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INTEREST: Voice Actor, ADR Director Daman Mills Accused of Sexual Misconduct


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Alchemistii22



Joined: 09 Mar 2022
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:51 am Reply with quote
I have some concerns about the way this is written, and the moderator's comments in the discussion. First, the article isn't at all clear or timely about the relative ages of the involved parties, despite the moderator's insistence. It feels exactly the opposite- that the article intentionally seeks to make their ages unclear. Then, the article only clarifies the legality of any alleged sexual contact in the second-to-last line. Third, the article doesn't clarify that the perpetrator hadn't yet started his career, and had no real clout to leverage. There's no mention that this is *not* a story about professional power dynamics. Fourth, the choice of language repeatedly seeks to maximize the salaciousness of the activity. Finally, the moderator makes the strange claim in the coments that stories like this don't generate income. What is ad revenue? Why do tabloids exist? Are salacious articles about celebrities behaving badly money-losers? Please!

I'm happy in general that ANN felt this was an important announcement to make, because it gives other potential victims the opportunity to speak. Time will tell if more people come forward, or if more information about this case comes to light. But is this objectivity? Does the style of this article really adhere to professional journalistic ethics? Or is it tabloid-esque sensationalism? How would NYT or WSJ have written this article?

I don't expect ANN to be NYT or WSJ. But I definitely don't want it to be the National Enquirer. I hope the author will reflect on that for their future writing. That said, I again commend them on speaking out generally.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4850
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:49 am Reply with quote
Kametsu Mirza wrote:
If I turn out to be mistaken, I will gladly eat my words and admit to being wrong, I just don't think it's fair that 'believe all victims' has become a potential weapon that could be used against anyone at any time regardless of actual validity. Honestly, the whole scenario just looks like high school drama more than an actual sexual assault
Did you really just sign up for an ANN account just to declare yourself a sexual assault apologist?
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Godaistudios



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2075
Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment)
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:49 am Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:
Top Gun wrote:
Counter-suing and claiming the relationship was "consensual" when it was with a 14- or 15-year-old. What the actual ****.


To be fair, "Duncan" was 16 the first time Mills allegedly touched him. So Duncan was over the age of consent in Ohio. The article tries to make it clear that the first alleged sexual contact was when he was past the legal age of consent.

Regardless, I still wouldn't call what is described by Duncan as remotely consensual.


It could be argued that he was grooming him until it was legal.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:50 am Reply with quote
This article was reviewed by a member of the board of the Society of Professional Journalists before publication. They wrote the book on journalism ethics, so to speak.
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 14 Dec 2012
Posts: 1397
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 3:32 am Reply with quote
Alchemistii22 wrote:
that the article intentionally seeks to make their ages unclear. Then, the article only clarifies the legality of any alleged sexual contact in the second-to-last line. Third, the article doesn't clarify that the perpetrator hadn't yet started his career, and had no real clout to leverage. There's no mention that this is *not* a story about professional power dynamics.


Uh, all that seems pretty clear by the third paragraph of the article, actually.

Quote:
According to the alleged victim, the incidents took place between 2014 and 2015, when the man was a high school student and Mills was 20 to 21 years old.

Quote:
he met Mills via Facebook when he was "just a shy, quiet, and anxious" 15-year-old boy. He said they began talking in December of 2012 when the yet-undiscovered voice actor was living in Hawaii.

Subsequent paragraphs covering the timeline specify ages for particular moments, mentioning "Duncan" was 16 during the first molestation, and mentioning Mills celebrating his 21st birthday when he tried to pressure "Duncan" for oral sex. From there the timeline is laid out with the months and years being listed where relevant.
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capt_bunny



Joined: 31 May 2015
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:47 am Reply with quote
Well.... this is ironic

KitKat1721 wrote:
This to me is so far removed from the Vic situation. He never had any sort of creeper reputation either among fans or fellow industry peers (if anything he's more so had the reputation of being a talented class act considering how many directors have really sung his praises over the years). Not to mention he has been super active in working with multiple studios on on different shows. He was just announced in several the past couple weeks.


I wish I could be surprised but I'm not. Most people who preach or show off of having good morals tend to be awful people. Being on the internet for over 15 years has made me realized this. I have never heard of this guy but all I see in the comments about this guy are about how great he is and supportive of victims. Despite the situation I see now.... It sucks because we should always supportive of victims. However, I've seen this situation too many times I've come to doubt those with fanbases.

I'm no saint. Just knowing humans are always gray.
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Aresef



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 910
Location: MD
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 8:57 am Reply with quote
Kametsu Mirza wrote:
People are so quick to point out the similarities between Daman and Vic but not the differences. Vic was a predator who used his fame to harass multiple people, fans and colleague alike. There were definitive testimonies from multiple people that showed both sides of the story, not 2 screenshots of past text messages that could easily be skewed out of context. Daman on the other hand wasn't even part of the industry at the time wasn't in a position to leverage fame of any kind. If I turn out to be mistaken, I will gladly eat my words and admit to being wrong, I just don't think it's fair that 'believe all victims' has become a potential weapon that could be used against anyone at any time regardless of actual validity. Honestly, the whole scenario just looks like high school drama more than an actual sexual assault


Only one of the parties was in high school. Let’s not minimize what is alleged to have happened here.
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:09 pm Reply with quote
Kametsu Mirza wrote:

The thing about the screenshots of the texts is that they conveniently only paint Daman in a bad light. We know nothing of the context of the rest of the conversation
Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
How dare allegations that show somebody doing something bad show them doing something bad.


