Dear Vault members, friends, family, and associated members of the Peanut Gallery,
Your old friend Ben Swank here.... A couple of weeks ago I sent a small letter to a site express my distaste for the manner in which they were using and manipulating our materials which then exploded into a bit of an online kerfuffle. We were accused of censorship, harassment, Big Brother tactics (the book not the show) and generally being really bad people who hate Freedom Of Expression. I'd like to copy and paste that letter here below for you all:
We respect your right to speak freely. We also exercise this right ourselves, which is what we're about to do here. Here goes... We can no longer watch your Tumblr blog exist without pointing out the racism and sexism that is inherent to its content.
We realize that the tone of your site is humorous, and we sure do love to laugh, but the posts on your blog are often no more than literary black face, and it frustrates us to have Third Man-related content used with this mocking tone. Throw in the racist jab or two about Asians and a few dozen decidedly anti-feminist posts, and what we have is a blog full of negative and unproductive contributions to society.
This letter won't begin to address the libel your site perpetuates, of which there is quite a lot.
We can't ask you to take down your parody account, nor would we try, but let it be known that you offend us in every way.
A couple points if I may:
1. I never asked them to remove or censor their content in any way
2. I understand they considered their site a 'parody'. Still offensive. And this is the first time I've ever done something like this. It was the usage of our materials in that way and seeing it spread around the internet that got me to a place where I needed to say something.
I am a person that believes greatly in self expression and privacy. I want fans to have places online where they can discuss anything they like regarding Third Man without fear of our ire or scrutiny. But I've not said anything about this for a few years, but I'm going to go ahead and say this now... There is a strikingly (dare I say eerie) similar tone between those rants on that tumblr site to a lot of comments you see all over the internet whenever articles are posted about Olivia Jean or other female TMR-associated artists, same tone and phraseology that existed on this Black Belles hate-blog that used to exist, and the same tone and language used from this slightly unhinged person who emails me directly 20 or more times a day who thinks she (SHE being the woman sending the emails) is in a relationship with Jack White and who wants nothing more then to ruin Olivia Jean's career. What I'm saying is this could likely be one person working under different names and log ins (we have confirmation from our webmaster and other media outlets and websites that these originate from the same IP address) and what they are doing is embarrassing and irresponsible. This is all just to say that the internet is many things. A lot of those things are amazing, but there's a side of the internet where people can act in an anonymous and abhorrent manner that they would never act in real life and I hate to see other people exposed to, and believe, some of the hate and negativity that is espoused out there in the online vortex... Especially when so much of what is being said is based on falsehoods, conjecture and half-truths.
To be clear I very much encourage open discourse regarding music and criticism. I get that not everybody likes everything Third Man releases musically, we travel in a lot of musical worlds and not everything is for everyone. If this was about music in any way, then I would get it. But myself, I'm not a person who can stand watching cruelty based on racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, or how people look or dress. We all have freedom of expression. I'm all for it. I hope it can remain positive and stimulating, but that's not always the case and sometimes when it gets to be too much I'm going to express my freedom of expression and say so. Just like I'm doing now.
This is likely something people want to discuss further. I welcome it. Please leave comments and I'll check in and reply. I'll also try and make myself available on Vault chat to talk more if people want to.
thanks for your time and understanding,
Swank
Right on, man. Miss Jean is a brilliant songwriter…innovative lyrics and imaginative melodies. Thank you for standing up for her.
By the way, for what it’s worth, out of pure irrational stubbornness, I flat out refused to listen to the White Stripes for about eight years…then in 2007, my cousin finally forced me to sit down and listen to a compilation he made of all of their albums, and I became an instant fan. I loved all of the songs he played, but when I heard “You’re Pretty Good Looking (for a Girl),” I thought… “thank you." I think every compliment I received growing up was qualified with that phrase. Anyway, since that time, I’ve enjoyed the many artists I’ve discovered through your label, and I’ve never understood any of the accusations of sexism directed at your company. Thank you for discouraging it in others.
Wow. Gotta be honest with you, this really rubbed mt the wrong way. Its pretty compelling to single out and accuse an anonymous tumblr account of being a “slightly unhinged person who emails me directly 20 or more times a day who thinks she is in a relationship with Jack White and who wants nothing more then to ruin Olivia Jean’s career.” Judging from your backhanded libel threat to this individual, I’m sure you have pretty compelling evidence that this is in fact true. If you didn’t I’m also certain you wouldn’t be making these types of accusations on such a visible forum. I have no idea who this person is, I have never seen their blog, and I hate the attitude on tumblr in general, but judging from the comments on this post you do realize you have just convinced a lot of people that this person is mentally ill, right? Are you sure of that? I’m pretty tired of ALL of this to be honest. It has really put a damper on everything related to TMR for a long time now. Are you mad at me for saying this? Am I now on a ‘blacklist’? Are you going to kick me out of the vault now? Because that is the vibe you guys put off. Just putting it out there…
Jaysus. Aches some place I can’t get to when I hear of women putting other women down. Thanks for speaking out Ben.
