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Two Other Massage Therapists Claim Assault By Gore

Jaclyn

Trigger warning for some description of assault

This just in via The National Enquirer, which broke the original story:

The ENQUIRER recently uncovered shocking allegations, from two other massage therapists.

The first incident allegedly took place at a Beverly Hills luxury hotel when Gore, 62, was in Hollywood to attend the Oscars in 2007.

The second reportedly occurred a year later at a hotel in Tokyo.

A Beverly Hills hotel source told The ENQUIRER:

“The therapist claimed that when they were alone, Gore shrugged off a towel and stood naked in front of her.

“He pointed at his erect penis and ordered her, ‘Take care of THIS.'”

That’s all that’s available online, and I haven’t got my hands on an Enquirer yet, but that hasn’t stopped the apologists from jumping on it already. As this story breaks further, let’s keep on media outlets to remind them how they should be reporting this story.

UPDATE: I just went in search of the full story, which The Enquirer claims is available “on newsstands now.” But their current issue has nothing about the story that I could find. Do let me know if you see anything more, and I’ll do the same.

Cross-posted at Yes Means Yes.

80 thoughts on Two Other Massage Therapists Claim Assault By Gore

  1. You know, I have followed you on Yes Means Yes and have admired what you’ve had to say about consent. Now I have to show my willingness to change my mind about someone because you, a writer whose judgment I have respected, have just lost that respect with your glee in reporting what the National Enquirer has to say about these new allegations.

    Really? You consider The National Enquirer as a reputable source now, just because they agree with your opinion on this? Just because they are willing to believe the women and jump on the “Gore is Guilty” bandwagon? How about waiting for some facts?

    I had some problems with your article about how the media should be reporting the story, mainly that you thought interviewing an “expert on sexual violence” who did not know anything about the specific case would be useful. I am not a rape apologist, far from it, and I am not saying that victims should ever be silenced or discredited with shame speech. But rape victims should not get a pass on supplying evidence before we drag the accused’s name through the mud.

    If the National Enquirer were on the other side in this, if they found someone who was willing to say the massage victim had a habit of shaking down or blackmailing her customers, would you be giving them credibility then?

    It may well turn out that Gore is guilty of sexual assault. I’m not denying that possibility. But the National Enquirer has not been known to practice responsible journalism so I’ll wait before I accept this as “proof”.

    1. Diane, I’m not sure what you mean by “glee”? Do you think I am happy that two other women were possibly also violated? Do you think I am pleased that a man I once admired may have done something this bad?

      I do consider The Enquirer reputable enough, in combination with the other evidence in the case, to report on. Let’s not forget that they broke the Edwards affair story, and the Edwards child story, when no one else would touch it. Had Edwards become the nominee, that press silence during the primaries could have meant a President McCain and a Vice President Pailin. I’m not alone in thinking that reporting was important – it was nominated for a Pulitzer last year, and considered a legit contender. I most certainly would take them equally seriously if they’d found a different kind of evidence. So far, they haven’t.

      My point about getting an expert was that, if the reporters had questions about her credibility, which they obviously did, they should have gone to an expert to help them contextualize those concerns with someone who knows what constitutes “credible” behavior in a trauma behavior. After all, if the reporters have concerns, those concerns are certainly shared by their readers.

      As for leaving it to the courts, as I said in a previous thread: the police investigation was closed until the Enquirer broke the story, and now voila! They looked into it, found it was improperly closed, and now it’s open again. Our judicial system is pretty messed up in lots of ways, and the press has a role to play in pressuring the police and courts to actually pursue justice. If only it would take that role more seriously.

  2. No, of course I don’t think you’re happy that other women were allegedly assaulted, but it seems like you’re happy to have them validate the first woman’s allegations. I will admit that it’s difficult to read tone in electronic media so perhaps the word “glee” was uncalled for. I hereby retract it.

    But I still don’t agree with your assessment of the National Enquirer’s integrity — even if a few of their news stories turned out to be true, they still have a terrible reputation for less than diligent fact checking if not complete fabrication. At this point we don’t know if these other women’s claims are substantial enough to hold up to an investigation. Yes, the judicial system is far from perfect and yes, we should all work to make it better, but the bottom line is that investigators have access to information that the National Enquirer has not shared with us. And if the original, re-opened case is closed again without action, what then? Will you be able to accept his innocence?

    I have had tremendous respect for you, Jaclyn, and I urge you to take a lesson from the reaction of the White House and the NAACP in the Sherrod case. Had they waited until they had even a little more information, they would not have called for her resignation and publicly humiliated her. They should have considered the source and when it comes to the National Enquirer, I think you should do the same.

    1. Diane, they really no longer have a bad rap when it comes to political investigations: read this story from the very reputable NPR show On The Media, for example. Just because you don’t know they do this work doesn’t mean they don’t do it.

      As for the Sherrod parallel, I’d ask you to watch what you’re accusing me of. I haven’t called for Gore to face a single consequence if he isn’t found guilty. I’ve simply called for the media to stop treating this story like a joke. More information is exactly what I’m after, but we’re not going to get it until the media take this story seriously.

  3. The Enquirer made a big noise years ago about cleaning up their act and practicing some actual journalism. I don’t think many people believed them until they got the Edwards story right, but I think it’s now fair to say that they do some real reportage. I have no idea what the two new accusers say, but to my mind, taking shots at Jaclyn for bearing the message has all the earmarks of lashing out produced by cognitive dissonance — or, to use the more timeworn phrase, shooting the messenger.

  4. My only concern is that the Enquirer appears to be carrying out hit journalism on liberal politicians and figures, which makes their credibility suspect.

