Sun > Status Update

Here’s the link to Roan Parrish’s statement: https://www.facebook.com/roanparrishb...

Тамрико wrote: "Aryana wrote: "Roan Parrish just released a statement about SH on her FB. On phone so can't link."

https://www.facebook.com/roanparrishb..."

Doesn't look like it is public, and I don't have a FB... Any chance for a screen cap or a text paste? Or maybe see if she would consider making the post public? That would be better, actually...

Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance? "

where is that? o.o

Roan Parrish

37 mins ·
STATEMENT ABOUT SANTINO HASSELL

I have taken my time in commenting because I’ve wanted to process this and listen to all that I could, out of respect for everyone involved. And because, as an author and as someone who was known to be friends with Santino, I knew that whatever I said would come from a position of some power. I would always rather make the mistake of being generous to people who might not deserve it than to condemn people too soon—so I’ve waited, and I’ve listened. And the accounts of manipulation and harm I’ve heard, as well as those that I now realize I’ve experienced, go directly against every ethic I have.

Relationships are messy, but my beliefs are not: I believe that we should protect each other when we can. I believe that those in power—no matter what brand of power—have a responsibility to use that power for good. I believe that when we perpetrate harm, we should address it and we should work not to replicate it in the future. I loathe lies and manipulation, and what's been revealed in the last few days is totally beyond justification.

Right now, I’m sitting with a personal loss, and the loss of something I used to believe in. I think a lot of us are.

I don’t have any definitive truths for you. I dearly wish I did. It would make all of this a lot easier. The one thing I’m certain of is that Santino has manipulated and hurt a lot of people, directly and indirectly, and I condemn it. I stand with those who’ve been harmed, and I’m committed to listening. This is an ongoing process and we’re all figuring out how to do better, me included.

Thank you, Тамрико

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I guess this would fall into the "better than nothing" category, but I'm disappointed they're effectively banning discussion of this in their group.

Plus, they locked the thread so it won't have new posts and will quickly drop off in the recent threads. If you don't visit the group's homepage, you'll never know it's there.

Even just this morning, someone was reccing Strong Signal to someone looking for a book on a certain topic. *sigh*."

There is nothing that says you can't mention the controversy to the people that rec'd that book.

With past catfishing issues to base their actions on, While this thread is all about healing and reconnecting....usually the topics in the group devolve to one group against the other. There is no place right now where "both sides" are having it out and MMRMG does not want to be that place. I know. I totally get that. Nobody wins. You can thank Santino for the demise of DRitC events in no small part because of controversy and posse attack.

Making the info available means you can link to that thread for anyone reccing the book or seems to be unaware and might need to know. It's, IMO, a better way to go then allowing "both sides" to try and make their case.

Тамрико wrote: "Please, let me know when you're done reading, I will delete this, seems RP's FB statement is private."

Roan Parrish posted her statement on Twitter, too, if you want a public link:
https://twitter.com/RoanParrish/statu...

@JenMcJ

I lived through quite a few similar situations 'discussed' in MM Group. I also think this is the right choice to make. Maybe post it in a more visible, more accessible place for people to find, but I see no problem with it otherwise.

Jewel wrote: "Тамрико wrote: "Aryana wrote: "Roan Parrish just released a statement about SH on her FB. On phone so can't link."

https://www.facebook.com/roanparrishb..."

Doesn't look like it is public, and I..."

It's public. I didn't copy and paste as I'm not sure what the rules are about that. I do have fb so maybe that makes a difference? But it is a public post.

Thanks, Lita!

You'd be surprised how many of us are not present on social media. If RP came out publicly, I will leave my re-post for everyone to read.

Ariadna wrote: "- Gay Book Reviews (If you click on the posts for SH's books, you'll see a thread by Nikki explaining the catfishing)"

I did click a review and it had not been replaced. Perhaps the changes are still propagating?

Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance? "

This is just me, speaking as me, who has no personal involvement in this situation at all...

