It was a doozy if you missed former media darling Jenn Valintyne’s VERY public fuck you to her former employer(s).

You probably felt bad for her if you saw her 12-minute video outlining the abuse she has suffered working for MSM outlets during her 20-plus-year career. I did.

Her statement was titled, “It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing,” To Jenn, this was right. She spent 12 minutes airing some closely held pain inflicted upon her as a woman in broadcasting for over 20 + years.

It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing https://t.co/MqoyIEDi34

— Jennifer Valentyne (@JennValentyne) May 21, 2022

From that courageous post came a deluge of support from people who’ve worked with John. Jacqui Delany, Andrea Rooz, Erin Davis, and Maureen Halloway, to name a few.

Since then, John and the morning show have all been let go.

I have no reason to doubt them because I know John and know he had response issues and did not have a governor where his ego and temper were concerned. I’ve had it out with him several times, but there was some peer equality. He’d give it to me, and I’d give it back. We worked in the same building simultaneously, drinking coffee from the same coffee maker for 15 years. To say John was mercurial is kind. To say he took pride in abusing women is wrong.

If you crossed John or if he was having a shit day, look the fuck out. He was a throwback to a time that most of us would like to forget. He took it with him because, IMO, he never had to do the work that matters when your entitlement runs your life.

John could also be very generous and was very kind to me when I got divorced and needed to find help with my drinking. He was extreme that way. His kindness was balanced by how shitty he could be.

John is a heritage broadcaster who commands a vast audience and ad money. That ended today when Q107, his employer, did what radio stations always do, erase John, Ryan, and John Garbut from existence without a comment or a statement from Corus or Q management. Corus went into damage control mode all weekend, looking for media help from trusted MSM outlets (which they got), and Jenn was happy to share as part of her campaign.

What you have to understand is this: Jenn is right. She was treated poorly and deserved closure. She minded her Ps and Qs until she felt confident enough to go public with a human rights complaint in hand to get hers, and the fallout from her revenge tour is happening.

My Thoughts:

• Ryan Parker and John Garbutt are (probably) out of a job and are being sewered as complicit in the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of John Derringer. During her video statement, she wondered why ‘no one warned me?”  They didn’t warn you or speak up because they were scared shitless, like Jenn was, of not being able to feed their families. Do they now have to wear a color of misogynist shame for their long-tenured loyalty to an abusive co-worker? Jenn said she didn’t speak up for fear of losing her job; when she did, Corus did her dirty. She publicly shared her half of the story without details or context, and good people in the middle are wondering how the fuck they will feed their families from now on. An idealist with a tiny brain would say, “Fuck those guys too! they didn’t speak up!” I don’t chastise women who don’t speak up, so I find it ridiculous to assume Ryan and John welcomed the same abuse they’ve been dealing with for years.
• If John did the shit (I don’t doubt he did), CORUS management gave John that freedom, and it’s D-day. I watched him do it to men and women, including my favorite engineer, Greg Gryz (a Polish dude with dreads, he was the best). He was an equal opportunity guy who had no problem ‘challenging’ someone he knew he could dominate. Radio is in the fucking TOILET, and John is (was) a revenue-generating, front-facing community hero. Q107 needed him enough NEVER to hold him accountable or help him with what ailed him. At the same time, they let Jenn suffer underneath it all, treating her like shit because she was a distraction to a significant revenue generator.
• Where most people age out of specific demographics and accept that there is a beginning and end to every career, Jenn does not. I’d also challenge the notion that she was always a perfect employee, solely responsible for the ratings of the shows she had worked on. NO ONE is, and that notion is reiterated by good managers, despite the pain of the statement. Not discounting her recollection at all, but it’s necessary context.
• Some people who’ve come out dunking on John are people of questionable morals. Some notable accusers have a LONG history of treating people she worked with like shit, yet they suffered abuse at the hands of John Derringer, and I don’t doubt that either. Humble Howard had Jacqui Delany on his show this morning, where Humble (who’s been through his share of people issues) and Fred took great pride in the downfall of a man they’ve hated for years. They are entitled to that. Jacqui will be on with James tomorrow, and I’m sure this is cathartic for her despite her history.
• John appeared on a recent podcast and talked openly about his regrets, including how he treated people. So there is some self-awareness there, but the avalanche of hatred through 30 years was way too much in 2022, rightfully so. And maybe it was lip service.