    I’m not going to waste a lot of breath defending Gore and declaring this couldn’t have happened. We’ll see. It would be a shame if if it were true, for a number of reasons.

    1. That’s a valid point, Mighty Ponygirl. But even if they’re biased in who they target, does that make their investigation suspect? (A legit question, non-rhetorical.)

  5. I also wouldn’t have any compunction about linking to an Enquirer report regarding an alleged sexual assault. Their headlines may be sensationalist, but their content has generally been on the up-and-up recently.

    Regardless, I think it’s definitely worth-while to report on how other media outlets are treating these allegations. IE, from the link Jaclyn posted:

    “Since the Portland story broke the Enquirer and other media outlets have been on a witch hunt, searching out other massage therapists to add fuel to their media fire. It would not be surprising if a couple of gold diggers emerged from the wood work, making false accusations in the hopes of 15 minutes of fame and the chance to sell a fictitious story.”

    We have a rape apologist bingo winner right here, folks!

  6. Thomas, I have thought a lot about my feelings about this story. I truly do not want to see these allegations turn out to be true, but it’s not because I don’t believe in rape allegations in general. My reaction is more complicated and it has to do with my wanting to believe that his divorce is just a couple who have grown apart, with no scandal attached. I’m tired of every celebrity couple that breaks apart publicly having infidelity as the root cause. I will be unhappy if the allegations turn out to be true, but I have tried to take these feelings into consideration. I don’t feel like I’m taking shots at Jaclyn. I’m attempting to have reasoned discourse with her.

    And Jaclyn, I am not accusing you of anything so you don’t need to advise me to “watch it”. An honest disagreement is not an attack! And in the case of a rape accusation, an allegation does cause some damage in and of itself. In fact, I think it causes similar damage to accuse someone of racism.

    As a consumer of the media, I want you to know that the National Enquirer has not won its credibility back with everyone (though I will read your link to the NPR story). I have not heard anyone treating this story as a joke though I have not of course read every story about it! I know that that can happen and I do agree that it is vile and we should call it out. But it honestly looks to me like you’re bending too far in the other direction.

    1. And Jaclyn, I am not accusing you of anything so you don’t need to advise me to “watch it”. An honest disagreement is not an attack! And in the case of a rape accusation, an allegation does cause some damage in and of itself. In fact, I think it causes similar damage to accuse someone of racism.

      Diane, this:

      You know, I have followed you on Yes Means Yes and have admired what you’ve had to say about consent. Now I have to show my willingness to change my mind about someone because you, a writer whose judgment I have respected, have just lost that respect with your glee in reporting what the National Enquirer has to say about these new allegations.

      is not an “honest disagreement.” If you want to have a reasoned discourse, you don’t start it out by saying that you have lost respect for someone.

    2. Diane, I’m the moderator of this thread. If I think you’re veering out of line, I will tell you to watch it, whether it’s about me or anyone else. You may not like it, but you’re going to have to deal with it if you want to converse in this particular forum. You absolutely did accuse me of being like the bad actors in the Sherrod case. And that was out of line. As is your continual repetition of your loss of respect for me, if you are in fact trying to have reasoned discourse. If you’re not, I’ll ask you to stop posting.

  7. I hate the Enquirer. I wish it would go back to telling me when the world would end and when fish will walk. Nowadays all it does is print HUGELY misleading headlines.
    That said, I think they got this one right. One of the upsides of the Enquirer is that they are them. A gossip rag. Once a hoax rag. They can print things no one else would touch and shed light on dirty secrets other media outlets ignore. Yeah, the magazine is offensive and annoying and employs monstrous people who have the monstrous task of obsessively stalking famous people. But they’re no less respectable than… oh, say… the internet.

    As a consumer, and producer of media I’m glad the Enquirer is still held under scrutiny. Because I find its methods repulsive and shameful to real reporting. But blowing off a story because “they said so” sounds pretty closed minded.

    Answering the question in the article: The most recent Enquirer doesn’t have it. It’s the one before that. My partners step dad puts them in the bathroom so I get plenty of time to look at each article.

    1. ScaryJoann, do you still have that edition? Can you tell us what more details it has on this story?

  8. I have thought a lot about my feelings about this story. I truly do not want to see these allegations turn out to be true, but it’s not because I don’t believe in rape allegations in general. My reaction is more complicated and it has to do with my wanting to believe that his divorce is just a couple who have grown apart, with no scandal attached. I’m tired of every celebrity couple that breaks apart publicly having infidelity as the root cause. I will be unhappy if the allegations turn out to be true, but I have tried to take these feelings into consideration. I don’t feel like I’m taking shots at Jaclyn. I’m attempting to have reasoned discourse with her.

    What Jill said. That’s revisionist history. If you look up, you’ll see that yours was the first comment on the thread and you started by telling Jaclyn you’d lost respect for her.

    We all think we’re taking our own emotions into account, at least in the moment. But often, we’re not. Often, we’re reflexively defending things that have value to us … like your perception of the Gore marriage as untainted and their divorce as merely a friendly parting.

    And Jaclyn, I am not accusing you of anything

    Well, I think you did accuse her of being gleeful. I see no evidence of that, no basis for it, and I think it is an accusation. Look, I’m a giant asshole and I am actually gleeful when bad things happen to people I dislike. But Jaclyn is not me, and Gore is someone most of us thought well of before this. It’s not like this is Tom Coburn and we’re all doing a happy little dance.

    in the case of a rape accusation, an allegation does cause some damage in and of itself.

