SHOULD 'ANYONE' BE ALLOWED A PLATFORM?
The internet went crazy when Piers Morgan interviewed Fiona Harvey - aka Baby Reindeer - arguing that it was insensitive and glamorising to give her a platform. Now, when it comes to Trouble, we’re suckers for a fascinating conversation, but it gave us some food for thought…
Anna Delvey, June 2024
I think we would all agree that dangerous characters, such as Andrew Tate, only gain more power and potential for spreading malice when given a Twitter platform (I’m a Millennial and refuse to call it X). His outright hate and violence-inspiring language towards Taylor Swift may have very well lit the match that caused the awful attacks and murders of the girls in the Southport dance class just two months ago. It goes without saying that Andrew Tate would never ever receive any kind of platform at Trouble, but we couldn’t help but wonder….how far does this stretch? Sure, we might all be entitled to stand on a box in our back yards and practice the art of freedom of speech, but when this speech is written on the internet to incite a global rage against women or other races or cultures, it’s a totally different ballgame. So, where is the line?
Having interviewed Jenny Kleeman this year, on her book The Price of Life, in which she speaks to hit-men about the cost of a human life, we admitted that interviewing a former (and reformed) hit-woman would make for a fantastic event and a totally incredible conversation. I’m sure many people would argue that there’s a missing morality clause here, and maybe they’d be right. But would it be any different than sitting and watching The Ted Bundy Tapes at home on Netflix? Perhaps not.
Elizabeth Holmes
Many times, Trouble has received requests from members to interview the likes of Elizabeth Holmes and ‘fake heiress’ Anna Delvey - criminals by any other name. And our response? We’d LOVE to, but never as an endorsement of their behaviour - more social anthropology. Because who wouldn’t want to sit down with someone with such an incredibly adverse story, who’s spent months in prison and lived to tell the tale? We are called Trouble after all!
The most controversy Trouble has received has been from right-leaning politicians, OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair and Vegan-Skeptic Jayne Buxton. However, as we pointed out then: their views were respectful, so we were all for it! Would we interview someone who wasn’t mentally well enough to portray themselves in their best light, cough Fiona Harvey? No, because - in our opinion - that’s taking advantage for likes and views, which isn’t troublesome, it’s just morally wrong. However, many of you may disagree and say she had just as many rights as any other to ‘set the record straight’, reply publicly about a series made about her, and that to deny her this would be downright censorship.
What do you think?