Kinja reply list

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sxswesterosJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:24am
I hope he never "comes out"... I hope the guy just lives his life, the way he chooses just like the good majority of the rest of us.
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  J.K. Trottersxswesteros
  4/30/14 10:28am
  “Just liv[ing] his life, the way he chooses” would entail coming out. And Fox won’t let him.
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  Molly with the Mediocre Hair (mollymlf05)sxswesteros
  4/30/14 10:32am
  Except he can't live his life the way the rest of us can. He brought his significant other to a company picnic and people freaked the fuck out. That wouldn't happen to a straight person, and you know it.
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goldgoldergoldestJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:28am
First of all, fuck Fox news. Secondly, what counts as "coming out"? We know he's gay and people who know him, know he's gay. His coworkers know he's gay. Some of his viewers (the ones who have the internet) know he's gay. I don't know if he's been told at Fox to "not be gay" like thats possible. Is he only "out" when he releases an official statement to the media? By the way, this question is personal to me. I have a family member who's in this type of situation but hasn't ever uttered the words. Is he still in the closet or nah?
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  J.K. Trottergoldgoldergoldest
  4/30/14 10:30am
  A big part of it was Shep’s desire to publicly acknowledge that he had a serious boyfriend. And Fox News immediately shot that down.
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  Apollo231goldgoldergoldest
  4/30/14 10:35am
  If he feels uncomfortable to bring somebody over to a family gathering, then yeah, he is still in the closet. To be in the closet doesn't mean you are not gay, it just means that you put a different persona in front other people.
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dwarfANDpliersJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:29am
what is the rationale behind telling someone not to come out and then demoting them? is that meant as a bitch-slap to remind him who's boss? couldn't he in theory be so pissed off by this demotion that he leaves, goes to some other channel, comes out AND bashes Fox once he lands elsewhere? It would be AWESOME to watch the Fox message boards absolutely explode if Shep came out, but I suspect we'll never see that.
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  J.K. TrotterdwarfANDpliers
  4/30/14 10:33am
  The demotion was described to me as a pre-emptive move, in case Smith decided to come out anyway. All about minimizing any (perceived) damage potential. Because then Fox could say, after the fact, that Smith was on his way out, had been demoted, etc.
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  dwarfANDpliersJ.K. Trotter
  4/30/14 10:41am
  but would that really matter? he'd still be "Shepard Smith, Fox News, (homosexual)", whether he was on prime time or not. I'm probably over-thinking this. Based on the fact that he's still there, he must be OK with it. I can't fathom the amount of cognitive dissonance it must take to be an almost-out guy with a boyfriend, and still be able to disregard the type of anti-gay crap he must hear daily (along with the discrimination he directly endured).
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VoiceOfReasonJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 11:07am
I won't accept as hard news what some gossipy little unnamed source at Fox says. Everyone knows Shep is gay already. Maybe Fox had the powers of individual thought that are so lacking on this site. Maybe they realize that the public is accepting, but it's also getting sick of celebrities and athletes doing the hyper-earnest coming-out media events. "Breaking news...so-and-so likes men." (Music playing like a president has died or something.) Then the hero's media tour, and everyone is supposed to worship and honor them forever. Isn't it getting a bit old now? I suspect the real conversation was more like "everyone knows this and it's not a big deal. Should we deal with it publicly or just go with the flow." And someone who had mercy on the public said "let's not launch another hero/martyr parade." I swear, you people probably think every famous person who comes out should have a high announcement/mass at the National Cathedral.
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  J.K. TrotterVoiceOfReason
  4/30/14 11:15am
  Maybe Fox had the powers of individual thought that are so lacking on this site.
  
  What?
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  GregorMendelJ.K. Trotter
  4/30/14 11:33am
  Translation: Maybe Fox had the powers of bigotry implicit in every moment it broadcasts...
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JoeInLAJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 11:18am
Okay, I'm confused. Everyone knows Smith is gay — this is reeeeally old news. So why they are still arguing about this is beyond me, unless this is the innate dysfunctionality at Fox News rearing its head once again. I agree with the poster who said Smith could leave and get hired anywhere else, and I think at least part of what we are seeing now is how fear can run a person's life. Grow up, Smith. It's a big world out there and you clearly have a lot of fans. Continuing to work for the people who are basically abusing you says as much about you as it does about them.
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  J.K. TrotterJoeInLA
  4/30/14 11:21am
  Everyone knows Smith is gay — this is reeeeally old news.
  
  Not the story here!
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  fromedamsaughtoxJ.K. Trotter
  4/30/14 12:03pm
  You keep pretending that's not the story, people will keep clicking when you run some version of the story over and over.
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GeraldoJ.K. Trotter
5/02/14 4:45pm
According to multiple sources, J.K. Trotter is a pedophile. Look, I can make something up too and claim that I have multiple sources. Some of these assertions are based on private conversations between Smith and Ailes. Shep wanted to come out and Roger said 'no.' Who was the source on that conversation between those two men, Ailes or Smith? The only statement attributed to an actual source is by Smith, who says this entire story is 'horsesh_t.' Here's a statement I think needs no source. J.K. Trotter is a lying sack of excrement.