Good point Annajean… much of the content in the songs we listen to as TMR fans are filled with trash talk and slurs against the fairer sex… Its the bread and butter of the angry vindictive attitude spoiling for a fight in modern music but ecen Jack will tell you there is a time and place to let all that go and be kind to each other… It feels like someone wants there to be winners and losers in this very conversation… Swank was hoping it would stay positive here but obviously the tone of the entire tribunal is trading one witch for another because SHE broke HER tongue talking trash and SHE needs forgiveness just as those jealous hordes do who also talk trash…. Can we stop talking trash now? I hope my stalkers and hackers will not get more imagined fuel for this continual spin the bottle game of internest courage…. This thread is becoming polarized and divisive with raw aggression and I thought the point was to put a limit to it
This isn’t about racism or sexism.. You’d be ignorant to think it is. Hate is spread like a mad disease everyday on the Internet. this isn’t the first page to express some kind of hate… I’m not saying that being racist or sexist is acceptable, because it flat out isn’t, but your need to involve yourself in this obviously spans from something much deeper. The truth of the matter is, you didn’t like what IfJackWhiteWereHood was saying… And that’s all well, but at least admit it. The fact that you care what one person is saying on the Internet shows your character.
You can’t produce someone like Olivia Jean, who doesn’t mind calling people “worthless f@&ks,” and chastise someone else for perpetuating hate.
I love Jack, and I really like what TMR is doing for music, but I can’t ignore the sad truth that drama gravitates towards ThirdmanRecords.. And I have to believe that it has to do with those who run the show..
I’m happy to debate this. I think a positive conversation is important.
That “something” being that you may have a true sociopath on your hands operating from one IP address under the guise of many different folk, but that simply does not explain it all. The Tumblr had followers and those followers perpetuate the vitriol toward OJ daily. I know that to be a fact. If they all sound alike, it’s because they all have the same target. Anybaloney, good night and good luck, TMR. You’ll always get my money, because you make great music available. For that, I wish you the best. The rest of this is now giving me agita.
The only thing I DO know about the Tumblr site in question is that it was run by a male. Keeping that in mind, you drew a correlation between his tone and the phraseology through another hate site, nasty internet comments, and then to a person claiming to be in a relationship with JW who emails a lot… Am I the only one confounded by that part? I can’t seem to parse that logic. Being TMR, do these web companies give over IP addresses to you freely? That’s a bit concerning, to be honest. I am all for peace, love, and vinyl, but after letting this marinate for a bit, I have to admit that I am more than confused, I am dismayed. I certainly don’t want anyone harmed, but something is not quite adding up for me.
As for the sexism, it is a serious issue that a lot of people take very lightly. Trust me, it’s everywhere in the society where I’m from. I’ve seen many of my friends and family members being obstructed from work and in personal lives for simply being women. You cannot undermine something this serious that is found all over the planet. Much respect to Third Man for standing up for women in music!
Thanks for posting this Swank. No one should stand by and watch people be cruel to one another – especially if it is based on racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. The only way we ( I am talking about responsible adults in the US here) can put an end to this nonsense is to speak out against it. Freedom of expression should be used responsibly. There are certain things that are unacceptable in 2015.
As far as the person emailing 20 times a day, and thinking they are in a relationship with JW- well that sounds like an illness. And if you really figure out or know who it is it should be reported. Someone with personality issues (and the internet) can be dangerous. I’m sure the staff at Third Man know that but obsession can be a dangerous thing and I know I wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of you because of one sick person. Take care Ben and keep up the good fight.
I don’t know much about tumblr, I avoid it if I can, but I have seen some of those comments referred to in other parts of the internet and I have to say they are extremely disturbing and disgusting. There does seem to be a connection between those comments and I’ve seen this being mentioned in other comment boxes. Honestly, I find that Third Man and Jack White fans are some of the most open-minded, supportive, creative and generally good people out there; but there’s always some different types and levels of crazies out there and that’s bound to happen in any community.
As for the fans who are in imaginary relationships with Jack, I get what you mean, I occasionally find myself fangirling over some photo/video, but we need to draw a line and realize when it starts to get creepy and inappropriate and extremely disturbing. We all have the freedom of expression but we need to realize our responsibilities too. Any ordinary human in their right mind would be able to judge at what point their expressions/comments are starting to cause serious problems to others. And while we’re talking about Olivia Jean, I have to add that I absolutely love her record and I listen to it often. Please don’t let the haters stop you from putting out more music and doing what you love! I’m looking forward to her next record.