George Hook speaks out after receiving hate mail.

Rhys Essien · 25-03-2015 9:02pm #1

Good response from him.He is giving the letter to the cops.Jasus some people must have nothing to do with their lives to resort to that crap.

cloud493 · 25-03-2015 9:04pm

I'm not the biggest fan of Hook, but why does he deserve hate mail? Thats ridiculous, some people need to cop onto themselves, what gives them the right?
Morons.

Spunge · 25-03-2015 9:05pm

#rekt

Cookie_Monster · 25-03-2015 9:07pm

yet he's allowed spew vitriolic hatred of various group on the airwaves daily without consequence? Notably cyclists and the rugby team when they don't win.

Double standards Hookie, but sure what's new there.

Sheep Lover · 25-03-2015 9:08pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

yet he's allowed spew vitriolic hatred of various group on the airwaves daily without consequence? Notably cyclists and the rugby team when they don't win.

Double standards Hookie, but sure what's new there.

Are cyclists human though?

cloud493 · 25-03-2015 9:08pm

Sheep Lover wrote: »

Are cyclists human though?,

I think we already know they're not.

Super-Rush · 25-03-2015 9:10pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

yet he's allowed spew vitriolic hatred of various group on the airwaves daily without consequence? Notably cyclists and the rugby team when they don't win.

Double standards Hookie, but sure what's new there.

Not even comparable.

Cienciano · 25-03-2015 9:13pm

I really dislike him as a pundit, but jasus, that letter went way way too far. Constructive criticism is fair game, personal insults is low, but letters like that are another level altogether.
Glad it was sent by normal mail though, people have been blaming the anonymity of the internet for stuff like that for a while

Fr_Dougal · 25-03-2015 9:15pm

Letter was written by a coward, anonymously.

For anyone that didn't watch the clip, the author told Hook that he'd should have committed suicide, and that there was still time to do so.

K4t · 25-03-2015 9:17pm

cloud493 wrote: »

I'm not the biggest fan of Hook, but why does he deserve hate mail? Thats ridiculous, some people need to cop onto themselves, what gives them the right?
Morons.

Deserve aint got nothing to do with it ~ Snoop

Also..

hoodwinked · 25-03-2015 9:18pm

you'd often see stuff like that spewed in the comment section on media outlets facebook comments or in social media forums, people seem to not only think it's ok but "Cool" to do so.

it is bullying, and one of the reason's i love boards policy of attack the post not the poster....

El_Duderino 09 · 25-03-2015 9:19pm

cloud493 wrote: »

I'm not the biggest fan of Hook, but why does he deserve hate mail? Thats ridiculous, some people need to cop onto themselves, what gives them the right?
Morons.

I watch the bbc 6 nations coverage because I'm not a fan of the Irish pannell (except COS). But what is there to hate about him? Bang out of order. Let him retire in peace.

Cookie_Monster · 25-03-2015 9:20pm

Super-Rush wrote: »

Not even comparable.

No, I suppose it's not really. I mean a celebrity receiving hate mail, who would have thought. Just bin it as spam and move on, no need to bring it into the limelight and make a big deal of it.

Sheep Lover · 25-03-2015 9:24pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

No, I suppose it's not really. I mean a celebrity receiving hate mail, who would have thought. Just bin it as spam and move on, no need to bring it into the limelight and make a big deal of it.

Why?

Uriel. · 25-03-2015 9:26pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

No, I suppose it's not really. I mean a celebrity receiving hate mail, who would have thought. Just bin it as spam and move on, no need to bring it into the limelight and make a big deal of it.

I don't think he was making it a "big deal" in so far as it relates to him. Rather i think he used the opportunity to highlight a problem a growing and more serious problem with present day human life. He then goes on to appeal to the more vulnerable to "stand up and be counted".

I think if more "personalities" did the same it could reach out to more people.

Did you even watch the clip?

K4t · 25-03-2015 9:27pm

Am I the only one who thinks the letter is quite well written and kind of funny? In fact I think it might even be satirical. George is a big boy, and obviously very "certain" of himself so I'm sure he'll have had a good laugh about it. His response could be construed as more hateful than the content of the letter tbh.

edit: Obviously if his intention is to highlight cyber bullying etc., then that's a decent thing to do and best of luck to him.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup · 25-03-2015 9:28pm

Spunge wrote: »

#rekt

lol'd hard. i dare ya to post it as a youtube comment.

jeez that was harsh abuse alright for George. but i read recently Claire Byrne got 'cyberbullied' as well. basically someone said in a comment on a journal article, not direct to her, that she was:

"She’s the worst interviewer I have ever seen. Good riddance"

Ms Byrne sent a private message to the poster, asking “if he had a mother, a sister, a wife who he would like to be abused in a similar fashion while they were recovering from childbirth”.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/beware/i-refuse-to-look-at-social-media-because-of-abusive-messages-rtes-claire-31083964.html

seems pretty tame to me and don't think it's bullying. ya need a thicker skin than that if you're in public eye

The_Valeyard · 25-03-2015 9:28pm

Lot of disgusting pond scum for humans out there. Hook is right, while he as a grown man and radio presenter can handle bile like that, teenagers or vunerable people cannot. A letter like that could push someone into a very dark place. Only cowards do something like that. Shame on them.