    Really? There were two women making sworn allegations of sexual harrassment against Clarence Thomas and he still got a lifetime appointment. There were allegations against Bill Clinton, but only lying about a consensual encounter got him in real trouble and even that ended up in a fizzle, with his approval rating higher the day he was impeached. Chris Brown pleaded to a felony for beating the living shit out of Rihanna and he didn’t lose his job. Mike Tyson served time for a rape, but he got to get his job back, there’s a sympathetic documentary about him and he did a small role in The Hangover. And Ben Roethlisberger has been accused multiple times by several different women and used off-duty cops to torpedo investigations, and he didn’t even lose his job.

    So from where I stand, I don’t think there is much in the way of actual consequences for men accused in the media of rape. It seems to me that they may wish it hadn’t been said, but it does not do concrete harm.

    In fact, I think it causes similar damage to accuse someone of racism.

    Really? Did you tape a “kick me” sign to your back this morning? did you really just say that being *accused* of being racist is this awful, indelible thing? You know what? I realy hate when someone says something I did is racist, especially when they’re right! Because then I’ve got to pull on my big-boy pants and learn from it instead of whining about how awful it is to be accused of racism! We all do some racist, cissexist, misogynist, ablist, heterocentrist, classist shit, we only sometimes realize it and we even less often get called on it. Boo fricken hoo.

    I have not heard anyone treating this story as a joke

    Then you didn’t read Jaclyn’s Nation piece, or much else from the early coverage, or you did read it and didn’t think they were treating it like a joke because treating it like a joke struck you as correct, because it’s pretty clear that you’ve not only decided that you don’t believe the first massage therapist to tell her story, but you won’t believe any others if the National Enquirer reports it.

    And … that’s what the apologists do. They decide first that they don’t believe the accuser. Reasons follow.

  9. Thomas…. that was awesome.
    I want to hug you.

    Um. I don’t have the article on me, it’s at another house. I’ll swing by and see if they still have it laying around. A rare house cleaning happened so it may be gone.

  10. OMG Al, sack up and get yourself a proper escort! I mean, what happened to those (presumably) legit massage therapists was completely crappy, but what disappoints me the most about this was that, if Gore wanted a happy ending, he was stupid/lazy/entitled enough to try to get it from women who don’t plainly provide those services. You get what you pay for. He didn’t pay for a tug job, and yet tried to get one, WTF. You don’t go to Burger King and then bitch at them for not having spaghetti and meatballs. Sex workers exist for a lot of reasons, but discretion is one of them. Whenever one of these sorts of scandals occur, I always feel like … I don’t mind (on principle, unless he’s touting family values) him going to a sex worker, I mind him not having the basic interpersonal skills needed to get a sex worker, and instead harassing some poor legit massage therapist. WTF. Srsly.

  11. I think we have an obligation to listen to ANY claims of sexual assault with an open mind and a compassionate heart regardless of the source. Those claims may or may not turn out to be false, but it is better to listen with compassion that to contribute to the social norm of disbelief.

  12. anonnion, the thing is, if this wasn’t a one-time thing, he knew perfectly well that licensed massage therapists are not sex workers, and yet he called licensed massage therapists and not sex workers. That behavior suggests not that he wanted a handjob from a professional, but that he wanted to get a woman to do something she didn’t want to do.

  13. Agreed. This hits home for me in a lot of ways. I’m a massage therapist and it’s really fucking disgusting and depressing and harmful when some guy does that. Or even makes implications that that’s your “real” job. That’s why this is so easy for me to believe. Perfectly respectable, kind men who are otherwise outstanding citizens believe that they are entitled to getting a rise out of a massage. The more money they have, the more likely it is to happen. I also know what a horrible, torn, scared feeling it is when someone “important” demands something like that. Say no and you have to go tell your boss and hope they believe you (they usually do, thankfully) and don’t fire you and blame it on something else. Or do what the guy says, make a hefty buck, and tell yourself it never happened. Or worse, do it, regret it until it drives you insane, get told by your friends not to tell “or global warming wins”, then get slut shamed, doubted, and called a liar by half the country because you hesitated to tell. Because you were scared. Because there is nothing scary about standing up to a world renowned politician as a single woman in a profession that’s already “questionable”, really. Why hesitate?

    I recall that the article said one of the women claimed he physically pinned her down. My partner is going to check for it on his way back from work.

  14. Jaclyn, Thank you for this media update. I’m honestly puzzled at Diane’s harsh response to your post which was nothing more than a brief media update and certainly contained nothing which I could possibly describe as glee. While it is true that allegations made in any media outlet aren’t automatically true, the presence of additional allegations is relevant no matter where those allegations are published.

    A common response I’ve seen to the original story was that if the original allegations were true then Gore likely treated other women in the same way and that would mean that other women would have similar experiences. Since those people knew of no other similar allegations, they decided this undermined the case in Portland, OR to the point where the massage therapist’s allegations should be dismissed completely.

    Not surprisingly the people who used no additional allegations as if that was relevant evidence seem to be positioning additional allegations as being meaningless or as automatically undermining the credibility of those who allege similar behavior.

    When people call women who make sexual assault allegations to media outlets golddiggers, we need to demand from them the same level of proof that they demand from those making sexual assault allegations.

    1. When people call women who make sexual assault allegations to media outlets golddiggers, we need to demand from them the same level of proof that they demand from those making sexual assault allegations.

      This.

