't expect that to change.

I do however wonder how the site generates any income, even enough to support one person full time.
I can't speak to what it pulls in these days but as recently as around 2008-2010 I heard they were pulling in somewhere around 500k to a million a year. It was from a friend who was close to Eric vespe and Harry that I heard this so I don't know for certain if it was true but I do recall around that time Eric vespe bought a new house so at least someone was getting paid. From what could glean from the scene there in Austin he was the main guy aside from Harry making money. It's really disappointing to think he knew about this for years and didn't step down/say anything but given that it was essentially his first and only job (since he was like 16?) I can understand him being afraid. Still you can't sit by idly forever and let this kind of disgusting behavior go unchecked just cause you're afraid to try and find other work
 
Uwe still a cunt, I see (that "can't be a predator" nonsense and the guff about abuse was ridiculous and offensive) but that was brutal re: Knowles. Felt like him settling an old score in the coldest way he could: basically, "You're a fat fraud who is going to die having never had a proper life".

Bloody hell.
 

Trickster

Member
Hadn't heard of this guy before so I googled him, and all I can say is holy shit this guy looks freaky. Like, I look at him and can't help but think he should have been the clown in IT
 

shaneo632

Member
Spat out my coffee at "I don't know what he eats" followed by a cut to a bag of dicks image.

dead2.gif
 

border

Member
Something Boll briefly touches on......I wonder how many times Knowles got away with assault just because the victim felt sorry for him?

It's not all that uncommon to run into disabled people that are creeps just because nobody ever wanted to stand up to them. People feel bad about reprimanding someone who already has a pretty rough existence, therefore the aggressors slowly get shaped into thinking their behavior is acceptable or normal.
 
Did anyone see that episode of Entourage where they go to Comic-Con? Remember how the studio sends the “blogger” a hooker to get a positive review...

That is Harry Knowles. This was a known thing throughout Hollywood to the point that it got parodied on Entourage.

Ever wonder why Harry would give the shittiest movies a postive review? Let’s just say he was partaking in Hollywood’s best...
 

Aurongel

Member
Did anyone see that episode of Entourage where they go to Comic-Con? Remember how the studio sends the “blogger” a hooker to get a positive review...

That is Harry Knowles. This was a known thing throughout Hollywood to the point that it got parodied on Entourage.

Ever wonder why Harry would give the shittiest movies a postive review? Let’s just say he was partaking in Hollywood’s best...
Receipts...?
 
Receipts...?

It was so obviously Harry Knowles.

At that point in time, there was only 1 person it could conceivable have been. I remember clearly thinking, if this was a commentary on the lengths studios will go to get a good review, in a fun light hearted way, or if it was more about Harry Knowles himself.
 

Vyer

Member
Receipts...?

No verification about the prostitution part, of course, but they even talked about it when they interviewed Rainn on the site itself.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37497

Quint: I’m doing very well. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I know that they are throwing this at you as you are leaving… at least that’s what they are telling me.
Rainn Wilson: It’s great, my pleasure man. I love your website and it’s good talking to you. I portrayed your fearless leader, Harry Knowles, in an odd round about way…
Quint: Yes, you did. That was the Entourage episode, right?
Rainn Wilson: Yeah, exactly.
Quint: What’s really funny about that is that Harry has not covered COMIC CON in like eight years and I’m been the point man at COMIC CON so I got to kind of pretend that that was me for a little bit, even though I know damn well that it was Harry Knowles, but I’ve never had the whores offered yet, so…
Rainn Wilson: (Laughs) One of these days…
 

jett

D-Member
Hahaha I need to give Entourage a rewatch...but I just have so many TV shows on my plate that I'm already behind on. :p

OMG, he used the Gahiggidy basement Iwata shrine photo.

Uwe Boll is a gaffer? Explains a lot!
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
So Uwe Boll doesn't think what this dude did is sexual assault.He thinks you can just grab someone, and then they have to punch you and laugh about it. And actresses are all really dumb and pick between being a stripper, escort, barista or actress. Ehm... wtf.
That's basically the problem. He was socialized in an environment where that was true. Groping is really common and rarely punished, especially in big, crowded cities.
 

Glix

Member
Did anyone see that episode of Entourage where they go to Comic-Con? Remember how the studio sends the “blogger” a hooker to get a positive review...

That is Harry Knowles. This was a known thing throughout Hollywood to the point that it got parodied on Entourage.

Ever wonder why Harry would give the shittiest movies a postive review? Let’s just say he was partaking in Hollywood’s best...

I posted the same thing a bunch of pages back. It was very clear in that ep that the character represented Knowles.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Did anyone see that episode of Entourage where they go to Comic-Con? Remember how the studio sends the “blogger” a hooker to get a positive review...

That is Harry Knowles. This was a known thing throughout Hollywood to the point that it got parodied on Entourage.

Ever wonder why Harry would give the shittiest movies a postive review? Let’s just say he was partaking in Hollywood’s best...
Knowing this somehow makes the Blade 2 review even worse.
 
Did anyone see that episode of Entourage where they go to Comic-Con? Remember how the studio sends the “blogger” a hooker to get a positive review...

That is Harry Knowles. This was a known thing throughout Hollywood to the point that it got parodied on Entourage.

Ever wonder why Harry would give the shittiest movies a postive review? Let’s just say he was partaking in Hollywood’s best...

I think this might be an Entourage/Hollywood culture thing more than an attempt to speak specifically about Harry Knowles. I doubt they were trying to secretly send a message about Knowles specifically.
 
Top Bottom