Comedian Daniel Sloss has gone on record, speaking to The Times, telling them that female comedians set up online groups to warn others about people they’ve worked with and had difficult experiences with, including predatory behaviour.
Mr Sloss told the times: “I know for many, many years that women have been warning each other about Russell.”
At least five other male comedians have been named in the conversations, MailOnline reports.
They include famous stars of TV, radio and stage - some still working, others who have disappeared from the limelight.
Mr Sloss said there were ‘many stories with varying degrees of severity’.
Comedian Sara Pascoe has also claimed there are two well-known predators in the comedy circuit.
She indicated that there is more than one predator in the comedy industry, including “a man that’s assaulted men.”
Comedian Stevie Martin disclosed the WhatsApp group existed as long ago as 2020, telling the Telegraph: “A Whatsapp-based blacklist began circulating of predatory male comics and promoters. It’s growing every day.”
I think your last line is the intended subtext, but even during the metoo movement, getting anyone convicted of assault was nearly impossible. How many women did it take testifying against Weinstein? And their names were all dragged through the mud in the process.
The key takeaway ought to be “Sexual predators are still difficult to stop, and people need to look out for each other because the legal system is inadequate to deal with the problem.”
Yes, but prevention is the better move, which is what these women are doing. It just needs the men who promote and run venues and share the stage etc. to collaborate. Which maybe would have been more effective and engaging headline writing too. We’re not going to get far with “people talked online” as the lede.