We had an awesome interview with Cassie Jaye of The Red Pill movie this past weekend. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had during one of these things, as we covered a lot of ground and did it in a fun way. She even turned the tables on me at one point. But it was clear that there was something eating at her. We talked about it at the outset of the program, and Milo covered it yesterday over at Breitbart. Here’s an excerpt:
Chief among them is David Futrelle, a man who, ironically enough, can only be described as the very embodiment of pejorative stereotypes usually slung at men’s rights activists. He’s also known by his online handle, which is — I promise I’m not making this up — “Manboobz.” For years, his existence has been defined by a terminally furious blog, “We Hunted The Mammoth,” where he obsessively chronicles the activities of the men’s rights movement, trying to convince an ever-dwindling audience that MRAs are a greater threat to civilization than the aliens in Independence Day…
Futrelle has since extended his attacks on Jaye, falsely accusing the filmmaker of lying about her track record of awards. Jaye won an award at the Cannes Independent Film Festival; Futrelle thinks she’s a liar because the name is too similar to the more well-known Cannes Film Festival. Seriously.
Feminists aren’t just upset that a fair documentary about the hated men’s rights movement is going to be released. What really terrifies them is Jaye’s own story: she was a feminist who intended to make a “fly-on-the-wall” documentary about activists like Dean Esmay and Paul Elam, in much the same way that she had profiled the U.S abstinence movement.
Cassie is genuine as fuck, and as I said, you can tell that the slander from Futrelle has been weighing on her. But rather than sit back and take this laying down, Ms. Jaye has decided to fight back. Late last night, she released a YouTube response to the libel made against her distinguished career. She also put out the text over on her Kickstarter. Here’s that vid, followed by the transcript…
I’m Cassie Jaye and I’m the director of the documentary “The Red Pill”, coming 2016.
“The Red Pill” follows my journey as a feminist learning about the Men’s Rights Movement. This film is a comprehensive look at today’s gender politics, it will present all opposing ideologies, including feminist views, but focusing on what Men’s Rights Activists believe since that is what hasn’t been explored in depth in a film before. This film is an honest look at these debates and follows my journey trying to hear and understand all points of view.
On October 12th, I launched a Kickstarter campaign in an effort to raise the needed funds to complete this film because I was previously denied from the many filmmaking grants I submitted to, and the organizations that offered to help fund my film wanted to have creative control over the film’s approach and message in an effort to support their cause. I would not give up creative control to a partisan foundation and they wouldn’t fund the film without having that control. So, in a final attempt to try to complete this film, I turned to Kickstarter.
The first two weeks of my Kickstarter campaign validated my worries that making a balanced documentary doesn’t sell. Some of my feminist friends posted The Red Pill’s video link on their social media sites and immediately received disgusted comments in reaction to the statements made by Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) in the video. On the flip-side, MRAs and anti-feminists watched the Kickstarter video and were appalled by the feminist section, assuming that I had painted the feminists in a pleasant light in contrast to the MRAs speaking in the video.
Then, there were those who saw the video and understood that I was giving everyone their opportunity to speak their piece, and those were our early adopters to believing in the impact this film can have.
Still, two weeks went by, marking our half way point on our Kickstarter campaign and we were only 27% funded. I was preparing to throw in the towel, when suddenly the tipping point happened. Journalist Milo Yiannopoulos from Breitbart.com reported on my difficulties finding funding and the resistance I was experiencing while making this film. His article inspired a flood of free speech and anti-censorship crusaders to go to the Kickstarter campaign page and make a pledge. Within one day we went from 27% funded to well over surpassing our Kickstarter goal.
The majority of our Kickstarter backers are neither feminist nor MRA self-identifying individuals, while there have been had a minority of MRA and feminist backers who believe in the importance of letting everyone have an opportunity to speak and be heard in context without manipulation.
Since this rise of attention and support for this film, there have now been many attempts to defame me by spreading false allegations that I thought were so incredulous that I didn’t even bother responding to, unless I was asked in an interview. However, with the advent of social media, falsehoods can spread like wildfire when enough people blindly consume catchy sound-bites without questioning their validity.
I’d like to address these slanderous claims that are being purported by feminist writers and bloggers.
