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I went to a ChatGPT press event and it was just as dystopian and manipulative as I had expected—but it showed me that a lot of media executives have fallen for OpenAI's ruse that this will help the industry when it's making everything (for everyone) worse
spitfirenews.com/p/openai-cha...
Pedro Pascal spoke up for trans rights and has been targeted with a smear campaign as a result. False allegations lobbed by TERFs have since become a meme and entered the YouTube podcast sphere—not unlike the previous anti-MeToo smear campaigns I’ve covered.
spitfirenews.com/p/pedro-pasc...
The Nelk Boys are fratty podcast bros who helped get Trump elected with slobbering podcast interviews. Now they’re doing the same thing to Netanyahu. Their fans are furious, but this is the exact pseudo-journalistic podcast style they’ve helped grow into a monster.
spitfirenews.com/p/podcast-br...
The conservative obsession with Jeffrey Epstein isn’t about justice for his victims—it does the opposite, deflecting from their testimony and perpetuating conspiracies and myths about sex trafficking. One “Epstein Files” influencer even undermined one of his victims.
spitfirenews.com/p/conservati...
![Some of the women told me they are survivors and that they believe Lively is lying. “Jessica” wrote “It is such a joke that MeToo couldn’t get justice for the women assaulted by Trump or Diddy or actual horrifying male predators, but the NYT is ok with it being used to take down a nobody director like Baldoni even though he is innocent until being proven guilty. […] We have to believe all women before the trial even fucking starts?”
This commentary, to me, illustrates the crux of the issue these women have with my coverage. They blame the injustices women experience on other women. Their misogyny is internalized, and they externalize it by joining smear campaigns against women like Lively and journalists like me who see their misogyny for what it is. They choose not to see the irony in blaming victims for victim-blaming.
I first encountered this pattern of women victim-blaming other women when I covered Depp v. Heard. Even before I publicly said I believed Heard, back when I was still trying to make sense of the global pile-on, some of the women who had previously applauded my work denounced me just for pointing out that Heard had some evidence for her claims. As the trial went on and I identified more of the smears against Heard, I noticed that some of my most aggressive detractors were women and self-identified survivors. I believed they were abused, but it took me a while to understand why they were using their victimhood as a sword to cut down other victims.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qgz7jtmlddfn3dikhimzlqu5/bafkreifkndko2w6qic2lrjrfxvh2vjnyqzcp3qvbu3wtqv343ol2amb5cu@jpeg)
Some of the women told me they are survivors and that they believe Lively is lying. “Jessica” wrote “It is such a joke that MeToo couldn’t get justice for the women assaulted by Trump or Diddy or actual horrifying male predators, but the NYT is ok with it being used to take down a nobody director like Baldoni even though he is innocent until being proven guilty. […] We have to believe all women before the trial even fucking starts?” This commentary, to me, illustrates the crux of the issue these women have with my coverage. They blame the injustices women experience on other women. Their misogyny is internalized, and they externalize it by joining smear campaigns against women like Lively and journalists like me who see their misogyny for what it is. They choose not to see the irony in blaming victims for victim-blaming. I first encountered this pattern of women victim-blaming other women when I covered Depp v. Heard. Even before I publicly said I believed Heard, back when I was still trying to make sense of the global pile-on, some of the women who had previously applauded my work denounced me just for pointing out that Heard had some evidence for her claims. As the trial went on and I identified more of the smears against Heard, I noticed that some of my most aggressive detractors were women and self-identified survivors. I believed they were abused, but it took me a while to understand why they were using their victimhood as a sword to cut down other victims.
Here's an excerpt about the kind of hate comments I get from women for writing about misogynistic smear campaigns and where it's coming from.
10.07.2025 17:27 — 👍 89 🔁 16 💬 8 📌 0
Today’s piece for @spitfirenews.com members is about MeToo backlash. I’ve heard from women and survivors who spread hate toward other women like Blake Lively and say she’s hurting their cause, because they don’t believe her. I try to unpack the cognitive dissonance.
spitfirenews.com/p/blake-live...
In today’s newsletter: When progressive media undermines the importance of high-profile sexual violence cases like the one against Sean “Diddy” Combs, it creates an opportunity for conservative media to ideologically capture the audience of these trials instead.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-elon-...
Yesterday Elon Musk’s Grok tried to rewrite history, falsely claiming that real screenshots of a deleted Grok post were fake. It was a high-profile, easily verifiable example of how AI chatbots can be weaponized to distort reality in favor of the people behind them.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-elon-...
An excerpt from the Spitfire News article "AI alligators and rebranding Jim Crow:" "'This is really what Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump want, a historical ignorance which allows them to kind of laugh it up,' Ortiz continued. 'It took me back to Florida in the 1940s and the 1890s, where you have these affluent white people laughing and profiting from the extreme oppression of incarcerated people of color.'" Just five years ago, after the police murdered George Floyd, the president of the University of Florida discontinued the “gator bait” chant at school sporting events. His announcement was part of a larger undertaking at the school and around the country to examine and make amends for anti-Black racism in the U.S. We are now experiencing a violent, state-sanctioned backlash against that movement. It seeks to cover up our racist history and double down on present-day racist oppression. Some of the work Ortiz took part in at the University of Florida to examine Jim Crow has since been censored by the state government.