  15. There is a media trend for feminists to consider, that is, that powerful men such as John Edwards, Tiger Woods and Al Gore are not being subjected to the rigors of mainsteam investigative journalism as it concerns their treatment of women. It is therefore left to the NE to bring allegations of abuse of power and mistreatment to light. They got it right on JE and TW and for that reason, now command, if not respect, then at least acknowledgement, that their reporting on the allegations of these massage therapists’ experience of sexual harassment and possibly assault by AG merit our attention. Why are all the other media sources only able to report that “the NE is reporting that Al Gore…”? Why are other news media not pursuing this story? Why was TW given years of hands off treatment, as the sports media has admitted about themselves? Why was the JE story not pursued by the MSM? For me, it not the lack of credibility of the NE that is at issue but the lack of reporting by other media that is the problem. Why is the treatment of women by powerful men left as a “celebrity scandal” and not considered “real journalism?”

  16. The best reason to disbelieve this story is the fact that Al Gore has been in the public eye for more than thirty years, and there have never been accusations like this before. A famous, recognizable 62 year old man doesn’t decide one day to assault a 54 year-old masseuse at a hotel where his name is on the register. If he did this, it’s part of a pattern of behavior. If he did this, he has probably been doing things like this for years.

    But if that’s true, how is it that nobody knew about it before? Sexual assault is hard to cover up, and prominent politicians don’t even manage to hide clandestine, consensual things well. Until now, Gore’s reputation was squeaky-clean; there were no rumors, no whispers. His tax records have been public, so it would be hard for him to conceal payoffs or hush-money. He has been surrounded by staff and Secret Service for years, so there are lots of people who know how he acts. It would take a massive conspiracy to keep a pattern of behavior like this under wraps. But everybody’s shocked by this. This is a guy who has been vetted and scrutinized as much as is humanly possible, and he’s scandal free up until now. If we can know anyone, we know Al Gore.

    This accuser could be anyone; a tea partier or a shill for an oil company. She could be someone with a history of mental illness or a record of fraud convictions. She could be any of these things, and none of them would preclude her from being a victim of sexual assault. But where her story is the only evidence, she has to be somebody we can believe. I trusted Al Gore enough to vote for him to be president of the United States. Why should I take this woman’s word over his when I know nothing about her except that she sold her story to the Enquirer?

    If this woman is telling the truth, there are a lot of other victims out there, and maybe these other massage therapists are the first of a flood of new accusers. If he didn’t do it, he’ll probably be able to prove one of these new sources is lying, possibly by establishing that he never got a massage one of the hotels where these women work.

  17. @anonnion when you respond that you view sexual assault as less disappointing than Al Gore not hiring a sex worker, you are choosing to minimize sexual assault. You are also conflating sexual assault with sex. This wasn’t a matter of confusion. People choose sexual assault because they want to, not because of any sexual need.

  18. Since I’m not a regular Enquirer reader, I did not know that the accuser has, in fact, identified herself. She spoke on the record and was photographed in exchange for payment from the Enquirer.

    Here is the Portland Tribune’s recounting of its two-year investigation of this woman’s charges and why its editors did not think she was credible.

    http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=127913967087475000

    The stained pants she is holding in the photo on the cover of the Enquirer were tested for semen in 2008, and the results were negative. Her alleged physical evidence is fake, but she is still touting it. She is now claiming that there is surveillance video that corroborates her story; she has never mentioned this before, and so far, the video has not been made public.

    During the Tribune’s investigations of her allegations, she displayed mental instability. She accused the reporter of screaming at her and bullying her; all their conversations were recorded and he never raised his voice.

    She leveled similar accusations at a lawyer who refused to pursue a civil suit against Gore based on her allegations, and at a technician who administered a polygraph test she failed. However, this woman has not made any previous sexual assault allegations, as far as the press can tell (accusers’ names would not generally come up in records searches).

    She also interfered with the reporter’s attempts to interview people who knew her regarding her credibility. After extensive interviews the Portland Tribune didn’t trust her enough to go forward with the story.

  19. Dan, it really isn’t THAT hard to keep massage therapists quiet. Given that he is going through a divorce, he may not have been doing this for more than a few years on a few occasions. Old people develop new sex habits too. Also, the older men get the bolder they get when it comes to hitting on or demanding sex from therapists. Teenage boys get off on the idea of a woman seeing their junk when we flip them (I actually heard this from one of them as a reason he likes massages), older men get away with more because they are in a much greater position of power and they know it. Many therapists aren’t exactly doing well right now given that our jobs rely on other people desiring and being able to afford luxury. So a wad of cash, fear, and desperation could have contributed.

    Don’t forget the Edwards story. He’s a famous guy too, he’s done things and people hate him as well. Look at Clinton. People can get away with things, even under media scrutiny. Women fearing to lose their jobs, respectability, and have people like you assume they have histories of mental illness are surprisingly unlikely to come forward to gain such desirable fame. Imagine that.

  20. Hey Diane. The Enquirer has a terrible reputation for fact-checking? Can you document that? I recently read a story by a former Enquirer copy editor who said that any story that goes into the paper first must be read by three different lawyers.

  21. @Dan: “Sexual assault is hard to cover up”

    Okay, which world do you live in and how do I move there?

  22. @Dan, not knowing about other allegations against Al Gore is not the “best reason to disbelieve this story.” You seem to be conflating the lack of other allegations with the lack of other assaults. However, the majority of sexual assault victims don’t file police reports. Many people who are sexually assaulted don’t disclose that assault to anyone.

    This means that a lone known allegation gives people no credible reason to disbelieve the story.

    Complicating your theory even further is that many people don’t understand that someone attempting to take or get sexual actions without consent is committing sexual assault.

  23. But what counts as proof? The victim claims that Mr. Gore stained her pants with semen. The pants are tested and the stain is not semen. Again that is no proof that he didn’t assault her. Which is why I go back to thinking all names in this should be shielded as we discussed in the other thread. Even women who don’t make credible witnesses can be sexually assaulted, and the fact that any of us are going to pass judgement either way, with no evidence, just strengthens my feelings about that.

