Dr V’s Magical Putter (2014)

> a journalist intending no malice

He outed her to investors and likely to business connections through Gary McCord. He could have stuck to the holes in her professional history, which was all that was relevant, but he didn't. He was absolutely muckraking and about a woman he knew had previously attempted suicide.

And this take is too simple as well, just in the opposite direction, attributing something akin to malice to V's actions.

A lot of this shit is frequently essentially defensive in nature - the lies seem easier and importantly safer than the truth. And sometimes they don't just seem, they are. The world is not kind to trans people, yet we lionize "fake it 'til you make it" stories.

Not to mention the undertones of neurodivergance or mental illness that are hinted but their communications - and whether those caused or were caused by so many of these difficulties.

Which isn't to say V deserves no blame, but this story is likely far more complex than even hinted at in the article, and even people intending no harm can cause it.

I agree what Dr. V did is not good in any way and played with other people's trust and livelihoods, but this reporter knows she attempted suicide in the past and knows what he's publicly revealing will completely unravel her entire life. It's not hard to put two and two together on that one. I don't know what the solution is to make her come clean and also protect her at the same time, and you might feel that wasn't his responsibility as a third party, but that doesn't even seem like something he thought about.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have come forward with the information, because it's definitely a complicated situation, not least because he spent almost an entire year researching this topic and didn't want to just throw that away. You've also got the notion of justice for the people she deceived, and the question of how damaging a lie like that is since she wasn't just a scammer but was actually committed to making a good product. But the way the article was written really felt like the author was just relishing in the idea of spreading this hot gossip and making a big story and didn't do any of this consideration beforehand. Maybe I'm reading malice into it where there isn't any because of the very flippant and callous way the author privately outed and was prepared to publicly out Dr. V.