Stand up and speak out, talk to someone you trust or who can help you if this is happening to you.

crazygeryy · 25-03-2015 9:34pm

Celebs (if you'd Call George that) are open to criticism,they put themselves in the spotlight they need to be able to take it.
BUT this is vile vile stuff and i hope they catch the bastard that wrote it.

Wabbit Ears · 25-03-2015 9:35pm

Richard dawkins did it better (lots of bad language)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuowNcuGsc

Valetta · 25-03-2015 9:38pm

crazygeryy wrote: »

Celebs (if you'd Call George that) are open to criticism,they put themselves in the spotlight they need to be able to take it.
BUT this is vile vile stuff and i hope they catch the bastard that wrote it.

Correct and right.

That wasn't criticism, and anyone who says "get over it" "move on" etc. it implicitly condoning such vile behavior.

Baron Kurtz · 25-03-2015 9:43pm

It was probably a self-penned memo written in a moment of drunken sincerity

K4t · 25-03-2015 9:48pm

crazygeryy wrote: »

BUT this is vile vile stuff and i hope they catch the bastard that wrote it.

And do what with them exactly? What is the charge? As far as I can see, they simply suggest that Hook should commit suicide; not the nicest thing to say to somebody but not exactly a death threat either!

seamus · 25-03-2015 9:50pm

I think it's primarily down to some people being so miserable in their own pathetic lives that the only joy that they can get is knowing that they made someone else's day a little worse.

Kermit.de.frog · 25-03-2015 9:50pm

The worst thing about the internet is it has given an anonymous platform to the worst type of imbecilic, nasty, mentally unhinged idiots you could ever come across and before the arrival of high speed cheap broadband you would extremely rarely see their contributions to humanity.

seamus · 25-03-2015 9:50pm

K4t wrote: »

And do what with them exactly? What is the charge? As far as I can see, they simply suggest that Hook should commit suicide; not the nicest thing to say to somebody but not exactly a death threat either!

Sending abusive mail (by post, text or email) is in fact punishable in law.

Taxburden carrier · 25-03-2015 9:55pm

K4t wrote: »

Deserve aint got nothing to do with it ~

Was that not Clint in Unforgiven?

kneemos · 25-03-2015 9:56pm

seamus wrote: »

Sending abusive mail (by post, text or email) is in fact punishable in law.

Probably why it was by untraceable mail.

K4t · 25-03-2015 9:58pm

seamus wrote: »

Sending abusive mail (by post, text or email) is in fact punishable in law.

Is it abusive? Is it a once off letter or one of many, which could then perhaps constitute continuous abuse? If we started arresting and charging everyone for an abusive post, text or email in this context, then half the country would be guilty! It's quite funny imo, the opening line is a classic.

George handles it well, and gives back as good as he gets. No need for the law here.

Baron Kurtz · 25-03-2015 9:59pm

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The worst thing about the internet is it has given an anonymous platform to the worst type of imbecilic, nasty, mentally unhinged idiots you could ever come across and before the arrival of high speed cheap broadband you would extremely rarely see their contributions to humanity.

A bit like Boards then.

conorh91 · 25-03-2015 9:59pm

georgiecasey wrote: »

i read recently Claire Byrne got 'cyberbullied' as well. basically someone said in a comment on a journal article, not direct to her, that she was:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/beware/i-refuse-to-look-at-social-media-because-of-abusive-messages-rtes-claire-31083964.html

seems pretty tame to me and don't think it's bullying. ya need a thicker skin than that if you're in public eye

That's not all the poster said. According to the line immediately prior to the part you quoted:

The writer wanted her to take the maximum amount of maternity leave or not return to TV at all.

I can well imagine that if you're lying in a hospital bed after delivering seven pounds of baby through your body, you'd see red too. I'm not a big Claire Byrne fan but I wouldn't criticize her for quietly taking that poster aside.

What harm? I'm sure she'd take a similar stance if someone made that comment face-to-face at a party or a function, or after an RTE debate.

Thing is, the same internet poster would probably never dare say that to Claire Byrne's face.

The internet is real life, with the same repercussions. Spewing garbage and insults is no more acceptable here than face-to-face. People need to get used to that.

George Hook speaks out after receiving hate mail.

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