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Theme Park Worldwide

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Matt N said:
Do we think that the parks could potentially take any action against Shawn or the channel in light of these allegations?

If this gets much bigger, I think Shawn could be forced into doing something other than hiding the messages. He may have to make an actual statement on his social media channels. There’s only so big that you can let something like this get; I’ve heard of internal dramas from within TPW before (for example, when Dean left the channel in 2016, and I’ve heard that Shawn’s departure from Alton Towers may not have been as civil as some might believe.), but I’ve never seen anything quite on this scale before and quite this serious.
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I reckon from a PR point of view that they would not be so keen on being associated as much as before these allegations were brought to light.

In most circumstances, brands are quick to distance themselves from controversy whether it is sufficiently evidenced or not.
 
If true, the allegations are actually shocking. It just shows how people can hide themselves behind a personality online but you'll never know what happens behind the curtains.

Obviously no one's perfect and we can only be accepting of that. What's been said is beyond a minor fault, it's actually quite scary behaviour. These experiences can ruin someone's life. They obviously had over 200,000 people fooled with their on screen act (if it's true obviously).

They're really doing themselves no favours whatsoever by not even acknowledging what's happening. On a grander scale when a celebrity's been accused they'll acknowledge it straight away and make a statement as will everyone they're associated with. It's just wrong to ignore allegations on this scale.

It's just a shame on how this is reflecting on our community. I know people that aren't even enthusiasts who are fans of the channel and I fear it's really had a negative impact on this community from the more casual folk. The only thing we can do is keep respecting one another and stand together at this time which is dark for our community. I'm sure some here know/have known some of the names that are involved and it has hit them hard. Let's just look out for each other and hope this is dealt with soon!
 
Well said both Rowe and Craig

It's not our job to be judges or decide whether the allegations are true or not, or whether the alleged victims are doing things because they are seeking attention. I would definitely be careful with a comment like that @RoyJess

Yeah, doesn't look good for Theme Park Worldwide's reputation. Rightly so IF the allegations are true.
Can I just say that before all this when the toxicity topic was brought up, a number of us called out social media as being the real issue with theme park communities, not towers street. We were proven right....
 
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People aren't always as nice as they portray themselves to the wider public online or to your face. If it means more views and notoriety it's possible for people to put up a facade. Remember the time Towers asked TPWW to take down their fireworks vid for a day or two and they wouldn't even do it as they would have lost only a couple of days of views. Little things like that can tell you so much about what really drives people.
 
Sorry for double posting, but there’s been another one... they’ve just kept pouring in like a waterfall, I’m afraid.

Thus far, the allegations in that thread (and I’ve heard that there may well be many more, including Rowe’s experience which I don’t believe has been included) have been aimed towards a variety of people within TPW, including 1 or 2 towards Shawn himself, however there’s definitely beginning to be a trend forming with regards to the most commonly accused; there are a few names that seem to be popping up very frequently...
 
Just read the Twitter thread, absolutely horrified! Yeah there does seem to be at least 4 names which keep cropping up, following a similar pattern! This is absolutely disgusting.
 
Well far as tpww are concerned is business as usual. I still think that decision will do more harm then good in the long term. The problem is now if they vlog over the weekend then it’s just going to cause more tensions so I’m struggling to see why they think it will just disappear. I have no idea what it will take for them to understand how serious this is getting.
 
As someone rightly said in the comments:

"just stories. No proof, yeah he was racist, fair enough. But it’s ironic how MULTIPLE people suddenly jump on the “come out” train as soon as it gets a bit of spotlight. They’re innocent until they’re proven guilty. A few stories which could be made up is not instant evidence."

Spot on, although we don't know what's true and what isn't.
 
If I'm honest - this is quite a worrying attitude to take. You claim you are staying 'neutral' but at the same time casting aspersions on people's experiences based either on your own interactions with TPWW - which without wanting to sound rude, as an adult male, will be entirely different considering every single accusation has come from a young female - or seeing fault in the motives to write a song. Having had abusive experiences myself, I have written both poetry and prose to help process my feelings and as a form of catharsis.

I don't want to sound rude, but I do think if you want to 'stay neutral', you need actually put that into practice rather than it be a position you take because you do not feel brave enough to fully condemn the accusers just yet.
 
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skyscraper said:
As someone rightly said in the comments:

"just stories. No proof, yeah he was racist, fair enough. But it’s ironic how MULTIPLE people suddenly jump on the “come out” train as soon as it gets a bit of spotlight. They’re innocent until they’re proven guilty. A few stories which could be made up is not instant evidence."

Spot on, although we don't know what's true and what isn't.
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This is what concerns me - more with the racist screenshots than anything else. If - and I mean IF- those screenshots are real and he genuinely said those vile things, why has no-one published them until now (assuming they were not sent in the last few days)? I'm guessing the screenshots have come from the person he sent the messages to, so why say nothing at the time and leave it until now? For me, it's because they have just appeared when all this horrible stuff has come out that gives me the element of doubt that the screenshots are not real.

