I honestly don't know how Jon survived this saga without killing himself.
The kangaroo court, featuring many prominent members of the "community" was brutal in its rush to judgement. It delivered summary justice to a member of the community and ruined his life in a matter of hours.
I was an observer at the time and whilst I didn't know Jon, I was aware of his contributions to the Scala ecosystem. I arranged a video call with him to see how he was holding up, and to try to understand things from his perspective.
The man I spoke to was visibly shellshocked and blindsided by the whole experience. He had a brief, consensual relationship with Yifan, and vehemently denies the wrongdoing that she insinuated in her blogpost.
But the community apparently knew better.
I was already aware of dark political maneuvours in the Scala community thanks to the well published exploits of Travis Brown (who was himself cancelled when the nature of his actions became apparent). Brown didn't just habitually engage in cancel culture. He actually SYSTEMISED it. He wrote tools, published on his github profile to maintain lists of people within the Scala community whose politics he disagreed with, and then he used those lists to attempt to smear those people by association and damage their careers.
One of the two accusers of Jon Pretty happened to be Victoria Leontieva (AKA killnicole), Travis's girlfriend at the time.
And the other accuser, Yifan Xing, is Travis's new girlfriend now.
I'm sure it's all just a coincidence....
While Travis was eventually himself cancelled from the Scala community, it seems his legacy lives on.
The whole witchhunt brought deep shame on the community. I think even the founder of the language, Martin Odersky, tacitly endorsed the open letter. That's a terrible way to lead.
An ethical leader would have called for an end to the emotionally-charged witch-hunt, and would have called for due process instead.
Jon - I hope this vindication gives you the personal closure that you need on the matter. Obviously, I can't imagine you wanting to return to the Scala "community," but please know that the community wasn't united against you at the time. There were many people like me who could see what was happening, and who knew you deserved better than the treatment you received.
The kangaroo court, featuring many prominent members of the "community" was brutal in its rush to judgement. It delivered summary justice to a member of the community and ruined his life in a matter of hours.
I was an observer at the time and whilst I didn't know Jon, I was aware of his contributions to the Scala ecosystem. I arranged a video call with him to see how he was holding up, and to try to understand things from his perspective.
The man I spoke to was visibly shellshocked and blindsided by the whole experience. He had a brief, consensual relationship with Yifan, and vehemently denies the wrongdoing that she insinuated in her blogpost.
But the community apparently knew better.
I was already aware of dark political maneuvours in the Scala community thanks to the well published exploits of Travis Brown (who was himself cancelled when the nature of his actions became apparent). Brown didn't just habitually engage in cancel culture. He actually SYSTEMISED it. He wrote tools, published on his github profile to maintain lists of people within the Scala community whose politics he disagreed with, and then he used those lists to attempt to smear those people by association and damage their careers.
One of the two accusers of Jon Pretty happened to be Victoria Leontieva (AKA killnicole), Travis's girlfriend at the time.
And the other accuser, Yifan Xing, is Travis's new girlfriend now.
I'm sure it's all just a coincidence....
While Travis was eventually himself cancelled from the Scala community, it seems his legacy lives on.
The whole witchhunt brought deep shame on the community. I think even the founder of the language, Martin Odersky, tacitly endorsed the open letter. That's a terrible way to lead.
An ethical leader would have called for an end to the emotionally-charged witch-hunt, and would have called for due process instead.
Jon - I hope this vindication gives you the personal closure that you need on the matter. Obviously, I can't imagine you wanting to return to the Scala "community," but please know that the community wasn't united against you at the time. There were many people like me who could see what was happening, and who knew you deserved better than the treatment you received.