    And I’d like to say that irrespective of this case, The National Enquirer is NOT serious journalism. Sure they got the Edwards case right, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. They may have this case right, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a paper which is horrendously shallow, sexist, and full of nonsense. What about the people they have libeled over the years? You don’t win libel lawsuits in the US unless you have a very good standard of proof and even then you have to prove that the journalist acted maliciously.

  24. Thanks for this , Dan! You’ve generously bestowed upon us quite a bit to unpack. Certainly the idea that a male-dominated press corps hasn’t unearthed sexual crimes in 30 years passes so they couldn’t possibly have existed passes for a good start. Also, I assume you’ve got textual, peer-reviewed citations for the irrefutable notion that a public figure could never initiate problematic behaviour 30 years into his public career?

    Likewise, I assume you’ve got evidence that your ability to assess an event is bar none superior to those with a history of mental illness? I mean, I have a history of mental illness, and I certainly couldn’t appropriately interrogate a male authority figure, of the sort that you’ve very generously proferred yourself to be! And, of course, a history of mental illness is interchangeable with a prediliction for fantasizing about Male Authority Figures such as yourself.

  25. Oh yes. The copy we had of the article apparently was thrown out during the massive cleaning. However, the original woman has a friend who says that the therapist told her what had happened shortly after the attack itself. Which may give her more credibility.

  26. Hey Dan. Yeah, you’re right, the woman does sound a little bit unstable emotionally. So what? Emotionally unstable women never get assaulted?

  27. “And … that’s what the apologists do. They decide first that they don’t believe the accuser. Reasons follow.” Love this. Thanks, Thomas.

    And Dan, no one around me has taken my allegations of sexual assault against two different men seriously (that is, she didn’t miraculously come out of the woodwork but the cops didn’t take her seriously), which is what happened to this woman. It’s incredibly naive to think this is the exception rather than the rule. Did it happen? I don’t fucking know. But I’m not going to dismiss it just because it’s Al Gore.

  28. Ugh, grammar fail. I honestly don’t care to make that English. Rape apologist boredom, between you and Diane, honestly.

  29. AFAIK, the Portland massage therapist did not claim there was semen on the trousers; she claimed there was DNA. I read the police report, and she mentioned in it that she always wore a certain kind of clothing to jobs because her work causes her to rub and press against clients and her clothes would get oils and so forth on them. I always have assumed the DNA she was talking about was limited to skin cells and haven’t seen any claims that the DNA was going to prove her case; I presumed it was only going to prove that she was indeed in that room with Al Gore that night, in case she needed to prove it.

    Do any of you read the National Enquirer? I’m not saying that you have to in order to be a well-informed person, God knows. But you do have to read it in order to be a well-informed person about what the National Enquirer is like. I do read it fairly often, because it’s interesting and trashy. Anyone who says it’s about “alien babies” has no idea what they’re talking about. It’s not much different from People or Entertainment Weekly except in its breathless, voyeuristic tone. I’m not particularly proud or particularly ashamed of the fact, but I am familiar with it. They traffic in celebrity gossip, fat-shaming, and scurrilous rumor-reporting, but they don’t just make up stupid stories about Lobster Boys. That was the Weekly World News, BTW, and it’s been gone for years.

    And if you read it critically, you learn to parse out just what the Enquirer is claiming outright to be true versus what they are content to just imply or make a case out of from hearsay. It’s all about plausible deniability. After a few very expensive lawsuits in the 70s and 80s, they are careful about their claims. When they come out with something this damaging and this explosive, you can be pretty sure they’ve done their homework. Which is why I believe that, even if this story is not true, they did due diligence.

    I can’t believe I just devoted all that time and space to the frickin’ National Enquirer, but seriously, it’s a media outlet and people who want to defend Al Gore are going to have to do much better than poorly informed opinion about the source.

  30. I am frankly appalled that anyone who raises a concern about this story’s veracity is immediately slapped down on this blog.

  31. Sex workers exist for a lot of reasons, but discretion is one of them.

    Sex workers exist for the same reasons anyone else exists, and should not be defined by what we do for money any more than anyone else should.

    Whenever one of these sorts of scandals occur, I always feel like … I don’t mind (on principle, unless he’s touting family values) him going to a sex worker, I mind him not having the basic interpersonal skills needed to get a sex worker, and instead harassing some poor legit massage therapist. WTF. Srsly.

    Yes, let’s throw more violent men at sex workers. Sex workers aren’t worth as much as “legit” massage therapists (whatever “legit” means) and dealing with violent men is just part of our job anyway. Plus sexual assault is just “harrassment.”

  32. @Ellid That’s just not true, Jaclyn and I had a difference of opinion about the veracity of this case on the other thread which involved no slapping down whatsoever.

  34. Diane, you voiced almost exactly what I was thinking. I do not like that Feministe is reporting a story from the National Enquirer. While it may be true that they are beginning to report truthful stories, they have a shoddy history in the field of journalism that still leaves me doubting the truthfulness of their stories and the motives behind some stories. I also do not like the somewhat heated reactions from Feministe editors/writers. I’m all for polite discourse. While Diane may have been impolite in some of her statements, that is no reason for rudeness from Feministe. And the hostile response from Feministe in this comment section makes me want to read Feministe less. There are other feminist blogs that I can read for news and ideas where debate is encouraged.

