iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

What additional information is needed? It seems like it’s only needed for you because you want to keep watching his videos without guilt. And you can if that’s what you want, but no, the podcasts and book deals and shows don’t have to be nuanced. He damaged their reputations. It’s enough say enough.

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And being a member of any community is conditional. For a lot of people the answer is his community is now much smaller and ideally just in his house in real life. That still isn’t a punishment. But his community would be small if he was honest in the first place anyway.

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And I think if you would prefer a community that immediately embraces an abuser without considering that much of the community is likely victims themselves, and just rush to integrate them into that space you really have no idea about safety, or the well-being of others. Community is earned.

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No I think you are downplaying the harm. The harm of a man being a rapist (even just the one he got in trouble for at school) is not something settled years ago. No one has an obligation to excuse that fact due to time. Trump raped in the 90s it still impacts how he interacts with the world.

And most importantly, why do we have to decide he needs to come back today? This revelation just came out, if there is more information we should be willing to accept that it may not be immediate. The work of rehabbing his image is his own, not the public’s. And no one has to accept it.

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Be a father. All of these are things that he has been lucky to have considering his history. Does he also need a successful public career? There are plenty of rapists in this country who didn’t seek public approval, who got a job that paid enough so they could live. Why is he due more than that?

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I think the issue is the “publicly.” Do we need people who have been abusive in this way (hurting women, obscuring that fact and harming the reputations of others by association) to be anything publicly? He doesn’t have a sex offender mark on his house, found an accepting partner, is going to (1/3)

Matt Negrin still host of Hardball on MSNBC @mattnegrin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Reposted by Akilah Hughes

republicans: we are nazis media: do democrats have a Hasan Piker Bin Laden problem?

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Country rube stuff 101: if they talk fast, they got their hands in your pocket.

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Akilah Hughes @akilahhughes.com · 04/10/2026

We don’t need one extra guy who is a rapist tho.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

dan sinker @dansinker.com · 03/10/2026

You'd think that the Democratic party would be making hay over their opposition's biggest donor fighting to let his bot keep making revenge porn.

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No I’m gonna need you all to do the reading. Rehabilitative justice demands individual accountability. It means individual communities deciding what makes the most sense, not a blanket get out of jail literally free card for any and all abuse. That would be unconditional and not justice.

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Glad to know that’s the line for you. One is fine but several makes it a problem.

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Logging off to enjoy a creative and family weekend in Chicago.

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I read your article, I found it overly flowery, but to each their own. Beyond the UNC suspension, he has faced <1 day of even public scrutiny, and you’ve jumped to “it’s too much if he can never come back.” That’s sycophantic. He had 10 years of sunlight. Found a partner, is having a kid. He’s fine.

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Like what Jeffrey Epstein did. Donated to charitable causes to gain access to vulnerable spaces. To create sycophants who will launder his reputation when they don’t know him.

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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 03/10/2026

You’re doing one of the main parts of rape apology, perpetrator empathy, over and over again. You ignore the fact that his punishment has been one day of public ire and 10 years of success by omission. You conflate disdain for rape and rapists with jail time and losing sponsorships. You’re a fan.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

Public judgement isn't prison. Judgement isn't laid out by the state. People are free to feel however they want about anybody. You cannot force other people to feel a certain way about someone else.

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yaoi gagarin @mel.bzky.team · 02/10/2026

Jeffrey Epstein was literally considered a philanthropist.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

great day for the moral fiber of people who I suppose thought writing one essay to make up for sexual assault was too little just days ago but now that it's SEVERAL essays and theyre uploaded to YOUTUBE it's fine (?). bizarre to have these back to back in less than 72h

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Holly Green @winnersusedrugs.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

He could go to jail. He could not become a prominent public figure to an audience who will defend him when his actions come to light. Being forcefully removed from public life is kind of bare minimum.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

What's wild is seeing people finally engage the philosophy of restorative justice...for this guy. Not in the context of prison abolition or the incarceration of Black men, of the Black Lives Matter movement or defunding the military police state Nope let's talk about it for a rapist YouTuber

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I don’t think raising money for progressive causes is doing anything for his victim. I did that and I didn’t rape anybody. So what else? He shoulda done that anyway.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

trump going on an emergency 17 state media tour to support republican candidates before the midterms and he is going with “nobody knows that dumb has a b on the end”

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He might have to actually do anything at all. Which he hasn’t. I’m imagining a world where we can on a base level say it’s good that a rapist is no longer sneakily currying favor with people who don’t know he’s a rapist, isn’t getting applause on stages and in brand meetings. We can’t even do that.

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I think we should let these consequences happen. It’s the very least we can do. And to me, it is very much part of the justice. He doesn’t get to control how he is perceived or what happens to his career now. Great. I think it’s a great first step.

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I knew bell hooks, I know she wasn’t writing about a world where there’s more “restorative” than there is “justice.”

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Don’t drag bell into this come on

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It is not a deep thought (no matter how wordy) that a rapist facing public ire after cashing in on a conflicting public image is “going too far.” Grow up. You know nothing about restorative justice. It doesn’t mean freedom from consequence.

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Lee Cicuta @butchanarchy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Like just say you’re conflicted cause a rapist made points you agree with about it video games. The victim went searching for a real punishment for him and he didn’t get one. I think we can let this one land, actually.

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

It’s simply not true that “no one has a good answer on what to do with rapists.” In fact, there is a depth of feminist scholarship on exactly this subject. It’s just that people won’t engage with it seriously since none of it says “nah you gotta be nice to the rapist cause that’s your buddy.”

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It’s further proof of his bad judgment. Watching a room of people applaud him and now knowing what I know I’m like truly disgusted.

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

What evidence do we have of any change? What did he do besides not rape someone else? Like what are we doing here? There’s no jail here but hypothetical? We’re comparing a rapist losing his public career to jail time????

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Reposted by Akilah Hughes

how much rounder can the earth get

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Which is why my feeling is why become a public figure? If I commit a grave crime I’m not gonna try to get subscribers like. Is there any good judgment??

Patrick Cotnoir @patrickcotnoir.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Reposted by Akilah Hughes

Thursday, October 8 at 7p: GLTS returns to Littlefield in BK with guests @michaelkosta.bsky.social (The Daily Show), @akilahhughes.com (Comedy Central, Crooked Media, Rebel Spirit) and Academy Award Winner Jim Rash (Community, The Descendants). Grab those tickets now!

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Akilah Hughes @akilahhughes.com · 02/10/2026

I enjoyed posting in an era where we were encouraged to make original work, and also, when we could see our friends and make friends online. Algorithmic timelines have made it so you have to go viral for your friends to know it’s your birthday. There’s no good space online for actual connection now.