Brendan O’Neill Backs Misogynist Tosser

[Update at end of post]

Star attraction at the so-called online magazine Spiked, so named because most of it should have been, is semi-professional contrarian Brendan O’Neill, the “semi” bit meaning that he is not very good at it. He reminded the world just why this is yesterday, when he embraced the cause of “comedian” Daniel O’Reilly, aka Dapper Laughs, who, he claimed, was a victim of the intolerant left.

Brendan O'Neill

He told of “The terrifying censoriousness of the campaign against Dapper Laughs” and went on “For an insight into the new intolerance, into the modern illiberal urge to harry and squash and ultimately kill any idea that dares to offend us, look no further than the fury over Dapper Laughs”. Those who recall what happened to Abi Wilkinson of UsVsTh3m might have other thoughts as to who is being intolerant.

The disapproval was not just of Dapper Laughs, but of the welter of misogynistic vitriol that spewed from his supporters when Ms Wilkinson dared to suggest that the “comedian” was being slightly hypocritical in raising money for the homeless after he had verbally abused a homeless person. Perhaps O’Neill would care to explain to her why she has to take all that just for exercising her freedom of expression.

Daniel O'Reilly aka Dapper Laughs

O’Neill also goes badly wrong in his choice of straw men: “The Dapper-bashing crusade started in the respectable media. [He] was accused of contributing to ‘rape culture’”. Er, hello Brendan? He said this of an audience member at a recent show “She’s gagging for a rape. Yep, we’ll have a chat afterwards. She’s having a chat about ‘yeah, I get quite tight but I get a bit’… poor girl”.

Never mind, though, have a go at the Staggers, rotten lefties that they are: “The New Statesman told its readers ‘you should be worried about Dapper Laughs’ because he is ‘normalising sexual harassment’. ITV2 monkey see, ITV2 monkey do”. That’s right Brendan, trivialise the effects of the copycat behaviour that sees yet more young women having to experience all those LADS expressing their freedom of speech.

Brendan O’Neill’s contrarian rants all suffer from the same problem: in framing his argument, he has to strip out the other side and discard it as irrelevant. So, while he supports Dapper Laughs’s freedom to spray the word “rape” around as if it is normal and acceptable practice, the frightening effect of this on other young people is ignored. He also ignores the freedom of decision making at ITV.

So he perhaps failed to anticipate that ITV would exercise that same freedom enjoyed by any business, and decide not to commission another series with Dapper Laughs. That, though, is not censorship: it’s a business judgment. Meanwhile, if Dapper Laughs wants to go on spraying the word “rape” around as if it’s something cool that LADS do, he can do. Venues are equally free to decline his custom.

Freedom of expression is for all of us. What Brendan O’Neill won’t be telling you.

[UPDATE 12 November 1120 hours: such has been the success of Brendan O'Neill's support for Daniel O'Reilly's Dapper Laughs character that O'Reilly fetched up on BBC Newsnight yesterday evening to tell that he was putting the "character" to rest.

So, following O'Neill's Spiked article, ITV have binned the Dapper Laughs show, and now the character has been killed off. So now we know how to deal with purveyors of misogynist abuse - get Brendan O'Neill to support them. Job done!]