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Devin Faraci, film critic and editor-in-chief of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Birth.Movies.Death blog, has stepped down from his position after a woman accused him of sexual assault. Faraci, who has been an outspoken critic of GamerGate and a champion of feminist issues, continued being publicly progressive when slamming Donald Trump for comments he made to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush a decade ago. In the leaked recording, Trump talked about how he responds to attractive women: "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
Soon after Faraci condemned Trump for his comments, a woman on Twitter accused Faraci of actually groping her genitals, right around the same Trump and Bush were having their lewd conversation.
(Photo via Twitter)
Literally stuck his hands down my pants at a bar while I told him to stop, then told our friends he had 'fingerbanged me'
— Caroline (@spacecrone) October 9, 2016
I've avoided making that public for over a decade but I guess my rage at trump has uncasked the Gorgon in me.
— Caroline (@spacecrone) October 9, 2016
Faraci responded to her by saying that while he didn't remember the incident, he begged her forgiveness.
Faraci has since stepped down from his position at Birth.Movies.Death (formerly known as Badass Digest), where he most recently wrote a post calling Netflix's Luke Cage "a snooze." He also released the following statement, according to Variety.
This weekend allegations were made about my past behavior. Because I take these types of claims seriously I feel my only honorable course of action is to step down from my position as Editor-in-Chief of Birth.Movies.Death. I will use the coming weeks and months to work on becoming a better person who is, I hope, worthy of the trust and loyalty of my friends and readers.
BMD also published a post about the allegations and Faraci's departure via Managing Editor Meredith Borders:
I'm sure many of you have heard that Devin has stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of Birth.Movies.Death. I'm here to assure you that the site and magazine will continue, with a team of smart, passionate writers dedicated to bringing you the best in pop culture news and conversation today. Devin built this site into something we're proud to continue and grow in his absence. We are a community, and you are a crucial part of that community. We're eager to move forward, together, with all of you.
The accuser has apparently spoken with Alamo Drafthouse's Tim League about the incident and the allegations. She told Variety:
"I am really happy that it sounds like Devin is interested in getting help about this, and I’m open to any accountability processing that might be part of his treatment," she wrote. "I really hope this can be a moment of self-interrogation for all of us, myself included, about the ways we might use positions of power to silence people, and the ways we all turn away from things that might seem a little too complicated to deal with."
Twitter is now full of people who haven't been fans of Faraci for a while, including some who say this behavior is not particularly surprising.
Devin Faraci has attacked my friends, people I look up to, colleagues, & called my spouse's cell to harass him. He's a poor writer & person.
— Xtine Makepeace (@Xtine_Makepeace) October 10, 2016
Devin Faraci used his power to punish people who challenged or upset him. His pettiness undermined his good work. Good riddance, I hope.
— MZS (@mattzollerseitz) October 10, 2016
This would not be the first time Twitter has been used as a platform to make allegations of assault against a public figure. Back in January, musician Amber Coffman of the Dirty Projectors accused Life or Death PR and Management's Heathcliff Berru of sexual misconduct, which let to an outpouring of allegations from other women. Berru ultimately stepped down from his position as CEO of the company. And in November of 2015, adult film star Stoya tweeted that she had been assaulted by her former partner and fellow adult performer James Deen, which led to numerous other women sharing their own stories of alleged assault by the actor.