What amazes me about this is the fucking DEAFENING HYPOCRISY of those forming this purity firing squad around the whole subject. It’s a culture war fought by people with closets piled to the fucking ceiling with their abusive treatment of others during their 40-60 years on this planet. Yet, they sit around and commiserate like there are perfect beings who’ve never done ANYTHING like THAT.

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
― Marcus Aurelius

That’s bullshit, and you and I both know that.

Let me know when you find a human being with a perfect record. THAT’S the person I want to weigh in on this without details or context. Only an ideal human being can tell anyone they are beyond saving or worthless.

And the people I see passing judgment on a man who treated people like shit for 20 years have treated someone like shit. They don’t bring that up when they shitpost or tweet an easy mark for performance points.

The radio industry was a patriarchal joke that drapes high-performing revenue generators in enormous privilege, and John abused that privilege for years. Women were often the focus of his anger, and John has to deal with why that is because radio has always treated women like shit. It’s baked into the industry like the fart stench from my Dad’s lazy boy. Think Ron Burgundy.

Jenn is right to blow the top off this by directing her anger at the institution.

John has a LOT of shit to eat in the coming days, and if he’s serious about being a happy human being, he’ll do the work. That’s all left for John, and I hope he does it for his and his family’s sake. His radio career is likely over, and if this is the end, John needs to be accountable and accept that John did this over a very long and successful career. That was the deal John made every time he acted like an asshole. He knew it could (and probably would end like this.

He had a choice to respond appropriately and often did not. I believe it’s because he never had to learn how to. Now he does. Or not. That’s a choice too.

Like you, imperfect virtue-signaling assholes have a choice to NOT performance tweet about how bad of a person he is when you’re a fucking asshole.

I hope Jenn is successful in pursuing whatever she’s looking for. Confidence, being right, setting the record straight.

She is making people pay for derailing her life and abusing the privilege of her employment.

Many women are marginalized in media and treated like footnotes or a gender bonus. I hope radio becomes gender-fluid before it dies, which might be on Thursday.

I also hope John gets the help he needs and becomes accountable for his part in his life story, and I mean that. I hope that for anyone trapped in their misery and anger. I’ve been there, and it sucks ass.

And I hope the people who spent the last three days using this mess to make themselves look like fucking saints remember how flawed they are.

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Stand up for yourself when you are right and someone treats you poorly. Jenn’s doing that now, giving strength to many women paid off by Corus, forced into NDA silence by a bunch of shitheads in suits looking to protect their bonuses.

Be accountable for your behavior consistently.

Seek the truth, not revenge.

The best revenge is moving on with your life and finding success.

Remember your flaws before you come out with your social media howitzer. Make sure you’ve never done anything you’ve accused someone else of doing, and make sure I don’t find out about it if you do.

And remember, only treat people like shit who deserve it. Life’s better that way.

DB

Q just said John is on ‘Hiatus.’ HAHAHAHA. Good one. They can’t even do this right.

PS: I Like John. He was good to me, but I would say all of this to him in a quiet moment if I had the chance. That’s what a friend should do, I think. A lot of people did that for me. And it’s one of the things I’m most grateful for.

We all deserve a little Grace. Justice, but some Grace. We’re individually significantly better when we give it.

Also, I’m sorry I took a shit on Toronto, Mike, during the show today. I still think you’re a jackass, but it was shitty. I’m sorry. Thank Brother Bill for bringing it to my attention. And no, I still won’t go on your podcast. But thanks.