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S.E. Cupp Rightly Rips ‘Slate’ Magazine To Shreds For Lacking Journalistic Integrity In Order To Protect A Liberal Celebrity

Published on: September 5, 2016 at 1:46 AM
By Quiana Fulton

S.E. Cupp is right: Slate was irrevocably unprofessional with its coverage of Lena Dunham’s latest verbal mishap.

For those of you not up-to-date on the latest mind-numbing debates stirring on social media, let me catch you up. Recently, Lenny Letter published an interview with Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer that discussed feminism, comedy, and Schumer’s new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tatto . In the interview, Dunham revealed her body insecurities and backward misogyny and feminism and, unfortunately, showed her white girl privilege about how black men should respond to the presence of a white woman.

“You and I were literally sitting across from each other at the Met Ball, and it was so surreal to get to do that.

“I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean — he just seemed confused.

“The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to f**k it? Is it wearing a… yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, ‘This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.’”

Glamour And Facebook Host Conversation With Cindi Leive, Chelsea Clinton, Lena Dunham, America Ferrera At The Democratic National Convention
[Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Glamour]

Dunham’s assessment of Beckham Jr. was overtly irresponsible and not representative of feminism, liberalism, or white women, for that matter. Although I earlier said white privilege, actually I meant Dunham’s comment represented that of rich liberal white women who think they’re more open-minded, inclusive, and sensitive to minorities than they are. There I said it, and you can revoke my liberal woman creed if you want.

That said, I’m still a fan of Dunham and have no desire to hold her accountable to expectations of perfection that no human can reach. Honestly, if you cannot deal with Dunham saying controversial things, unfollow her on social media and don’t follow her career period, because she will only horrify you at every corner. Dunham is extremely open with her thoughts, almost to her fault, but it’s a trait I respect and wish more people showed. Dunham is also willingly to admit her faults, apologize, and learn from her mistakes. Unfortunately, that cannot be claimed by many in the industry.

And, sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the case for some in the media either.

For whatever reason, Slate decided it wanted to defend Lena Dunham for her off-putting and offensive assessment about Beckam Jr.

LV Anderson writes, “When one celebrity interviews another celebrity, the result is usually a mutual lovefest. But occasionally, since both parties’ defenses are down, you get a really amazing quote.”

Anderson is referencing Dunham’s overanalyzing of Beckham Jr.’s thoughts and actions. Anderson isn’t wrong on this — what Dunham said was a goldmine for entertainment news and social conversation on race — but Anderson doesn’t remain right for long.

Anderson veers into the deep end, adding, “This may or may not be a fair characterization of Beckham’s behavior at the Met Ball. Maybe Beckham is just shy, or maybe he was in the middle of an important text conversation on his phone, or maybe he was just having a terrible night and didn’t want to make small talk. Perhaps (as the persistent rumors have it) he’s gay. Regardless, Dunham has tapped into a real phenomenon—men who don’t know what to make of women who don’t sexually interest them—and I, for one, intend to borrow her marshmallow line the next time this happens to me.”

In what world did Anderson think outing Beckham as gay to save the reputation of poor old Lena Dunham seems like a good decision?

(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

Thankfully, someone in the media showed just as much anger as I was. Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp didn’t hold back on her disgust and shame for a media that should be first in line in acting with professionalism and decency.

Like S.E. Cupp, I was horrified at Slate’s cataclysmic collision to preserve the spoils of the wounded leftist woman. As a liberal and feminist, I was irritated; my blood boiled that Slate would let such an article pass for journalism on their site.

The sheer absurdity of Slate to suggest a man is gay because he’s not into some woman is appalling and embarrassing to the role of common decency in the media. The mainstream media isn’t supposed to partake in rumors about someone’s sexuality to protect another’s reputation, nor are they supposed to out someone’s sexuality.

As a black woman, I can’t help but think if Beckham Jr. was white and Dunham had the same desire to propagate her insecurities on him, would they have been so quick to project a rumor about his sexuality, or would they have eviscerated Dunham for her childish behavior and sexism? In my opinion, Slate participated in racism and homophobia to protect the feelings of a wealthy liberal white woman. Here’s the thing: Lena’s a big girl and is capable of defending her overdramatic reaction.

I tweeted to S.E. Cupp , “What happened to professionalism, ethics, and manners? I miss the days of news covering real issues i.e. Syria, not LD.”

Cupp 100 percent agreed. One thing a liberal and conservative should always agree on is human decency.

Throughout the night, S.E. Cupp continued to slay Slate on social media, and they deserved it.

It’s good to know that there’s a person in media that continues to care about journalistic integrity and ethics. Too bad I cannot say the same about Slate .

Lena Dunham has since apologized to Beckham , and I’m waiting for Slate to do the same.

[Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images]

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