Salon.com > Gossip

How to fight bad gossip

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Cary,

A few months ago, I got a new supervisor at work. I was excited because this is someone I’ve known for years, and have even considered a mentor in the past. Unfortunately, I had a string of personal losses in the past few months — deaths and major illnesses of loved ones, that sort of thing — and I recently realized I was skating the edges of depression and taking it out on my supervisor. I’ve been working to repair the damage I did, since even though it was inadvertent, it was clearly my doing. So I was feeling pretty good about that, but then I learned that my supervisor, who is not on Facebook, has been told by others that I’m saying nasty things about her there. I have no way to determine whether these folks are being willfully malicious, generically shit-stirring, or just very foolish, but in any case, I haven’t said anything at all, bad or good. So I’m doubly hurt by this, first that some unknown entity would either lie or egregiously misinterpret and assume the worst, and second that my old mentor would choose to believe these stories without even questioning me. In my head, I’ve run through various scenarios, including printing out my entire Facebook history to show her, and, well, things that are even less sane. I want to do the sensible, straightforward thing and just tell her it isn’t true, but I’m worried that she won’t believe me or I’ll get defensive and set the relationship back again. What can I do?

Gossip singer Beth Ditto arrested for disorderly conduct

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:24:00 +0000

LGBTQ icon, model and indie darling Beth Ditto of the Gossip was arrested for disorderly conduct on Friday, reports the Guardian. Ditto, whose real name is Mary Beth Patterson, allegedly kicked a barman in the groin at the Bungalo Bar in Portland, Ore.

The Willamette Week describes the unexpected altercation:

"According to a source at the Bungalo Bar on 4205 N Mississippi Ave., Ditto was cut off from drink service at that bar early Saturday morning because she appeared to be inebriated, and upon leaving the bar 'walked out in the middle of the street, threw off her shoes and purse and screamed OBAMA! OBAMA!' as friends arrived to try to put her in a car."

Weird news: Allen West’s domineering sex letter

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Tea Party Rep. Allen West has not held back his patriarchal views during his reelection bid. The Florida congressman said in April that supporters of Planned Parenthood and women's rights activists were "neutering American men and bringing [them] to the point of this incredible weakness."

With such remarks in mind, Florida-based reporter Jose Lambiet published lines from a personal letter West sent to his wife, Dr. Angela West, from Iraq in 2003. In the missive, obtained by Gossip Extra, West tells his wife that she is to perform sex acts that are "standard and non-negotiable" on his return.