Learning from the Aziz Ansari controversy

Published January 17, 2018 3:10am ET



When it comes to the allegation of sexual assault thrown at comedian Aziz Ansari, most people generally — though not unanimously — seem to believe two things: Ansari’s conduct was gross, but it wasn’t sexual assault.

The allegations appeared on Babe over the weekend, and the publication’s amateurish approach to the report has now been criticized by an unlikely coalition of ardent feminists, dissident feminists, and conservatives. Among that coalition there is disagreement over whether the story deserved to see the light of day at all, but there is some emerging consensus that Babe’s poor, and arguably reckless, handling of a sensitive story did #MeToo more harm than good.

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