Hallo Hausfrauen, this might be a long post and apologies if what I'm going to say is a retread of other things (I'm a few threads behind, on a grunk and all) but hey I'm here and I'm chronically lonely and I'm too cold to get out of bed so I thought I'd share my two cents.
Firstly, I had genuinely never heard of Jack Monroe before joining Tattle but these threads have kept me entertained and giggling away for the past month, so thank you very much for that!
There have been a few things building as I've passively observed the threads, so like I said, apologies if this has already been said but I wanted to chip in.
Firstly, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune suppressing disease (I have relatives with it) and said relatives basically have a constant cold because of the lack of immune system to prevent catching every teeny weeny bug going around - obviously that also means they're high risk for Covid. In the interest of shielding, Jack probably shouldn't have been gallivanting around all year, but alas duty to slop apparently called.
Also, a few threads ago I saw the stuff about suing tattle for libel etc and this really flibbeted my giblets. A few years ago, the landlord of a property I had moved out of found a negative review I'd left of his (shithole, spider-infested, everything-broken, damp-coated) house several months prior. I didn't even live there at the time, but he apparently decided the best course of action was to send many emails harassing myself and my housemates and threatening to sue us in order to intimidate us into taking the review down. This basically meant I spent a month of my life in an already tit year furiously writing emails to everyone and anyone saying "he can't do this, can he?"
The answer was: no, of course not. He was being an odious bleep (I don't use that word lightly) throwing his weight around, pretending to have multiple lawyers writing up letters against us. It really took its toll on me and my housemates - I mean, I still flinch when I get an email - but in the end I sorted it by battling my way through all of his increasingly preposterous bullshit claims, seeking advice from multiple sources, and eventually having the police involved to tell him to stop harassing us because, oh yeah, trying to get people to do something they're not obliged to do via the means of harassment is illegal.
Honestly the whole thing has affected me so much I'm even afraid to mention it here just in case he somehow finds it and I get in trouble again. Thanks, anxiety. Anyway, one of the things I learnt from the experience was that I was perfectly within my rights to leave a review because I, as tenant, had been paying for a service provided by the landlord, aka the house. I was therefore the customer in the transaction. I think that a similar situation applies here: something is not defamatory if it is a statement of truth and an honest opinion, and doesn't cause actual harm (so get fucked, landlord), and considering a lot of people here are former fans of hers who paid for her stuff, whether it be her books or her kickstarter stuff, there's every reason to have an opinion, even a negative one, funnily enough.
Anyways thanks for reading all that. Now I'm going to hide in a cupboard in fear of getting another angry email from the l*ndl*rd just in case he uses Tattle too, ciao Frauen x
my job a bit here