No, this is a completely fair comment. Unfortunately this article only shows the alleged victim's side of things, and he has chosen what to share. There's enough material in the evidence that he has provided to warrant an article, but it is still one-sided.

Because Mills declined to comment, his side of the story is missing.

-t
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:35 pm Reply with quote
Alchemistii22 wrote:
First, the article isn't at all clear or timely about the relative ages of the involved parties, despite the moderator's insistence. It feels exactly the opposite- that the article intentionally seeks to make their ages unclear.


I disagree. The article is very clear about Duncan's age at specific alleged events.
15 when they met. 16 The first time they allegedly shared a bed. 17 at Mill's birthday party.

Quote:
Then, the article only clarifies the legality of any alleged sexual contact in the second-to-last line.
This is only half true. The article points out, at the very end, that the age of consent is 16 in Ohio, and it's clearly pointed out earlier that "Duncan" was over that age. However, this information is only there for your interpretation, it doesn't imply anything about the legality of the contact; even though Duncan was old enough to consent, the allegations are that he did not consent. We can't spell this out for you in the article, it would have been "analysis." Even putting the age of consent in the paragraph about the first sleepover would have been "leading," not just leading, but leading towards an incorrect conclusion; it would have been bad journalism.

Quote:
Third, the article doesn't clarify that the perpetrator hadn't yet started his career, and had no real clout to leverage. There's no mention that this is *not* a story about professional power dynamics.


The article does mention that Mills was an "as of yet undiscovered voice actor," and it later mentions that after the alleged incidents Mills had received some important voice acting jobs. I'll grant that the article doesn't explicitly state that he was not yet famous during the sleepovers or the birthday party, so there is some validity in your point. The information is there for the reader to conclude themselves, but perhaps we should have pointed it out explicitly.

Quote:
Fourth, the choice of language repeatedly seeks to maximize the salaciousness of the activity.


Example ? I don't see this, but if you point it out, maybe I'll see your point and take it into consideration for the future.

Quote:
Finally, the moderator makes the strange claim in the coments that stories like this don't generate income. What is ad revenue? Why do tabloids exist? Are salacious articles about celebrities behaving badly money-losers? Please!

1 - I'm not a moderator.
2 - I did not say that. I said it was bad for business.

Quote:
Does the style of this article really adhere to professional journalistic ethics?

The article was vetted by the absolute highest level of journalism ethics advisors that is possible in the United States. I prefer not to publish her name because the kind of people that we deal with in regards to these articles would likely harass her (in the past they've published pictures of our staff and journalist's children, homes, and addresses) but I'd be happy to share a link to her professional profile privately if you would like.

Quote:
I don't expect ANN to be NYT or WSJ. But I definitely don't want it to be the National Enquirer. I hope the author will reflect on that for their future writing. That said, I again commend them on speaking out generally.


Thank you. We certainly aspire towards the former. Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate constructive criticism.


Last edited by Tempest on Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:

No, this is a completely fair comment. Unfortunately this article only shows the alleged victim's side of things, and he has chosen what to share. There's enough material in the evidence that he has provided to warrant an article, but it is still one-sided.

Because Mills declined to comment, his side of the story is missing.

-t


^ I agree this is also a fair take.

I see a lot of the posts that does heavily imply that Daman was doing some creeper shit, but at the same time, I'm sure that he was advised NOT to talk about it publicly because of how the situation ended up with Vic.

Daman should be able to defend himself, and if it does turn out that it was made for him to look worse than the situation was involved then...we should accept that. I hate it, but it's not wrong.

However, one of the screenshots that I saw made me feel like this is more of a complicated situation than suggested, and the last part was when Daman apparently talked to Duncan at the end and they parted ways. So maybe he actually apologized? Or maybe he dipped?


Last edited by tygerchickchibi on Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:37 pm Reply with quote
Godaistudios wrote:
It could be argued that he was grooming him until it was legal.
Yes, it certainly could.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:30 pm Reply with quote
tygerchickchibi wrote:
So maybe he actually apologized? Or maybe he dipped?


According to the linked public document written by Duncan, Mills has never apologized to him.
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Blueberry Pitbull



Joined: 09 Feb 2022
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Wow… This guy… This scumbag has been very vocal and harassing Vic Mignogna, who was falsely accused and even three years later there's no evidence against him. Yes, there's evidence that Daman sexually assaulted a minor.
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Sven Laguz



Joined: 07 Feb 2019
Posts: 41
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:24 pm Reply with quote
From what I've heard, the guy has been trying to issue C&D orders. Either way, this be some serious business.
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 5:01 pm Reply with quote
ANN_Lynzee wrote:


According to the linked public document written by Duncan, Mills has never apologized to him.


Thanks for confirming. I read it the night before but I really didn't absorb all the information, so sorry about that!

For now, it sounds like he definitely dipped Confused
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