Maybe Smith isn't gay at all. Maybe he is, and has no desire to make his sexuality public. Maybe we should all let him be the one to make the decision to tell us or not. Finally, maybe we should all demand that so-called journalists find sources willing to go on the record before writing a hit piece on an obvious political enemy. I don't care if it's from the left or the right, I won't tolerate baseless and sourceless allegations. That's not news, it's gossip.
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  J.K. TrotterGeraldo
  5/02/14 5:15pm
  “Maybe we should all demand that so-called journalists find sources willing to go on the record before writing a hit piece on an obvious political enemy.”
  
  That’s not necessarily a bad goal. But Fox—like most other large and powerful entities—is a very special case. E.g., last December, The New York Times couldn’t get a single Fox News source on the record to confirm a settlement with a former executive.
  
  So again, I don’t dispute that it would be beneficial to have most if not all sources go on the record. But in certain cases it’s the only way to report on an organization.
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  GeraldoJ.K. Trotter
  5/02/14 6:22pm
  The fact remains that Shepard Smith completely denies this story. Would you report sources that say someone was raped if the supposed victim denied the rape? Maybe the victim was not raped, or doesn't want the rape made public. Smith is being portrayed as the victim here, and he has clearly called you a liar.
  
  The other, larger problem here is that you clearly have it in for Fox News. By being invested in writing only hit pieces on your political enemy, it makes you look like you will do or say anything to "get" Fox News, which undermines your credibility. How about reporting something positive that happens at Fox. How about exposing some lies told by the Obama administration, or finding some anonymous sources who knows who ordered the targeting of conservatives by the IRS.
  
  I don't watch Hannity, because I know it's going to be the same old story, Republicans can do no wrong, and Democrats can do no right. But Hannity is a commentator. As a journalist, you should be expected to report the news, not just target your enemies and make it seem that everything they do is evil. Maybe the best way to outfox Fox is by beating them at what they claim to strive for, being fair and balanced. I would follow a journalist who goes after everyone. Why not be that journalist? Don't be a Woodward or Bernstein who would have given Nixon a pass had be been a Democrat. No one should ever be happy to see you, not just those on one side of the isle.
  
  By the way, leave those kids alone. (I'm kidding, obviously.)
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Gonzo the SomethingJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:21am

I will always love him for this.
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  EnjoyEverySandwichGonzo the Something
  4/30/14 10:33am
  ...it will NEVER happen again...
  
  That eyebrow raise kills me.
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  Gonzo the SomethingEnjoyEverySandwich
  4/30/14 11:09am
  I know. He's like "I'm so naughty."
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GregoireJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:26am
I don't feel sorry for him one bit. He chooses to cash his paychecks from a writhing pustule of bullshit, he can suffer some of the symptoms it prescribes its own viewers — intimidation, loathing, fear of anything outside the status quo.
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  KristenfromMAGregoire
  4/30/14 10:35am
  This comment is perfect.
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  blackintrovertGregoire
  4/30/14 11:44am
  Good point. I feel sorry for gay people in general because their lives are harder than us straights, but he willingly worked for a company that doesn't hide their anti-gay views so he could make $8,000,000. He could easily work at a pro-LGBT company and make just as much, if not more, so money is not an issue. I wonder what's holding him back?
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eScarryJ.K. Trotter
4/30/14 1:31pm
Not understanding how a demotion changed anything for the better for Fox. Was it just to teach Smith a lesson?

It simply seemed they needed to make room for Megyn Kelly would very well might have left the channel if not given a higher profile.
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  J.K. TrottereScarry
  4/30/14 1:35pm
  The sources I spoke with said the the demotion was, in part, a pre-emptive decision. So that if Smith left (and, thereafter, came out), Fox could spin the story as Smith just wanting attention after he was moved to the afternoon.
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Molly with the Mediocre Hair (mollymlf05)J.K. Trotter
4/30/14 10:20am
I can't imagine staying with a company that has repeatedly told me it's not OK to openly be myself.
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  TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Molly with the Mediocre Hair (mollymlf05)
  4/30/14 10:47am
  Considering his age and where he came from, he's spent his entire life being told it's not OK to be himself, openly or otherwise. It's probably only been since he moved to New York that he's been in a position to come out without destroying his career. Considering he's been part of Fox News from the outset (18 years ago), I think he identifies very strongly with Fox News, to the point that asking him to leave is asking him to choose between two parts of his identity.
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  IrishishMolly with the Mediocre Hair (mollymlf05)
  4/30/14 12:50pm
  Me neither, but apparently one's commitments to low taxes and few regulations can trump one's personal freedom and self-worth.
  
  Just look at Log Cabin Republicans.
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