But I would suggest taking that with a huge grain of salt. SH would not be the first author to dump a pseudonym that's been trashed to then publish books under a new one.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Here's the MMRG's mods' very non-commital post about the matter:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I guess this would fall into the "better than ..."

Yeah, the MMR group is all about how many members they have - they mention the number of members constantly and talk a lot about how big and influential they are. This is their reason for being, and anything like social justice or informing people or even protecting people comes in a very poor second. I don't spend much time there anymore, largely because of that.

Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance?."

On Thursday on Patreon, SH said they were leaving romance -- that's the post entitled "Second update" that is now locked behind the $100 tier.

That post (I'm a patron under the end of the month, so Patreon emails me the updates) says:

----

Hey guys,
I've come to the decision to complete withdraw from romance. I will keep updating my Patreon and working here, so if you choose to continue pledging, I will keep writing and posting.

----


And someone else asked about other content -- the update this morning said that the serial being released for the writing tier is on hold. So the only content $5 patrons are getting is four chapters per month of North Shore and then the last Five Burroughs book.

Edited to add: I agree that I think it's highly unlikely they are actually leaving. I wouldn't be surprised to see them return under another pseudonym.

Jenni Lea wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "I also can't help but wonder, she claims here to have been physically attacked. WTF is that about?"

Vanessa has called out an author and a blogger by name on FB, claiming she was..."

Yeah, no. I am not AT ALL comfortable with this. How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her just because you're mad at her about something else.

Charming wrote: "Yeah, the MMR group is all about how many members they have - they mention the number of members constantly and talk a lot about how big and influential they are. This is their reason for being, and anything like social justice or informing people or even protecting people comes in a very poor second. I don't spend much time there anymore, largely because of that. ..."

As founding member, I don't think that's a fair assessment but you have to do what you think is best for you.

Lita wrote: "Тамрико wrote: "Please, let me know when you're done reading, I will delete this, seems RP's FB statement is private."

Roan Parrish posted her statement on Twitter, too, if you want a public link:..."

Excellent. Thanks.

Ariadna wrote: "ETA: If anyone knows of any other blogs that have pulled their SH posts, please signal boost. :)

Other romance blogs that have pulled SH-related posts (reviews, giveaways, etc)

- Dear Author (NB:..."

I'm not home and just peeking in on my phone so I don't know if you saw my recent post on the thread, but we'll be pulling all "Santino" posts from our blog, Sinfully Gay Romance Reviews, tomorrow when I have access to my computer.

I'm with a small review site called Bookish Devices and I do the m/m reviews. I've removed all of my Santino reviews, including the co-authored ones.
Literally the least I could do.

I think it is ok to share Roan Parrish's statement. She made another statement in her group in regards to it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/parri...

Mónica wrote: "Sandyco wrote: "P.S. You can call me morally bankrupt, because I'm still a patron. I want the last two 5B books..." You have nothing to contribute to this thread, so GTFO.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "If you still in any way support SH or his posse, you are entirely complicit in the bullying and harassment. I'm sure the Five Boroughs series will be available in Hell for your reading pleasure. ..."

Francesca wrote: "Mónica wrote: "Sandyco wrote: "P.S. You can call me morally bankrupt, because I'm still a patron. I want the last two 5B books. I really am just there for the" Venga!!!!! ...

This. Is what troubles me. Is there really no room to discuss divergent opinions on what we do next?
I'm also a little troubled that the goal post regarding other authors is already migrating. Not just, 'which authors were abusive?' But which authors 'have yet to speak up'? Which is beginning to be conflated with a "good" and " bad" list.
I wish we could focus the vitriol on the perpetrators, not on other victims who are not as far along on their journies as we, not on innocent bystanders and *not* on people who disagree with us. That kind of intolerance is how we got here in the first place. I say again. None of our hands are clean in this SH thing. Can we give each other some room, not insist on a party line and that everyone adhere to it?

