April Fools Day was 7 weeks ago, right?
Here is the part the Penske-owned formerly serious music and culture magazine left out, particularly in their own press release:
ESL FACEIT Group is owned by Saudi-based investor Savvy Games Group, itself a subsidiary of Public Investment Fund (PIF)–a sovereign wealth fund backed by the Saudi state. PIF is chaired by Saudi crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who has been accused of human rights abuses and linked with the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Oops.
Look… I can’t blame anyone who works for Penske for working for Penske. There are some skilled journalists in that monopolistic foxhole. But the only thing keeping The Academy from being purchased by Penske and turned out as they do, is the massive warchest that has been built up over the years, particularly on the stock market after the housing bubble burst.
Speaking of The Academy…
Absolute madness.
Kristi Marie Hoffman, it would seem, is very talented. But she is also a bit of a problem child. She filed complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for discrimination, while the film was in production, and got a settlement. Her complaint was that the Costumer Designer (department head) on the movie, Jacqueline West, had changed her credit from First Assistant Costume Designer to Assistant Costume Designer.
She complains in her lawsuit that she was left out of the Oscar conversation… though West was the only member of the Costume team who was ever going to be up for a nomination for the film.
The question of Hoffman’s credit being changed by Jacqueline West is blurry, having not read the lawsuit in full. The claim first appears during production and then again when the Costumer’s Guild Awards came around. Was it both? Hoffman claims “breach of contract, retaliation, and infliction of emotional distress.”
When did not being campaigned for an Oscar from an assistant’s position a breach of contract or retaliation, which suggests that it was unusual in some way and might have been reasonably expected?
Bigger picture… is any of this surprising, as The Academy has spent the last decade prioritizing the deflection of its decades of entitlement, which are inherent to the nature of the organization, regardless of the details of any era of discrimination within the organization?
The Academy has always chosen new members to include in the organization based on a level of achievement (or, sometimes, social relationships). It’s exclusive. Not inclusive. Too male? Yes. Too white? Yes. But the decision to make a big, public effort to change the membership has made the organization less exclusive… not a judgement, just a fact.
Project 2020 was a direct reaction to the public accusation of what anyone who followed The Academy closely was long aware of… that the organization leaned to racial and gender biases through its entire life as an organization. The ambition to improve, perhaps even correct, this serious flaw was, I think, met with universal agreement.
The splits within the organization came with the choices made to activate this goal.
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