Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon issued a detailed apology to comedy
writer Megan Ganz for his sexual harassment while she worked for him on
Community. Now Ganz is publicly accepted calling it a masterclass in how to
apologize. Welcome back to What's Trending, I'm Martini Beerman. For years
it's been an open secret that Dan Harmon can be a difficult boss. He's been kicked
off two shows he created, The Sarah Silverman program and the fourth season
of Community, with community having an infamously chaotic writers room. Megan
Ganz joined the Community staff in 2010 for her very first writing job,but as
she implied in later interviews, it was anything but pleasant. Ganz left
Community before Harmon returned to the show for season five joining the
writing staff of Modern Family in 2013 before moving on to It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia in 2016. Ganz didn't make any specific
allegations against Harmon but he admitted that he had acted
inappropriately and abused his position. On New Years Day Dan Harmon tweeted: This
was truly the Year of the Asshole. Myself included. We didn't have to make 2018 the
Year of the Mensch but I hope it can be the Year of the Not as Much of an
Asshole. #RealisticGoals And Megan Ganz
responded: Care to be more specific? Redemption follows allocution. To which
Harmon replied: Was just shown this. And a previous sub tweet I think was about me.
I didn't want to add narcissism to injury by naming you without permission,
but I've talked on my podcast about the lines I crossed. I'll talk about it more
in any way that you think is just. I'm deeply sorry. Harmon continued: I'm filled
with regret and a lot of foggy memories about abusing my position, treating you
like garbage. I would feel a lot of relief if you told me there was a way to
fix it. I'll let you call the shots. Til then, at
least know I know I was an awful boss and a selfish baby. Ganz didn't let him
off the hook, but she did leave the possibility of a repaired relationship
open. Replying to Dan Harmon Megan Ganz tweeted: I wish my memories were foggier.
I wish there was a way to fix it. It took me years to believe in my talents again,
to trust a boss when he complimented me and not cringe when he asked for my
number. I was afraid to be enthusiastic, knowing it might be turned against me
later. You want relief? So do I. I want to watch the first episode of television I
wrote again without remembering what came after. Figure out how to give me
that relief and return the favor. I appreciate your
attempts to make mends and your acknowledgment of fault. That doesn't
sound as tidy as "I forgive you," but that's not my feeling yet. I'm working
towards it all the time, for my benefit more than yours.
And now Harmon's come out with a surprisingly candid explanation of
everything that happened between the two of them in his podcast Harmontown. The
most clinical way I can put it and fessing up to my crimes is that I was
attracted to a writer that I had power over because I was a showrunner. And I
knew enough to know that these feelings were bad news. That was easy enough to
know. I knew that they ran the risk of undercutting people's faith in my
judgment, her faith in her talents, the other writers respect for me,
the entire production, the audience. I knew that I wasn't doing anybody any
favors by feeling these things. Ganz told Harmon that his behavior made her
uncomfortable several times but that did not seem to alter his behavior. And when
she rejected his advances he admits he got really cruel towards her. I drank, I
took pills, I crushed on her, and resented her for not reciprocating it, and the
entire time I was the one writing her paychecks and in control of whether she
stayed or went and whether she felt good about herself or not and said horrible
things. Just treated her cruelly. Pointedly. Things that I would never, ever,
ever have done if she had been male and if I had never had those feelings for
her. Basically he behaved like a little kid on the playground where he goes over
to her girl and he's like I like you and she's like get away you've got cooties
so he pulls up her dress. Except in this case he's her boss and it's not a
playground. Harmon enclosed by encouraging men to
think about the implications of being attracted to coworkers. Especially when
there's clear power dynamics at play. I was thinking about them as different
creatures. I was thinking about the ones that I liked as having some special role
in my life, and I I did it all by not thinking about
it. Ganz responded on Twitter urging people to check out the episode. Please
listen to it. It's only seven minutes long, but it's a
masterclass in How to Apologize. He's not rationalizing or justifying or making
excuses. He doesn't just vaguely acknowledge some
general wrongdoing in the past. He gives a full account. Yes, I only listened because
I expected an apology. But what I didn't expect was the relief
I'd feel just hearing him say these things actually happened. I didn't dream
it. I'm not crazy. Ironic that the only person who could
give me that comfort is the one person I'd never ask. This was never about
vengeance; it's about vindication. That's why I
didn't feel right to just accept his apology in private (although I did that,
too). Because if any part of this process should be done in the light, it's the
forgiveness part. And so, Dan Harmon, I forgive you.
This is huge if you think about it because over the past couple months
Hollywood has had so much controversy surrounding sexual assault and sexual
scandals in general. But up until now there hasn't been a template for how to
seek redemption or if that would even work.
Who knew that fessing up to having actually done the horrible things you
did and then apologizing for them would make somebody accept your apology? What
Megan Ganz has done here is awesome because she's articulated why his
apology was important and what he did within his apology that has made her be
okay with accepting it. Andrea Grimes tweeted this reply: Thanks for speaking
up and for providing a really valuable look into what restorative justice can be.
What do you think? Do you think Harmon's apology is genuine? And if you were Megan
Ganz would you have accepted it? Let us know in the COMMENTS and for more head
to whatstrending.com.