As for the list of Review Blogs: I occasionally review for Gay Book Reviews and I am the one that replaced my Down By Contact review with the links to Nikki's twitter, Noah's story and this place. This was after I asked Gigi whether she would remove everything or if I could edit. Her answer was that everyone was free to remove or edit their own reviews as they saw fit. So I removed all my reviews but the last one, which I edited as mentioned.

Imagine my surprise when my edited review was gone yesterday morning. Many others were too, but some of the other reviewers had left their positive reviews up, apparently. I contacted Gigi, she said she had edited a few of the links in my review to make them shorter, but hadn't removed it. Then she restored it for me. This morning the edited review is gone again. Again, some more of the other reviewers have removed their reviews, but some die hards/ostriches still have their 5 star reviews up.

I have once again emailed Gigi to ask wtf is going on, but have not received an answer yet. I don't know what is up with that, but maybe the other administrator is a fan? Anyway, right now I wouldn't add Gay Book Reviews to the list of review sites that have taken appropriate action.

In order to explain why I am so unhappy with the MMR group, here is a comment I made with regard to the Thorny Sterling matter:

I am glad Angel came up with the term “over civilized politeness”, because that is what has been bothering me the most since this came out. People knew Thorny wasn’t real four years ago. They warned other people privately. He left the Goodreads MMR group and closed his blog. But everyone was too polite to actually nail it down publicly, so after a while he opened a new blog and carried on for four more years. That’s … not good.

I think the whole “everyone get over it and forgive” is another aspect of over civilized politeness. Thorny et al. is like the missing stair – everyone who knows sidles around it, but the people who don’t know are hurt.

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Mi...

https://www.prismbookalliance.com/201...

Thebomb wrote: "Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance? "

where is that? o.o"

That is what I was asking. Aargh I must have lost the previous comment, darn. Somebody several posts above mentioned it and I wanted to know more details.

Lita wrote: "Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance?."

On Thursday on Patreon, SH said they were leaving romance -- that's the post entitled "Second update" that is now locked behind the..."

Lita, thank you very much for this. And yes I doubt they'll be leaving, just re branding.

Megan posted another statement...

http://meganerickson.org/statement-an...

Thank you for this, Susan. And to everyone else who decided to came clean about this and prevent other readers being fooled, hurt and disrespected.

MostlyDelores wrote: "Jenni Lea wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "I also can't help but wonder, she claims here to have been physically attacked. WTF is that about?"

Vanessa has called out an author and a blogger by name on FB..."

Whether or not what she said is true, she did make the statement in an attempt to deflect and center. I have seen her use this tactic before. My comment wasn't about the truth of her statement, but the delivery of it. I apologize for any misinterpretation. I am not dismissing anything because I'm mad at her for something else.

On the subject of M/M Group's response

If you have lived through all the previous catfishing scandals in M/M Group, you would not want that repeat. MMG Mods' current actions are based on the previous - very real - experience and I personally support it.

We should all concentrate on the subject at hand and discuss how to overcome the hurt instead of trying to spread more angst.

Francesca wrote: "Thebomb wrote: "Francesca wrote: "Hi, they announced they are leaving romance? "

where is that? o.o"

That is what I was asking. Aargh I must have lost the previous comment, darn. Somebody several..."

yes on patreon,,,I got it :)

what really bothers me is that there is much ground for lawsuits, fraud[for one ]and using people stories without their consent, and yet SH are gonna keep profiting.

JenMcJ wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I guess this would fall into the "better than nothing" category, but I'm disappointed they're effectively banning discussion of this..."

They've already deleted at least one post that linked to this in a different thread. My impression is they want zero discussion at all. I guess we can try though.

Charming wrote: "Ariadna wrote: "- Gay Book Reviews (If you click on the posts for SH's books, you'll see a thread by Nikki explaining the catfishing)"

I did click a review and it had not been replaced. Perhaps th..."

It could be. I'm editing my comment right now.

Thanks for the heads up.

LenaLena wrote: "As for the list of Review Blogs: I occasionally review for Gay Book Reviews and I am the one that replaced my Down By Contact review with the links to Nikki's twitter, Noah's story and this place. ..."

