A kind Tweeter has just brought several things to my attention simultaneously:

– That Ben Radford and Karen Stollznow have, according to Radford, signed a joint statement saying that “it would be wrong for anyone to believe that Ben Radford stalked, sexually harassed, or physically or sexually assaulted Karen Stollznow.”

– That Hemant Mehta believes I owe Radford an apology for reporting on the fact that Stollznow had accused him of those things

– That it is irresponsible of me to have not corrected the record

Hemant, to his credit, does briefly admit that it’s possible we here at Skepchick hadn’t seen the big news, and that he hoped that we would happen across his blog post and then correct the record (which is exactly what has happened). It’s strange, though: if it’s so important that the record be corrected, why not just use the contact form on our website to let us know, rather than hoping that one of us subscribes to his blog?

As it so happens, I don’t subscribe to his blog, and I either block or don’t follow Ben Radford and Karen Stollznow on social media. After the initial reporting of Stollznow’s allegations (which I don’t apologize for in the least, for the record – she made the claims, I found them newsworthy, and I made it clear that her allegations were just that: allegations, which neatly fit in with the horrible things I already know to be true about Radford), Radford’s response was to post intimate photos of the two of them in bed together, along with other allegations like claiming Stollznow doctored email timestamps. I found the former disgusting and reached out to Stollznow to get her proof against the latter. When she couldn’t provide it I dropped the issue entirely, figuring it was beyond my abilities to determine exactly how sexually inappropriate Radford might be or how dishonest Stollznow might be.

I ended up unfollowing and unfriending Stollznow when she buddied up with a person she knew had spent many years stalking and harassing me. She got angry that I had unfollowed her, then lied to me when I pointed out that she knew about my harasser’s past behavior, then told me I was burning bridges by not continuing to follow her. At that point, I figured she was out solely for her own interests, and I officially stopped giving a shit about what she was up to. The Stollznow/Radford debacle became just another footnote in the Official History of How Fucked Up and Gross Organized Skepticism Is.

Until today, when organized skepticism can once again rest easy knowing that one terrible person sued another one and got them to admit that they weren’t as terrible as the second person claimed. Congratulations, everyone! The record is set straight.