He's certainly no Ian Watkins.
Nobody comes out of this looking good, in my opinion.
Being a middle-aged bloke and finding a 17 year old girl sexually attractive isn't against the law. Christ, it might not even be against the law to fuck them - assuming they're capable of consent. However, if you're a middle-aged bloke and you do decide to partake in some shaggery with said 17 old, you're a sleazy old pervert, regardless of how legally permissible the act might have been. We all know that Andy allegedly shagged Virginia. So, whether or not she was coerced is completely irrelevant. He's allegedly a dirty old pervert for allegedly shagging a 17 year old. Allegedly.
Virginia Giuffre, on the other hand, has just proven herself to be the alleged whore that some people were allegedly labeling her as from the beginning. Allegedly.
Granted, nobody is making all the right choices at 17. You could 100% make the case that Jeff and Jizz manipulated a vulnerable young girl into shagging older men for money. And you'd be absolutely right. Those two were 100% wronguns. In that respect, she was a victim. But as you quite rightly point out, there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of girls (many far younger than 17) having a far worse time of things, in far less comfort and for far less money than Virginia was. That's not to say she was in a good situation, but it could have been a far worse one.
Anyway, that's not why she's a whore (allegedly). She's a whore, allegedly, because she took a settlement after publicly stating that he had no interest in financial gain from the case and her lawyer stating that “I think it’s very important to Virginia Giuffre that this matter be resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindicates the other victims.”
So, vindication for the other tens of thousands of current sex trafficking victims around the world is, in fact, accepting a massive payout from Andy to keep your mouth shut and move on with your life. I bet that makes all those other victims feel super vindicated.
Well, at least she can claim to be the highest paid prostitute on record. After Melania Trump. Allegedly.
Really, though, at the end of the day, this is no more of a story than that fucking vapid Instagram argument thing between two footballers wives a few links back. This kind of shit is going on every single day, with very real, very vulnerable young people. The fact that so few of us really stop to consider that until it involves some celebrity sleaze is somewhat depressing.
Everyone who hasn't, should look out a documentary called 'Who Took Johnny'. Gives a much starker look into the world of child exploitation than this fucking car crash of a case was ever going to.
(, Tue 15 Feb 2022, 22:57, Reply)
98% of civil cases end in settlement.
Her job was to maximise the settlement on offer by convincing him that she would take him to court. This is why you hire lawyers. Do you understand?
(, Wed 16 Feb 2022, 14:57, Reply)
or her future was quietly and emphatically threatened,
obliging her to take the cash and fuck off
(, Wed 16 Feb 2022, 19:10, Reply)