    1. Really, GMJ? It’s OK for her to be “impolite” but not OK for us to be less-than-Disney-sweet in response? These are serious issues, there’s a lot at stake here. Frankly, these issues are so important to me that I spend a good deal of my life working on them. Forgive me if I get a little heated when someone questions my basic integrity in my approach to my life’s work. Debate is one thing, and personal attacks are quite another.

  35. This talk of the woman’s “credbility” re: history of mental illness etc. is disgusting. Predators go after the people that people in power decide lack “credibility”- which is why they go after people with mental illness, sex workers, people who have been victimized before, and maybe even massage therapists, who are disparaged for having any kind of association (even if sometimes just in people’s minds) with sex workers.

  36. My reaction is more complicated and it has to do with my wanting to believe that his divorce is just a couple who have grown apart, with no scandal attached. I’m tired of every celebrity couple that breaks apart publicly having infidelity as the root cause.

    Please tell me you’re being sarcastic. If the story is true, “infidelity” is not the problem here.

    And STFU, apologists.

  37. I am frankly appalled that anyone who raises a concern about this story’s veracity is immediately slapped down on this blog.

    Yes, truly bizarre that on a feminist blog we smack down commenters who automatically assume that women who accuse men of rape must be lying. Weird!

  38. Ellid, the methodology people use to raise concerns about this story and the allegations against Al Gore must be subject to review and that means some of them will be slapped down for very good reason.

  39. What the shit?

    This is a completely non-constructive comment.

    I just don’t even have any words.

  41. I want so badly for this not to be true, for a number of reasons. However, the journalistic standards of The Paper tend to be a little higher than that of the rest of the media (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC — except for Rachel Maddow), so I’m torn. I hope those women are okay, and there aren’t any others.

  42. Pingback: National Enquirer Reports Police Investigating Two More Woman Who Claimed They were Abused by former VP AL Gore | Scared Monkeys

  43. I’m sickened by the rape apology on this thread. D00d’s a Dem so the accusers must be lying amirite? Jesus.

    Oh–and give the “witch hunt/gold digger/liar/sex worker so not credible/crazy” bullshit a rest and get a fucking clue. It’s actually quite possible to say, “I don’t know if he’s guilty or not,” without engaging in misogynist, rape apologist rhetoric.

    You want to see a witch hunt, take a look at the way any woman is treated when she comes forward with her experiences of rape/sexual assault. Wanna see the folks who stoke that kind of witch hunt, well, look in the mirror and listen to your rhetoric about gold diggers and crazy women. Seriously? Fuck off.

    Oh, I’m so sorry How very rude of me! GMV, we should offer tea and crumpets to sniveling, whiny assholes who trash and personally attack a guest blogger and use every misogynist trope out there to “prove” that the accuser is lying. It’s notable how you didn’t call Diane out for being an ass, but then, I find the etiquette trolls on blogs rarely do. They prefer to sit on their fucking thumbs and whistle Dixie while trolls act like trolls, then swoop in and flounce about, lecturing us all about the Proper Way to Behave Like Good Ladies.

    Seriously? Fuck off.

  44. Oh, I’m so sorry How very rude of me! GMV, we should offer tea and crumpets to sniveling, whiny assholes
    Well, we *are* made of sugar and spice and everything nice. That much is from a trusted and mentally sound source, and, like all irrefutable truths, we’ve heard it consistently for over 30 years.

  45. @GMJ, you admit that the NE report might be true, but don’t like that Feministe is reporting what you acknowledge might be 2 additional true allegations against Al Gore? Your point would be valid if Jaclyn tried to hide the source and made the claim that it had been confirmed that Al Gore sexually assaulted 2 other woman, but that’s not what she did. Your criticism of the “somewhat heated reactions from Feministe editors/writers” is interesting since there is clearly heat in Diane’s response and in your own response. Your opposition to heat is therefore selective, based on whether you agree with those commenting or not. That doesn’t sound like an attitude which is supportive of views which differ from your own.

    Again, the existence of these allegations is relevant since there are people who make the false claim that a sole allegation equals a false allegation.

  46. @Mike: Hey Dan. Yeah, you’re right, the woman does sound a little bit unstable emotionally. So what? Emotionally unstable women never get assaulted?

    Word. Also, do you think that maybe being assaulted, and then feeling like no one believes you, might *make* someone emotionally unstable?

    I know people who accuse other people of “raising their voice” all the time, and make a big deal over the fact that “I didn’t raise my voice to you/I’m not shouting at you”, but what they *are* doing is interrupting, or saying things (in a calm tone of voice) that are patronizing or dismissive, and when you’re upset that sure as fuck sounds the same as someone raising their voice to you. So if the reporter was being a calm, reasonable, patronizing asshole whose body language screamed “I don’t believe a word of this”, I could totally see that a woman who had been assaulted would get very upset and accuse him of yelling at her, since she’s too upset at the moment to unpack what he’s *actually* doing that’s setting off her “hostile territory” flags.

  47. This story saddens me, a lot. While I never liked Al Gore when he was VP (mostly, I think, because I was unfairly associating him with Tipper, who led a crusade for music censorship in the 80’s), I considered him my real president for four years, and I have had tremendous respect for him since he came out swinging against the Bush administration circa 2002 or so and then began crusading for environmentalism. I also had great respect and love for the work he did in opening up the Internet so we all could use it.

    I also have to admit that when I first heard this story in passing, it reminded me much too much of the right-wing crusade against Bill Clinton, and the general lack of credibility of much of the accusations that were thrown at him. So I admit that my first reaction was to assume that the accuser had been paid off by right wing think tanks. Truth was, I didn’t want to believe Al Gore could do such a thing.