The trouble with Twitter is that the moment you say anything that is impartial like the quote above, many people immediately say you're taking sides with the accused and before you know it, you're practically being accused too - this hasn't happened to me but I've seen it happen to others who try to be impartial - not just in this but other arguments on Twitter.
 
Steve74 said:
This is what concerns me - more with the racist screenshots than anything else. If - and I mean IF- those screenshots are real and he genuinely said those vile things, why has no-one published them until now (assuming they were not sent in the last few days)? I'm guessing the screenshots have come from the person he sent the messages to, so why say nothing at the time and leave it until now? For me, it's because they have just appeared when all this horrible stuff has come out that gives me the element of doubt that the screenshots are not real.

The trouble with Twitter is that the moment you say anything that is impartial like the quote above, many people immediately say you're taking sides with the accused and before you know it, you're practically being accused too - this hasn't happened to me but I've seen it happen to others who try to be impartial - not just in this but other arguments on Twitter.
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This is a question as old as sexual abuse/assault - 'why didn't you come out and tell anyone earlier'. There are a number of reasons
- Straight up fear: you don't feel brave enough to do it by yourself, especially against what seems like a site with a 'huge' following, but when others come out with the same experience you feel more confident
- Embarrassment: you may feel like you are the only one who has suffered it, and you think you are to blame and it is your problem, and you were an idiot etc etc - usually this is often the case after the abuser has gaslit you into thinking that way
- Ignorance: abuse/assault often happens at a young age. You don't realise how bad it is, until others have come forward and you realise your situation was bad

I could go on - but claiming that because a victim said nothing is a reason to cast doubt, or that because a victim only said something after others did is also a reason to doubt is seriously misunderstanding the experiences of victims of abuse/assault.
 
skyscraper said:
As someone rightly said in the comments:

"just stories. No proof, yeah he was racist, fair enough. But it’s ironic how MULTIPLE people suddenly jump on the “come out” train as soon as it gets a bit of spotlight. They’re innocent until they’re proven guilty. A few stories which could be made up is not instant evidence."

Spot on, although we don't know what's true and what isn't.
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Frankly, that's an incredibly bad take off the back of the sheer number of allegations now...

Multiple people "jump on the come out train" because as others tell their own story they now feel that others will believe them. Remember, these are people within the community who are/were highly regarded - which is where the difficulty comes in when people decided whether to give their own account of things that have happened. The fact that people are still question that even after so many speak out only adds further evidence as to why people stay quiet.

The seriousness of some these allegations are quite frankly deeply disturbing and not something you'd simply just share for a bit of clout of social media. More importantly, they're also worryingly similar in terms of the traits displayed by that person. I've also seen some absolutely ridiculous comments on social media off the back of people telling their story. From "you're just jealous of the number of subscribers they have" to "You just want the fame they have".

I also came into this whole thing with an impartial view. And it's through taking that objective view and seeing the sheer number of the accounts coming out especially about one particular person that it's quite clear there is behaviour that has been demonstrated by some that is both disgusting and unacceptable. The failure to address that is a massive failing on TPWW's part.
 
Steve74 said:
This is what concerns me - more with the racist screenshots than anything else. If - and I mean IF- those screenshots are real and he genuinely said those vile things, why has no-one published them until now (assuming they were not sent in the last few days)? I'm guessing the screenshots have come from the person he sent the messages to, so why say nothing at the time and leave it until now? For me, it's because they have just appeared when all this horrible stuff has come out that gives me the element of doubt that the screenshots are not real.
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I'm going to be brutally honest here, and say that the racist comments in a private group chat are unacceptable but not the main issue that needs to be addressed at the moment. I think many of us can say that we've said something dodgy in a group chat which we thought was private.

However, there is a somewhat worrying trend that I'm seeing where people are drawing attention to this allegation and, whether consciously or unconsciously almost trying to use it to dismiss the other more pressing ones which have been raised. As a reminder, there are not one or two, but multiple accounts now into double figures of unacceptable predatory behaviour by some people who participate in that group. That is what needs to be immediately addressed and has so far failed to have done so.
 
Regarding the racist comments. These are the ‘only’ allegations levelled directly at Shawn if I am not mistaken?

To be clear, the other allegations are extremely serious, concerning and need investigating urgently and certainly need to involve the police. For that reason I can somewhat understand the copy and paste comments TPWW have been using to say they cannot comment at this time.

However nothing is stopping Shawn commenting on the racism allegation as that is against him personally. If those screen shots are faked, then he could easily and confidently come out and say so. That fact he hasn’t speaks volumes.

Private chat or not, intimating that you think brown people should be shot is repulsive behaviour, and I think most people watching his videos would take offence to those views.
 
skyscraper said:
From the comments people are very happy that they've finally done that. A small step in the right direction.
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Some will be happy but some will also be die hard “fans” who also behaved incorrectly when the allegations started coming out (attacking people by saying the were just jealous etc)

I think the statement was forced because TPWW were noticing people were now targeting the attractions, if they can’t visit / film / photograph then that would have an effect on revenue coming in...
 
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