In Florida, censorship efforts have scrubbed reports that detail the history of racist violence in the state, including alligator rhetoric and incarceration.
spitfirenews.com/p/alligator-...
"I think that the population that they imagine housing in this detention, you know, we all look alike to them. These are brown people. I think the same impulse is very much at work,” Dr. Patricia Turner, who studied anti-Black folklore, told me. spitfirenews.com/p/alligator-...
04.07.2025 17:48 — 👍 100 🔁 11 💬 2 📌 0
There's very little to celebrate about America today. Right now, immigrants are trapped in concentration camp cages. The threat of alligators eating them stems from over a century of racist rhetoric. With AI, racists can repurpose the imagery of the Jim Crow south.
spitfirenews.com/p/alligator-...
🌟BOOK LAUNCH🌟
Join us for the launch of Coercion with author @kylietcheung.bsky.social @jessicavalenti.bsky.social and @kattenbarge.bsky.social
🗓️Tues, July 29
⏰6:30 pm
📍Lofty Pigeon Books
www.eventbrite.com/e/kylie-cheu...
One of the biggest podcasters on YouTube tried to force me to apologize for writing about misogyny. But he and his fans don’t get to dictate what I do or my worth as a journalist. My response to Ethan Klein:
spitfirenews.com/p/ethan-klei...
For @spitfirenews.com, I wrote about Zohran Mamdani's win as further evidence that a pro-Palestinian, socialist platform is actually popular online and off.
spitfirenews.com/p/why-zohran...
“Right-wing conservative values thrive when women are distracted. Obsessing over calories. Shrinking our bodies. Policing our hunger. Believing our worth is measured in discipline, control, and how little space we take up.”
spitfirenews.com/p/skinnytok-...
I wrote about the inescapable skinny propaganda and pro-eating disorder content on mainstream social media platforms and how it's part of the reigning conservative culture that pushes health disinformation, control, and obedience. For @spitfirenews.com
spitfirenews.com/p/skinnytok-...
Today was the first day of early voting for New York City’s mayoral primary. New Yorkers have the chance to prove that the left won’t tolerate sexual predators as elected leaders. @spitfirenews.com’s first anti-endorsement: don’t rank Andrew Cuomo.
spitfirenews.com/p/stop-votin...
Dare I say a more important story than whether Bluesky is fun is whether X is going to be held accountable for creating an AI chatbot that sexually harassed women on demand. And the answer is bleak. Me for @spitfirenews.com
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-tribu...
Elon Musk’s Grok has been weaponized to create viral AI-generated edits of women’s selfies that make it appear like they’re covered in semen. In theory there should be legal recourse, but the reality is grim for victims of AI sexual harassment.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-tribu...
For @spitfirenews.com, I wrote about the police, military, and ICE escalating violence against immigrants, communities, journalists, officials, and anyone in their path—and how protestors are being blamed for it through abusive rhetoric known as DARVO.
spitfirenews.com/p/the-argume...
On the three-year anniversary of the verdict in Depp v. Heard, I wrote about realizing the terrible truth that she was, in fact, the victim—and seeing the DARVO playbook weaponized against endless women online and in the courts ever since.
spitfirenews.com/p/what-we-di...
I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped Spitfire off the ground, from the sources who did interviews to the readers, subscribers, members, and anyone who has shared my work. If you want to support my 100% reader-funded journalism, consider upgrading for as little as $5! spitfirenews.com/upgrade
28.05.2025 15:05 — 👍 24 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
And this past week, I wrote about the hate campaign against the nonbinary star of The Last of Us, who plays a lesbian lead character. It's reminiscent of Gamergate and impossible to avoid on some social media platforms.
spitfirenews.com/p/the-bella-...
The perfect victim fallacy is used to deny justice in cases of violence. It has been used against Kilmar Abrego Garcia to deflect from the U.S. kidnapping and trafficking people. spitfirenews.com/p/kilmar-abr...
28.05.2025 15:01 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
I ran a series of four interviews with women whose books are tackling gender, violence, and authoritarianism. This one with
@aliadastagir.bsky.social was about online harassment and how it threatens journalism and democracy. spitfirenews.com/p/online-har...
Next, my deep dive into Gavin Newsom's podcast and how it radicalizes everyone listening, including Newsom himself. This is why having notorious alt-right propagandists onto your podcast isn't a good idea, especially if you aren't willing to fight them.
spitfirenews.com/p/gavin-news...
First, the three-part series that started it all, my investigation into claims of online manipulation against Blake Lively. This anti-MeToo playbook is a whole cottage industry and something I'm continuing to explore in my reporting. More to come! spitfirenews.com/p/the-blake-...
28.05.2025 14:55 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
This account hit 10,000 followers today! Thank you so much! Bluesky has been my biggest source of support in this newsletter's infancy. I'm going to thread some of the stories I'm proudest of so far. And if you haven't already, please sign up for free to get my emails!
spitfirenews.com/subscribe
For @spitfirenews.com members, I wrote about what it means that people are increasingly gravitating toward short-form video content over short-form text content—but why I also think Bluesky will be fine, because of what it offers to the people who are already here
spitfirenews.com/p/is-microbl...