    But the more I hear about this story, the sadder I get, because it becomes more and more likely to me that it’s true. Which means that one, or many, women suffered a terrifying episode, and a man I had great respect for has started (or has always been) sexually harassing women to the point of almost raping them. This damages causes I believe in, but that’s not even the point. The point is that someone I considered a personal hero is, basically, a rapist, most likely.

    I do find it disturbing that it’s always Democrats these stories come out about. My mother had a friend who grew up in Kennebunkport (sp?), where George W. Bush grew up, and she told me that Bush raped her friend as a teenager and the Bush family paid the victim’s family to keep her mouth shut. Is it true? It’s friend of a friend and my mom hated Bush, so who knows, but given W’s *known* behavior I find it completely credible. But W was never tainted with any kind of sex scandal, let alone an accusation of rape. It’s not that I think the massage therapist is lying, or that she was paid off by the right wing; it’s that I’m getting the impression that when a Republican rapes, sexually harasses, or molests a woman, the story doesn’t come out — Republicans get accused of consensual sex scandals (infidelity), and homosexual sex scandals both consensual and nonconsensual, but somehow Republicans don’t get accused of rape. And I really, really, really don’t think this is because Democrats are more likely to rape women.

    But that, I think, probably has nothing to do with this woman and her story. I think it’s more that there are other women whose attackers are Republicans who didn’t even get as far with getting their story out to the media as this woman did. Unfortunately, I think she’s probably telling the truth, and that makes me very sad — for her, primarily, and also for myself because someone I respected has turned out to be most likely someone I cannot respect.

  48. That’s a valid point, Mighty Ponygirl. But even if they’re biased in who they target, does that make their investigation suspect? (A legit question, non-rhetorical.)

    …I think it does. This isn’t mistress-scandal stuff that people expect to see in the pages of the Enquirer… this is criminal assault. If there was even the faintest trace that Gore had committed a felony like that, Fox News, WorldNetDaily, Newsmax, pretty much the entire right-wing press machine would coordinate and present a unified front to take this guy down. The fact that the Enquirer, which appears to have a very particular right-wing axe to grind and belongs to the “throw a bunch of shit against the wall and see what sticks” philosophy of journalistic rigor, I’m going to remain at least a little bit skeptical.

    It’s not that it’s beyond the realm of possibility. I’ve had people a lot closer to me than Gore is turn out to be rapists so I know that just because I like someone doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of sexual assault. And lord knows what massage therapists have to deal with. I’m just keeping in mind that the right-wing media has taken on a very hitman style lately.

  49. …Naturally, Susahhah Breslin wrote about it. Three guesses whose side she’s on!

    I’d link to it, but, gross. It’s easy to Google.

  50. @Mighty Ponygirl, the National Enquirer is owned by AMI which is turn owned, via a controlling stake, by Roger Altman who was an advisor to John Kerry and HRC during their respective presidential runs. It most certainly isn’t a right wing outlet a la Murdoch. The Enquirer scooped the Bristol Palin pregnancy story, ran a piece on Sarah Palin’s purported affair with her husband’s business partner, and ran the first story on Rush Limbaugh’s addiction to pain meds. The Gore story may be wrong, but you’ve made a littany of unsupportable arguments in your post. The Enquirer’s been out first on a lot of limbs, and that others aren’t out there with them in this instance is hardly a substantive reason to conclude that their allegations are false.

  51. I don’t detect any particular right-wing bias in the Enquirer. For what it’s worth, during the GW Bush administration, they were always claiming that Shrub was back on the booze and that he and Laura were on the verge of divorcing. (They were always careful to attribute their information to unnamed “insiders.” There’s your deniability again. Again, it’s different when they name sources, dates, and places, like in this Al Gore story.)

  53. “If he didn’t do it, he’ll probably be able to prove one of these new sources is lying, possibly by establishing that he never got a massage one of the hotels where these women work.”

    Which will, of course, automatically discredit the other accusers, right?

  54. Dan,

    “This accuser could be anyone; a tea partier or a shill for an oil company. She could be someone with a history of mental illness or a record of fraud convictions.”

    I have a history of mental illness. Does that mean I can be raped with impunity, or that my testimony in assault cases is invalid, or that I just might as well not report any crimes at all, as I am an unreliable witness?

  55. My only concern is that the Enquirer appears to be carrying out hit journalism on liberal politicians and figures, which makes their credibility suspect.

    are they? is the evidence a lack of republicans caught in sexual assault scandals or something else?

    I think they went after Palin (trig-trutherism) but the lack of reporting on repubs caught in sexual abuse or affairs allegations may be attributabed to the fact that those who who were accussed– foley, larry craig, vitter, ensign–were outed by the msm….so the enquirer had no opening.

  56. I don’t know what to think of the National Enquirer, given it’s history. However, the Guardian felt it was newsworthy enough to publish an article about all of this a few weeks ago.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/01/al-gore-sex-assault-claim-massage-therapist

    This is serious stuff. So much of this conversation has been derailed by debate over National Enquirer. If a more credible news source, like the Guardian had been provided, maybe the conversation could address the real issues here.

    Although it would be interesting to have a conversation, as someone pointed out above, about mainstream media’s relegating these types of stories to the “celebrity gossip” columns. This would have been the perfect use of the Enquirer in my opinion, to show that this marginal reporting outlet is one of the few taking on this story in the U.S.

  57. In several comments I’ve read references to the right-wing media/machine possibly being behind this allegation, but the problem with these references is that there is no evidence, credible or otherwise, being presented to support these references.

    Since this is a serious allegation to make against someone who reported sexual assault and there is a cultural norm of sexual assault denial, the emphasis on credible evidence and proof needs to always apply to those speculating that a false allegation has been made.

