The public ate it up. And if they could slut-shame her, all the better. #MeToo didn’t really come around until about a couple of years later—maybe they would have seen through Justin’s accusations if the timing had been different. But as it was, it ... wasn’t great.
Skip
That fucker made way more on his little press tour than he would have as an assistant location scout in a whole year. And let’s be clear: He was anassistantlocation scout, okay? Actual scouting is a job that takes skill and experience thathe did not have. Jesus Christ. He was one step away from an unpaid intern, and he’s acting like it was his dream career.
Anyway. We won the battle but not the war, not exactly. Justin didn’t have any solid evidence for his ridiculous claims, and we got our one dollar. Plus several thousand in damages from the lawsuit for the leak that I finally pushed once I got my head out of my ass. I think the Prousts slapped him with a fine too.
But the press was really hard on Ryan. Really unfair.
I found her in the studio one day just poring over all these tabloids with tears running down her cheeks. I said, “Hey, come on.”
She looked up and I grabbed all the magazines; I took her hand and brought her up to the roof. We had a little firepit up there that we never used. Dropped most of the magazines in there.
“You know what I think about all this bullshit?” I said.
“What?” she said, really quiet.
I took my lighter—I still haven’t been able to quit smoking, don’t tell Jas—and I lit a scrap of paper and dropped it in the firepit with the rest of those rags. We watched them burn together.
“That’s what I think. And that’s what you should too.”
And we just stood there together. Until all those nasty words were nothing but ash in the wind.
From:
Sent:January 8, 2016, 8:47 p.m.
To:
Subject:Thanks
Hey Ellie,
Thanks for dinner last night. I know I wasn’t very talkative. I’m better at putting my words down in writing than talking it through, yeah? You know that about me.
It’s just been hard. I’ve tried to be there for her through all of this but I feel like she’s pushing me away. She’s been terrified of someone finding out about us with all the bad press, terrified that I believe that bullshit story or that I think she’s whoring herself out or something.
I’m hurt she would think that I’m as bad as everyone else. That really stings.
It would be pretty rough if people found out, sure, but I wouldn’t care. She thinks it would break up the band, and I say first of all—no it wouldn’t, I’m not going anywhere. And second of all—if it did ... would you care more about the band than me?
I want to be there for her but she’ll avoid me for days before turning around and needing comfort likeshe’s never needed before. What am I supposed to be doing? Like, from a woman’s perspective, how do I handle this? How does anyone handle this? What am I doing wrong?
I don’t mean to dump this all on you, Ellie, I’m sorry. I’m just ready for this to all blow over so things can go back to normal.
Thanks for listening anyway.
—W
Eighteen
In an la minutespot,Aired April 24, 2016
The segment opens on the exterior of 1Oak, with correspondent Stefan jogging toward Ryan as she emerges from the club.]
Stefan: Ryan! Ryan, Stefan fromLA Minute. Are you enjoying a night out on the town after winning your trial?
[Unlike in Seattle, Ryan turns to him and smiles widely.]
