Can’t believe I’m writing this, but in fairness to Rosie, “knowing” in the sense of hearing rumors is different than “knowing” in the sense that really allows someone to take action.
I agree, but — and I am not criticizing Rosie O'Donnell per se here — I think pointed Twitter criticisms such as hers are ill advised. This Brave New World of hurling serious accusations at people in public forums — as opposed to in civil or criminal courtrooms — and having the world declare people “Guilty” without a trial is frightening. We don't mind when the people being accused are as unsavory as Harvey Weinstein, but the practice is not going to stop with Weinstein or Kevin Spacey. Rosie O'Donnell, who, for all her faults, is someone who would not hurt a child, in my opinion. Yet, she does happen to have an angry adopted child out there who already has denounced her in the media. What is Rosie O'Donnell going to say if that child should make spurious allegations of sexual abuse? By sending out this tweet about Kevin Spacey, O'Donnell has endorsed the guilty-without-a-trial mentality, as well as the nobody-lies-about-sexual-abuse argument.
It's a solid point, but if she's really that outraged about it, shouldn't she have tried to convince one of the victims to come forward about it?
Very true and there are laws against libel and slander and if you don't have proof then you can end up in court and it can cost you fat stacks especially when you are talking about ruining the career of someone in Hollywood who gets paid in checks with 7 figures printed in the area where you indicate the amount.