  58. “Also, the older men get the bolder they get when it comes to hitting on or demanding sex from therapists. Teenage boys get off on the idea of a woman seeing their junk when we flip them (I actually heard this from one of them as a reason he likes massages), older men get away with more because they are in a much greater position of power and they know it.”

    Wow, what an absurdly sweeping generalization. Why are you in this business when you are so certain that all your male clients, of every age, are reprehensible perverts in one way or another?

  59. The article is definitely out in the current issue. I read a bit of it while on line at the supermarket. Had I a larger grocery order, I would have been able to read more…

  61. @Northeast Elizabeth, that’s really incredibly insulting to the bulk of an industry, to say that they don’t legitimately provide their stated therapeutic purpose. I think you can be advised right back that people aren’t going to be taking your own nonsense very seriously.

  62. Northeast Elizabeth, I’ve gotten massages and there were no happy endings or any sexual touches. And the massage therapists I know would be highly pissed off by your attitude. Plenty of men seem to think that women who work as massage therapists are there to service them sexually, and the women in the field don’t appreciate it very much.

    However, the misconceptions and entitlement of men, and YOUR misconceptions, shouldn’t be the problem of massage therapists. Get a fucking clue and pull your head out of your ass.

  63. Well, part of the reason that the Enquirer is less reputable than more mainstream papers is because the Enquirer often pays its sources for tips. It paid sources in the Elizabeth Smart case for a lead, which the paper later had to backtrack when the information turned out to be false.

  64. @Robin
    Wow, what an absurdly sweeping generalization. Why are you in this business when you are so certain that all your male clients, of every age, are reprehensible perverts in one way or another?”

    Dear Robin,
    In my line of work I am often asked for sex by clients. Never by female clients. I have never had a female client tell me she was aroused as I was rubbing her back. Nor have I ever had one decline a massage from me because as a young woman I might make them want to behave inappropriately. Which is great, it’s such a nice feeling when someone has the decency to warn you and decline instead of not saying anything then making a tent out of my very expensive sheets.
    I’m shaking as I write this because it’s so blatantly obvious to me. Older men also do the “smile baby” thing more often.
    Personally, I am in this line of work to heal people and help people. My feet are deformed and for a long time massage was the only relief available. I heal everyone who needs it, even motorcyclists with bad backs resting at my partners deli. Specifically I work on the underprivileged since they can’t afford it. Instead of getting paid a fat tip in a spa where I may or may not have the support of the people above me I get paid twenty dollars to massage someone who can’t afford a shower regularly and certainly not any relief for their aches. So when they end up expecting me to jiggle their genitals for them, I get a little testy. My bad. Next time an old uncle gets a hard on in front of you during your job, just roll with. Don’t notice the trend of who has hard ons, just tell yourself women must also be trying to convince (I was nineteen at the time) teenage girls to touch their dirty bits…. just you haven’t met any.
    Historically massage is related to the sex trade, and people still carry that idea. When someone is stroking and rubbing and smashing your body, when you haven’t had human touch for years in some cases, yes, arousal happens. I’m not offended at arousal, I’m offended when they treat it like I need to rub that too. It degrades me as a woman, a therapist, and a human being. It tells me that as far as they are concerned, I am not there to HEAL, but to SERVE.

    No, I don’t consider any of my clients perverted. Until they behave sexually toward me while I’m POURING my own energy into the already. Am I wrong for being aware that older men, then middle aged men, then young men are more prone to this behavior?

    My instructors at massage school put us through professionalism classes. Guess what, the majority of sexual assault on massage workers isn’t by women! And it’s not by YOUNG men either! They didn’t warn me how to behave in case an elderly woman started offering them money for sex, because it just isn’t as bloody common.
    Maybe instead of judging me for being aware of the society and extremely personal and private environment I work and live in, you can actually talk to some real therapists about their experiences.

  65. Also, I’m not about to quit helping people, people like my grandmother who is still working and is in pain constantly, people like my father who got one massage, from me, shortly before dying. People need relief, and touch that is comforting and healing without being sexual. And therapists need to be able to offer that relief without getting accused of being unprofessional because we’re aware elderly men hit on women therapists more than young men, and young men hit on therapists more than women do. What a stretch.
    So yeah, balls to you my friend.

  67. Btw, thanks so much for making me have to remember all those sexual passes made only by men of multiple ages but mostly older ones, occasionally family members. Great times to relive, let me tell you.

  68. Pingback: It’s All About Me Baby – or – The Entitlement Mentality. - Sacred Wandering

  69. Massage therapy is a great, great thing, and it’s really sad that the therapists are not treated well enough. Even if they had anything to do with sex work, which they don’t, no one has the right to demand things from them that they don’t want to do. Why it’s associated with sex work, I have no idea. Love massage therapy so much.

  70. I’ll pledge $500 that feministe does nothing about the fact these charges have been dropped and that Al Gore was not the sexist pervert you so wanted him to be.

  71. I’m not sure I understand the point, Charley. Public sentiment for Al Gore has not shifted at all by these women’s charges – much like every time someone gets charged for assault. Remember that time an allegation that couldn’t be proved ruined someone’s life? That’s because it hasn’t.

    You think that dropped charges mean beyond a shadow of a doubt that these charges were fraudulent? That’s not what dropped charges mean.

    All anyone in the feminist world wanted was for these allegations to be taken seriously. No one is judging the absolute veracity.

    PS, Can you read? Or do you just type nonsense? Why don’t you go upthread and tally how many people wanted these allegations to be false? I get that rape apologist = fucking dumb but =/= math wizard, but perhaps there was enough retention since elementary school that you might be able to make tallies.

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