Ah, noted. I*know* I saw the revised version yesterday. Thanks for mentioning it.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "They've already deleted at least one post that linked to this in a different thread. My impression is they want zero discussion at all. I guess we can try though."

I was scolded for bringing up the slaveowner issue regarding The Garçonnière, so I wouldn't at all count on being allowed to warn people.

MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her just because you're mad at her about something else. "


I know it’s absolutely taboo to ever accuse someone who claims to have been sexually harassed of deceit. And I understand why. Shaming and blaming the victim is pathological in our society. But I can say with one hundred percent conviction that Vanessa North is absolutely lying in this case. I know because one of the people she’s accusing is me.

Vanessa North first accused the blog for which I review of harassing SH (which was blatantly false, as we knew nothing about the SH fraud until a few weeks ago and certainly never posted anything publicly until very recently), and now she's naming me specifically in retaliation and to draw attention away from her complicity in the bullying and fraud SH and their posse committed.

I met Vanessa in Chicago at GRL 2014. She was friendly, and I liked her immediately. We hung out quite a bit and stayed in touch afterwards. I ran into her again at GRL 2015 in San Diego. At one point, while chatting in San Diego, she told me that someone had groped her. She said this sort of jokingly, as if it were no big deal, but I immediately expressed concern and asked who had done it. She told me it was an author and seemed unwilling to elaborate; I didn’t want to push, so I left it at that.

She later told another friend via IM the same thing, that an author groped her in San Diego (she is now also saying an author groped her in Chicago in 2014, but until two days ago, she never talked about being groped in 2014; she specifically stated it was an author who groped her in 2015 at the GRL in San Diego). I am not an author, just a reader and reviewer.

Since San Diego, we had communicated via IM on FB. She emailed me ARCs of her books. I sent her condolences about her dog dying, and she responded with heart emojis (that was in 2017, and, yes, I have many screenshots of these conversations). She liked my posts and commented on my GR reviews, all long after GRL 2015. Now why would she do that if I'd groped her? Why stay friends with me?

I understand that victims are often scared to speak out. But I am not in a position of power over her. I'm not her boss or pastor or even neighbor. She had zero interaction with me IRL. I don't know her legal name or location. I hold no authority over her at all. Yet she never said one word until I spoke up on this thread and called her out on her complicity.

Since the accusations were posted two days ago (convenient timing, isn't it? ), I’ve had numerous readers and authors, many of whom met me in person, reach out to me in support. One woman (and she’s not the only one) stated, “I friended you because I’ve been a victim of Vanessa too. She called me horrible names and blamed me for her being ‘attacked’ at GRL. I didn’t believe her then and I don’t now.”

Another friend stated, “I met you Dani and you felt uncomfortable and said sorry just for paying me a compliment.”

And another: “From my experiences with you, you've always looked for permission even for hugs. You don't invade spaces.”

Truly, I am rather socially awkward. I need a lot of personal space. I rarely even hug people, and I have NEVER in my entire life groped another person, woman or man.

The evening Vanessa claims she was groped she was surrounded by people in a karaoke room I never went near. I had two people contact me to tell me they were with her the entire time, and she was never inappropriately touched by anyone. They even accompanied her to the bathroom because she was too drunk to go alone.

If you've followed Vanessa at all, you would have seen a pattern in her behavior. She's the first to jump in as a bully and attack; she was absolutely rabid in attacking Keira Andrews for writing a "GFY" story. She has sided with SH and was in his posse. She said absurdly cruel and horrific things to his victims. She was the predator. But as soon as the heat was turned up and people realized how complicit she was, she immediately cried WOLF: But, I'm a victim too. Look, poor me. I was groped. (And not just groped, she used the word "abuse" which implies something continuous from a person who is emotionally of physically holding you hostage.)

Vanessa is addicted to playing the victim. Just like those with Munchausen syndrome will deliberately hurt themselves in an attempt to get sympathy and attention from doctors, friends, and family, Vanessa is always, always seeking victimhood. She is constantly feeling "unsafe." Someone is always out to get her. That was one of the words she used after the SH scandal broke: "I feel unsafe."

