Film journalist Devin Faraci has stepped down as editor in chief of Birth.Movies. Death. following sexual assault allegations that became widely known on Twitter over the weekend.
“I’m here to assure you that the site and magazine will continue, with a team of smart, passionate writers dedicated to bringing you the best in pop culture news and conversation today,” wrote B.M.D.’s managing editor, Meredith Borders, in a note posted to the site today. “Devin built this site into something we’re proud to continue and grow in his absence. We are a community, and you are a crucial part of that community. We’re eager to move forward, together, with all of you.”
Faraci is also co-host with Amy Nicholson of the podcast “The Canon.” We’ve reached out to Nicholson to confirm his continuing involvement.
(On Tuesday evening, podcast network Earwolf announced via Twitter that “The Canon” was currently on hiatus but it expected to continue the podcast in the future, without Faraci.)
@thecanoncast is on hiatus & hopes to announce new eps soon w/ @theamynicholson. Earwolf & Devin Faraci have mutually agreed to part ways.
— Earwolf (@earwolf) October 12, 2016
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In the entertainment industry, “rape culture” is as old as the casting couch, but 2016 will be remembered as the year that the phrase began to enter mainstream consciousness. The term has been around since the early days of feminism; one of the first citations is in 1975’s “RAPE: The First Sourcebook for Women.”
However, it’s to the (dis)credit of celebrities like Bill Cosby, Nate Parker, and Donald Trump (who at this point is a confirmed pussy grabber and an alleged child rapist), and no small testament to the power of the internet, that public awareness has begun to recognize rape culture as not just a buzz word but as insidious, pervasive, corrosive, and altogether not okay.
When Cosby’s accusers started to pile up, New York Magazine ran an incendiary cover story. After “The Birth of a Nation” writer-director-star Nate Parker failed to apologize for a rape scandal, focusing only on his acquittal, women sat in a silent vigil outside The Arclight. After the Trump video surfaced, author Kelly Oxford (@kellyoxford) asked women to share their sexual assault stories with her on Twitter, and was flooded by responses.
Now we’re seeing this awareness trickle down to figures who aren’t high-profile celebrities, but are every bit as accountable.
On Saturday, Faraci made a comment in which he derided Trump’s now-infamous Access Hollywood tape where the Republican presidential candidate bragged that he could “grab [women] by the pussy.”
The most telling thing about the Trump tape? He wasn’t talking with his best friends. He was boasting to a TV host.
— devin faraci (@devincf) October 8, 2016
However, the next day, a 33-year-old woman, under the Twitter handle @spacecrone, tweeted that Faraci once pulled on her the same pussy-grabbing move favored by Trump.
@devincf quick question: do you remember grabbing me by the pussy and bragging to our friends about it, telling them to smell your fingers?
— INVISIGOTH (@spacecrone) October 9, 2016
The internet took note.
Open offer to women film critics/writers who feel like they need to talk to someone about this. https://t.co/yc8CwZ8dhy
— Monica Castillo (@mcastimovies) October 10, 2016
As for Faraci, he said:
@spacecrone I do not remember this. I can only believe you and beg forgiveness for having been so vile.
— devin faraci (@devincf) October 9, 2016
Tim League, owner of Alamo Drafthouse and publisher of Birth.Movies.Death., quickly responded that his company takes the allegations seriously and had taken Faraci offline — but then apparently deleted the tweet.
Hey, @timalamo. You said you were taking the sexual assault allegations against @devincf seriously. Curious why you deleted the Tweet? pic.twitter.com/IKPOmJBBRF
— zomBrianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) October 10, 2016
We’ve reached out to League and Faraci for comment. Variety reports that League talked with@spacecrone, and she said he was “empathetic:”
I am really happy that it sounds like Devin is interested in getting help about this, and I’m open to any accountability processing that might be part of his treatment. I really hope this can be a moment of self-interrogation for all of us, myself included, about the ways we might use positions of power to silence people, and the ways we all turn away from things that might seem a little too complicated to deal with.
The fact that this discussion is taking place could be viewed as a kind of victory, however Pyrrhic. The Faraci story isn’t the last, and more will be told. And this isn’t limited to a close-knit arenas like film journalism; as Kelly Oxford’s stunning Twitter call for stories of assault has shown, there’s undoubtedly many more everywhere, including Hollywood executive suites and television and movie sets, studio and indie alike. And they need to be heard.
If you’ve got a story to share, tell us. My email is dana@indiewire.com; Twitter is @theknife. Anonymity is guaranteed.
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