If you have followed the sports and/or Pittsburgh news over the past few days, then you know that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of sexually assaulting a hotel worker while he was staying there last year.
My first reaction, upon hearing it was a civil (not criminal) suit and that the accuser took about a year to come forward, was the allegations were probably false. But the more I read into, I have to wonder if there is not some truth to these charges.
About 15 years ago, while I was a server at a nice restaurant, I was sexually harassed by the chef, who was notorious for doing this sort of thing. I remember it pretty well: I was walking back from the table I had just waited on with "Chef," who put his arm around my waist and into my belt loop. I thought nothing of it at first, being a friendly and "huggy" person. Then I remembered my skirt did not have a belt loop. I then realized, as I was walking into the servers' area, that he was actually unzipping my skirt! Fortunately, my hips kept the skirt up.
I seem to recall somewhat jokingly punching Chef and calling him a jerk or some other name, while he laughed. I also remember the guys in the kitchen laughing about it, although I don't recall if I or Chef told them what had happened. I do remember being pretty embarrassed, though. But I figured what could I really do. Chef thought it was a big joke and apparently others did too. What good would it do me to press charges over something that most people would quickly dismiss?
I am not trying to say what happened to me is anywhere close to what allegedly happened to this woman. But the parallel is, is that if I was too embarrassed to do anything about my minor situation, I can understand why a woman who was actually assaulted (assuming she was) may hesitate to do anything right away.
I also know too many people who have gotten themselves into a situation like the Big Ben one. Maybe this girl was flirting with Big Ben and he took it as an open invitation. Perhaps she tried to fight him off, then stopped for any number of reasons.
I had a friend in college who went home with the quarterback one night after a party. She was perfectly willing to make out with him, but he wanted to take things further. And he did, at least partly, thanks to his size and strength. In fact, he made a comment such as he was the quarterback and most girls would love to be in her situation.
One can argue that she should not have gone home with him, especially since both were drinking. And that was probably part of the reason she never did anything about it. But an intelligent person should also understand that when she said no to him, that should have been it. Yet it often is not, especially where famous people are concerned.
No matter what the outcome is, there are no winners in Big Ben's situation. If he did it, then he is more than a louse, and she is the one who has had to suffer for it. And if their relations were consensual or if they did not happen, then shame on her for tarnishing his reputation. Clearly, she has got some serious problems, whether they are mental or just pure greed.
Unfortunately, someone has to be lying, and we may never know who is.
My first reaction, upon hearing it was a civil (not criminal) suit and that the accuser took about a year to come forward, was the allegations were probably false. But the more I read into, I have to wonder if there is not some truth to these charges.
About 15 years ago, while I was a server at a nice restaurant, I was sexually harassed by the chef, who was notorious for doing this sort of thing. I remember it pretty well: I was walking back from the table I had just waited on with "Chef," who put his arm around my waist and into my belt loop. I thought nothing of it at first, being a friendly and "huggy" person. Then I remembered my skirt did not have a belt loop. I then realized, as I was walking into the servers' area, that he was actually unzipping my skirt! Fortunately, my hips kept the skirt up.
I seem to recall somewhat jokingly punching Chef and calling him a jerk or some other name, while he laughed. I also remember the guys in the kitchen laughing about it, although I don't recall if I or Chef told them what had happened. I do remember being pretty embarrassed, though. But I figured what could I really do. Chef thought it was a big joke and apparently others did too. What good would it do me to press charges over something that most people would quickly dismiss?
I am not trying to say what happened to me is anywhere close to what allegedly happened to this woman. But the parallel is, is that if I was too embarrassed to do anything about my minor situation, I can understand why a woman who was actually assaulted (assuming she was) may hesitate to do anything right away.
I also know too many people who have gotten themselves into a situation like the Big Ben one. Maybe this girl was flirting with Big Ben and he took it as an open invitation. Perhaps she tried to fight him off, then stopped for any number of reasons.
I had a friend in college who went home with the quarterback one night after a party. She was perfectly willing to make out with him, but he wanted to take things further. And he did, at least partly, thanks to his size and strength. In fact, he made a comment such as he was the quarterback and most girls would love to be in her situation.
One can argue that she should not have gone home with him, especially since both were drinking. And that was probably part of the reason she never did anything about it. But an intelligent person should also understand that when she said no to him, that should have been it. Yet it often is not, especially where famous people are concerned.
No matter what the outcome is, there are no winners in Big Ben's situation. If he did it, then he is more than a louse, and she is the one who has had to suffer for it. And if their relations were consensual or if they did not happen, then shame on her for tarnishing his reputation. Clearly, she has got some serious problems, whether they are mental or just pure greed.
Unfortunately, someone has to be lying, and we may never know who is.
Comments
One of the most striking observations about this case is how Mcnulty’s story is almost exactly the same as the false story that Kate Faber (who’s name was protected in the media even after it was proven that she lied) made against Kobe Bryant. So, either Roethlisberger decided that he would actually follow the script of the Kate Faber false rape story but actually rape McNulty… or… McNulty simply decided to copy Faber’s false rape story…
Her lawyer even refuses to comment. It’s the lawyers job to comment. If her story was true, it would benefit her case for her lawyer to comment as much as possible, because it would sway the public to be sympathetic to her case. The only strategic reason for her lawyer to not comment at this juncture is to avoid being locked into one story. The only strategic reason for her lawyer to not comment is to leave open the option to continue to fabricate and change her story.
I’ve also observed that Andrea McNulty has already given contradicting stories for why she never reported the accusations to the police. In one version, she says that she thought reporting it to hotel security was the same as reporting it to police, because she thought that hotel security would contact the police. In another version of her story, she says that she was afraid to report it to the police because she was afraid that the hotel would side against her. The problem with her stories is that if she was afraid to report it to the police, then why did she supposedly report it to the hotel security when she thought that it would be the same as reporting it to the police? If she was afraid that the hotel would side against her, why did she report it to them at all?
I still am stuck on the fact that this woman waited so long AND filed only a civil suit. I read some guy's blog post about this. He posted a pic of this Andrea, and even though this makes me sound like a jackass of a guy, I have to agree with him that Ben probably would not force himself on her. That does not mean he did not, but it is just unlikely. Guys like that can get hot girls, so why wouldn't they? Now if this woman threw herself at Ben, he might go along. Notice that Ben said he did not sexually assualt this woman; he did not say he did not know her, that he was not with her, etc.
I heard on KDKA one day last week that some woman who knows this Andrea said she made up a soldier boyfriend and said he was killed and then went to counseling about. Again, no idea if this is true or not, but if so, it paints a pretty troubled picture of this woman.