SHE feels unsafe, mind you, not SH's true victims? It's immediately and always about her. She's a master of deflection and manipulation.

I hate even posting all that because I feel like I have to defend myself when I just want to curl up in a ball and die. This whole thing has rocketed my anxiety sky high. I had my first panic attack in fifteen years yesterday. I am seriously considering deleting my FB and GR accounts and moving on for my own sanity, but I don’t want to “let her win.” I don’t want to give her that satisfaction, because that’s exactly what she’s doing: punishing me for speaking out. (She didn't even unfriend me until two weeks ago when she got wind that our blog was somehow involved!)

I’m going to borrow from a response I made on FB: The depravity Vanessa North is spewing is particularly vile, vicious, and hurtful, not just to me but to every woman who's ever been sexually harassed.

By lying about being a victim, she's mocking every real victim who was shamed, doubted, and cast aside. Lying about being groped is like lying about having cancer: deeply offensive to those who've truly suffered.

MostlyDelores wrote: "Jenni Lea wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "I also can't help but wonder, she claims here to have been physically attacked. WTF is that about?"

Vanessa has called out an author and a blogger by name on FB..."

First she stated it happened once. Now she's stating it happened twice. I think she needs to decide on what happened and stick with it if she's going to use the incident(s) to deflect from her involvement with SH and her attack on innocent victims.

Either way, I won't be buying her work again.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her jus..."

Oh Dani. I believe you 100%. North's ramblings are erratic and she escalates viciously when feeling cornered. Stay strong.

Bev wrote: "Cadiva wrote: "Aryana wrote: "Cadiva, how did you manage the refund? I contacted Amazon UK yesterday and they blatantly refused any refund of books over 14 days of purchase..."

I got in touch thro..."

I'm still waiting on Riptide to address what they're going to do about the alleged sexual predator they have working as an editor there before I buy anything new from their publishing house.
I hope they are at least investigating the allegations.

I don't care if you are a man or woman. If you are preying on others sexually, you need to be tossed out on your ass.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her jus..."
I believe in you Dani ❤️

Тамрико wrote: "On the subject of M/M Group's response

If you have lived through all the previous catfishing scandals in M/M Group, you would not want that repeat. MMG Mods' current actions are based on the previ..."
I agree with this. I don't like the backlash that isn't aimed at SH where it belongs.

I've been quietly reading through the posts and all this is appalling, so it's mind-boggling for me when someone says that they'll still support this author. People were abused for those books to be written, and my skin is crawling just thinking of who the next victim will be just so you can have your book to read.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her jus..."

Dani, I hope my post asking the question about this initially didn't put you in an uncomfortable position. If I caused you any upset or hurt by opening that can of worms I am truly sorry.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her jus..."


I was about to comment on how I hate that whole thing we're doing about making lists of "good" and "bad" people. Because, to me, it feels like sharing a blame that should ONLY be on SH. I'm sure his friends, his "squad" were as manipulated as the rest of us. It is so easy in this internet age to pretend being someone we aren't. And if SH is a couple, then it was so easy for them to pass as just "one man" to the other people they met physically and to keep their story straight if they talked.
Anyway, I wanted to give his friends, his co-workers some time to express themselves publicly, because it is incredibly hard when you realize someone you trusted, someone you valued, someone who was important in your life was a fraud and I couldn't and didn't expect from them to apologize correctly publicly before they had a bit of time to process. It was a lie, it was a manipulation, but they still lost a friend. Sure, it wasn't real but to them? To the people who were manipulated (his friends, his fans, everyone) it WAS real. The feelings are real. The memories are real.