Blogger David Futrelle has launched a misogynistic smear campaign against me. He has waged unfounded and baseless attacks against my character and reputation, I believe in an effort to discredit myself and The Red Pill movie so that others – who have not been actively following the truths of this film and the Kickstarter campaign – will then write-off this film entirely, which will create roadblocks for us when we’re attempting to obtain distribution, festival screenings, and reviews from film critics who may have otherwise been supportive of this film.
David Futrelle’s false allegations have been:
1. That “this film is funded by MRAs which conflicts with Cassie’s attempt to have nonpartisan funding” (this is not a direct quote but a summary of his article). To this I say: self-identifying MRA backers, as well as feminist backers on our Kickstarter, have been in the minority. The majority of our funding is from middle-of-the-road supporters of free speech and combating censorship. However, this argument is moot because backers on Kickstarter have no creative control over this film, which is why Kickstarter was the only way I could ever receive funding while maintaining creative control to make the balanced film I intend to make. Now, the 5 people who pledged $10k and are rewarded with an Associate Producer credit: based on Kickstarter’s regulations, they are prohibited from having any creative license or ownership of this film. I will also add that those 5 backers do not self-identify as MRAs, but it doesn’t even matter if they did because they have no creative control anyways.
2. Another false allegation made by David Futrelle is that the award I won in Cannes, France, is a fake because it was not won at Festival de Cannes, which is considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. David Futrelle’s blatant lie that my award win is fake, is slander. My Best Documentary award from the Cannes Independent Film Festival is real and was won among other very talented independent films and filmmakers. Cannes is a city in France that has had many events that include the city’s name in them. One such event was called the Cannes Independent Film Festival which is not affiliated with Festival de Cannes, and as an independent filmmaker pursuing screenings for my low-budget documentary called“Daddy I Do”, I was thrilled to be able to screen it to a French audience, and even more thrilled to accept the award for Best Documentary that was selected by a jury at that festival. I accepted that award in a screening room with other talented documentary filmmakers from around the world that deserved that award just as much as I did, and for David Futrelle to call it a fake award is a disgusting attack on all independent filmmakers who put their blood, sweat, finances, and tears into a project and then work passionately to obtain an audience for that film.
So, what do this all mean? There is a smear campaign against me, a female filmmaker who is looking to make a balanced film allowing all views to be represented. While one side is concerned about being taken out of context, like they so often have been, they have instead chosen to take a gamble and support this film in the hopes that it is truly the balanced film that I am insisting it will be. While the other side, with some exceptions, has first passively declined showing any support for this film, until the film started receiving support from those they oppose. That’s when they have allowed for one feminist blogger to lead the charge of a full-on smear campaign against me based on nothing but lies and his own malice.
I interviewed many feminists for The Red Pill who told me “go to David Futrelle’s website, he’s done all the research you need to know about the Men’s Rights Movement, he is the best source.” I intended to interview David Futrelle and use his findings and research in the film, but how can I accept him as a credible source now?
To all the people who are warning me about attacks I will receive from Men’s Rights Activists, please present a mirror to your own.
Lastly, I’ll leave with reiterating that I still intend to make a fair film allowing the audience to hear all points of view, learn the facts, and study past actions, in order to come to an educated conclusion.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support a film that represents open dialogue without censorship.
Sincerely,
Cassie Jaye
Cassie has hit on something very real. If anyone is being misogynistic, is that putrid fucker Futrelle himself. A young, independent, female filmmaker uses every avenue available to get her film funded, while still making it clear that she will retain complete editorial independence, is trashed for her efforts by a fat, pathetic, middle-aged creep. What kind of sick man would attack and tear down a woman in the name of other women? He’s got mental issues that go well beyond what I can tell you in this short entry.
Does he actually hate women on some level? Does he think his sick website is somehow making amends for all his inner-hatred? Whatever the case, he needs to be exposed here. Cassie Jaye is a good and honest person, from everything I’ve seen. I don’t doubt her at all, having spent two hours discussing the issues (including this one) with her. The proof will be in the final product, but she has my trust.
For those who feel uneasy about me using the word "misogynistic" when referring to David Futrelle in my statement: pic.twitter.com/vjP0w9aqSU
— Cassie Jaye (@Cassie_Jaye) November 4, 2015
If you missed our interview with her this past Saturday, check it out now.
I’ll be back in a few with a bizarre story concerning the nationalization of Twitter. Yes, I’m serious.
