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Stephen King has apologized for a controversial tweet he sent about Dylan Farrow's open letter in which she talks about Woody Allen sexually abusing her as a child.
The letter, which is a hard read, asks the question "what's your favourite Woody Allen movie?" before describing the horrific abuse that, Farrow claims, began when she was seven years old.
In response to a tweet by author Mary Karr, who asked whether it was "right or wrong" to post the letter, King replied,
"Boy, I'm stumped on that one. I don't like to think it's true, and there's an element of palpable bitchery there, but..."
This comment caused an instant twitter storm as many wondered if Stephen King really expected child abuse victims to always be polite when calling out their abusers.
Before long, King tweeted a slight clarification, claiming he "probably used the wrong word".
This choice of wording did not help calm the storm:
King's next move was to ask for mercy.
Again, his wording didn't help the situation:
King finally managed to dislodge the foot from his mouth long enough to issue an apology and clear up some of the wrong impressions his tweets had made.
The "extended version" is an official statement on his site, titled "Twitter Apology",
"Those of you who follow Twitter will know that recently I managed to put my foot in my mouth and halfway down my throat. A good many people came away from my tweet about the Woody Allen controversy with the idea that I had called Dylan Farrow or Mia Farrow (or both) a bitch. That wasn’t my intention, but the conclusion on the part of some readers is understandable. I used the wrong word to describe not Ms. Farrow—either Ms. Farrow—but a sad and painful mess. Some people seem to believe that writers never use the wrong word, but any editor can tell you that’s not true.
"Those of you who have read my work—Carrie, Dolores Claiborne, Rose Madder, and Lisey’s Story, to name four—will know that I have plenty of respect for women, and care about the problems and life-situations they face. My single-mom mother faced plenty, believe me. And I have no sympathy whatever for those who abuse children. I wrote about such abuse—and its ultimate cost to the victim—in Gerald’s Game.
"The maximum number of letters in a Tweet is 140. I think the following would fit: I apologize for screwing up.
"Just know my heart is where it's always been: in the right place."
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The letter, which is a hard read, asks the question "what's your favourite Woody Allen movie?" before describing the horrific abuse that, Farrow claims, began when she was seven years old.
In response to a tweet by author Mary Karr, who asked whether it was "right or wrong" to post the letter, King replied,
"Boy, I'm stumped on that one. I don't like to think it's true, and there's an element of palpable bitchery there, but..."
This comment caused an instant twitter storm as many wondered if Stephen King really expected child abuse victims to always be polite when calling out their abusers.
Before long, King tweeted a slight clarification, claiming he "probably used the wrong word".
This choice of wording did not help calm the storm:
King's next move was to ask for mercy.
Again, his wording didn't help the situation:
King finally managed to dislodge the foot from his mouth long enough to issue an apology and clear up some of the wrong impressions his tweets had made.
The "extended version" is an official statement on his site, titled "Twitter Apology",
"Those of you who follow Twitter will know that recently I managed to put my foot in my mouth and halfway down my throat. A good many people came away from my tweet about the Woody Allen controversy with the idea that I had called Dylan Farrow or Mia Farrow (or both) a bitch. That wasn’t my intention, but the conclusion on the part of some readers is understandable. I used the wrong word to describe not Ms. Farrow—either Ms. Farrow—but a sad and painful mess. Some people seem to believe that writers never use the wrong word, but any editor can tell you that’s not true.
"Those of you who have read my work—Carrie, Dolores Claiborne, Rose Madder, and Lisey’s Story, to name four—will know that I have plenty of respect for women, and care about the problems and life-situations they face. My single-mom mother faced plenty, believe me. And I have no sympathy whatever for those who abuse children. I wrote about such abuse—and its ultimate cost to the victim—in Gerald’s Game.
"The maximum number of letters in a Tweet is 140. I think the following would fit: I apologize for screwing up.
"Just know my heart is where it's always been: in the right place."
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
.