So to all of them, I wanted to give time because I believe they were also victims (I do not excuse the bullying they did though. They need to own up to that and they better fu***ng do better in the future). The ONLY person I'm having a real hard time with is North, because when they others apologized, not matter how badly or awkwardly, or unsatisfyingly (to your opinion), at least they apologized. They might not have apologized for what you want them to apologized, but they did. They tried. They came back today to try and apologize better, try to process and do better. North though? She attacked. She blamed. Maybe she was groped (but Dani, I believe you) but even if she was, this was NOT the space nor time to say it. It's time to say "I'm sorry, I screwed up", she's just sending more blame. She's saying "it's not me, it's them" and she's talking about a situation that has nothing to do with what she should be talking about, and that, to me is really hard to swallow. I still think she was manipulated by SH like everyone else, but her reaction to that is telling. I've seen her bully many people before and she's doing it again.

I still don't believe we should share blame that should only be on SH's shoulder, but I feel like in that case, North is just making a case against herself, without even needing "the help" of SH.
I am so disappointed by her.

And Dani, I'm sorry you're being accused like that, by smeone you seemed to like and have a good relationship with.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Even just this morning, someone was reccing Strong Signal to someone looking for a book on a certain topic. *sigh*"

I had to sit on my hands to keep myself from replying to that rec, Linda. And I could kick myself for all the times I’ve recommended it to people in that very thread.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "But now we're in a position of having to stand in silence while others rec and discuss her books because they don't want people discussing what's happening?"

Apparently so. I would think that two publishers dropping them, the books getting pulled off, blogs and authors taking position and all the rest would be enough to at least be allowed to warn other people. Anyone could decide what to make of it for themselves after that.
There are new members finding their way to that rec thread every week, I don’t want to stay silent and watch them getting steered wrong. :(

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "MostlyDelores wrote: "How could you possibly write off a person's claim that they were groped?

What if Vanessa claimed it happened, because... it happened? You cannot choose to disbelieve her jus..."

I have met both Dani and Vanessa in real life. I was in that karaoke room that night. Dani was not.

Kaje wrote: "I guess it will be up to those of us who comment there to keep the membership eye on the issue without igniting a firestorm (to which the group is prone.) - At least with regard to SH's own books, I'm comfortable with adding a caveat to anyone's recommendation that I might see."

Would we be allowed to even do that, I wonder? The mod’s post asks to keep the threads “free of arguments”.

Alexandra wrote: "Dani, I hope my post asking the question about this initially didn't put you in an uncomfortable position. If I caused you any upset or hurt by opening that can of worms I am truly sorry. "

It's okay. It's something that's out there, and it's tied up in this whole thing.

MostlyDolores's question is a valid one: it's true that just because someone was a predator in a specific situation doesn't mean they can't be a victim in another.

But it's much, much more complicated than that with Vanessa North.

I've been groped myself (sadly, most women have been), so I understand the feelings of anger. Perhaps she was groped in the past, but it certainly wasn't by me, not in 2015, not ever.

Considering Vanessa's other lies and accusations (and there have been many in the three years I've known her), I'm being honest when I say that I don't believer her. I don't believe she was ever groped at GRL at all.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "I hate even posting all that because I feel like I have to defend myself when I just want to curl up in a ball and die. This whole thing has rocketed my anxiety. I had my first panic attack in fifteen years yesterday. I am seriously considering deleting my FB and GR accounts and moving on for my own sanity, but I don’t want to “let her win.”"

Dani, I'm so sorry this is happening to you.
Just know that you have the support of a big part of this community and you're not alone.

I don't blame the MMRG mods at all. This "status" has had over 1k post in less than a week, and who knows how many views. If this was a thread in MMRG, then it would become their responsibility to "monitor" it, (even if only to make sure no one is being personally attacked by other members). The amount of time it would take in addition to their other mod duties... I can't even imagine. Plus these people (the mod team) are unpaid volunteers that still have RL obligations as well that account for the amount of time they can volunteer.

I personally don't think it's fair to ask them to handle a situation that is possibly beyond their time capabilities/limits. I think them directing people on where to find more information is informing their members.

I love the group because of the members I've met there & have been able to fangirl with. I believe the mods truly are doing their best to keep it a safe environment while not letting this scandal overtake their time capabilities or take away from other members or events in the group.