Kotaku Writer Targets YouTuber’s Wife, Game Dev Calls for More
Alex Gherzo | May 7, 2024 |
I doubt anyone thought games journalists and the woker among gaming developers would have a sobering moment of reflection following this weekend’s demonstration of how little influence they have over gamers, but you won’t believe how deranged they’ve become. SmashTV is the brand of Jeff, a former Sony quality tester and video game company recruiter who now writes articles on his website and makes YouTube videos about video games. Recently, Jeff wrote an article and made an accompanying video calling for G/O Media to either reform or shut down Kotaku. You can see the video below:
Notice how he predicted that “Alyssa and her henchmen over at Kotaku” would “try to take [him] down.” He’s talking about Kotaku writer Alyssa Mercante, scourge of gamers everywhere, and she didn’t disappoint. This was her response:
.@Kotaku one of your writers @alyssa_merc is currently harrassing me and is now DMing my wife on Facebook.
This is completely unacceptable behavior and way out of bounds. Reprehensible.
Do you stand by this type of behavior?
CC: @Grummz pic.twitter.com/K07l0nt2oO— Smash JT (@SmashJT) May 7, 2024
This monster is bragging about harassing Jeff’s wife. That’s insane, as any normal person understands, but even when Jeff shared her comments about this, she defended her actions by pretending that Jeff’s sharing of posts from someone saying “end Kotaku” was a threat on the same level:
You retweeted a man who has been threatening to kill me for weeks with the hashtag "end kotaku". You didn't apologize when I pointed it out to you, instead you jokingly replied with your petition to "end kotaku."
— Alyssa Mercante (@alyssa_merc) May 7, 2024
Again, the insanity of that is self-evident, but an X user named Evil Helper already put it perfectly:
Saying "end Kotaku" isn't a death threat you blubbering retard. Kotaku is not a person. He wants your company to close down, he doesn't want to kill you.
Stop airing out your delusions of grandeur on the internet, ya harlot.
— Evil Helper (@EvilHelper1) May 7, 2024
Going after someone’s family is bad enough, and only a twisted person would do it because of its self-evident immorality, but when someone not only does it but brags about it, it’s because they think they can get away with it, and Mercante is probably right. Do you think Kotaku will do anything about this? I doubt it; they don’t care about pushback because they don’t care about the gaming community – the one Mercante recently called a “hate movement” before tracking down and harassing a YouTuber’s wife. There is no low to which these creeps will not stoop, and they’ll paint themselves as martyrs the entire time.
And it’s not just the journalists. Paul Scott Canavan, a creative director at gaming company GRIMOIRE, which is developing a tabletop game called Pale Tides, seems to like Mercante’s methods and called for them to be more widely used:
Creative Director @abigbat for GRIMOIRE, an indie dev making Pale Tides, defends Kotaku's attack on family members of critics.
"Track down their significant others and mothers and string them up."@ThatUmbrella calls him out and he doubles down, saying that it's just about… pic.twitter.com/Mhu09Efx0A
— Grummz (@Grummz) May 7, 2024
“String them up”? I’ve never heard that used as a euphemism or metaphor. But even if it is, he’s despicable for suggesting people do this to families, specifically “significant others and mothers.” (What’s the over/under on him identifying as a male feminist? Would a Vegas casino even take that bet?) But, like Mercante, he doesn’t care. These people are caught up in the quasi-religious mania of the woke, where everything they do is justified because they’re the anointed warriors of righteousness. That being said, it appears people weren’t thrilled with the idea of targeting families (shocking, right?), so Canavan tried to walk his comments back, albeit very slightly and in private, to former Blizzard producer Mark Kern, alias Grummz:
Game dev @abigbat just DM'd me and accused me of setting my "angry fans" on him because he "worded a tweet poorly."
Here is the "poorly worded" tweet. I told him I was reporting him instead. pic.twitter.com/6OvSHzWh4i
— Grummz (@Grummz) May 7, 2024
Sure, it’s Grummz’s fault that everyone thinks he’s an asshole. They’re so used to getting their way that they can’t stand any kind of pushback, and that big Helldivers 2 about-face from Sony must be gnawing at them. After labeling the exposure of Sweet Baby Inc. and other DEI consulting firms “Gamergate 2,” they’re stunned that they’re losing the war they started, and now they’re lashing out in the ugliest ways possible – which, again, is okay, because they’re the good guys.
Oh, and the big tough guy who wants to go after people’s mothers? His X account is now locked.
