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New York Times Staffer Death-Threatens Author, for Unveiling Alleged NY Times/ Gawker Impropriety –
NY Times’s Lawyer to Times Staffer: Hide Misdeeds from Google –
Gawker’s Nick Denton Threatens to Fire/ Blacklist Any Journalists Tasked with Reporting on Misconduct
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Jeffrey Henson Scales, a New York Times photographer and editor, and/or his wife Meg Henson Scales, also a former New York Times contributor, have admittedly and continuously harassed and violently threatened author Abbe Diaz for well over a year now— for unveiling an alleged New York Times impropriety involving their daughter, NY Times "essayist," Coco Henson Scales.
Despite being warned not to contact Diaz (nor any affiliates of the PX This website) in accordance with the Aggravated Harassment report filed by Diaz with the Detective Squad of the New York Police Department, persistent malicious messages by the Henson-Scaleses (which were originally posted as comments to Diaz on the PX This website under such pseudonyms as “Wanda Smith,” “til8x8x8is4,” and “Jesus Palacios”) have included such malevolent sentiments as [entirely sic]:
“if you don’t take your shit about Coco?? You WILL lose the bullsit you have… ll change your mind. Keep an eye on your front and your back: WHORE.
You disgusting piece of smegma. I’d go to the electric chair laughing, if I only got to kill you.”
“… I will tell you this, though. IF I ever find your twisted weave within reachin’ distance of me, I will likely break your neck- if you have one, you no-necked piece of filth… I hope you die soon. I’ll keep my eye you, cunt.”
“you keep that shit lies about Coco? you fucking bitch. you twat. wannaget raped?“
“Keep talking about Coco Henson Scales. You must think actions doon’t have consequences”
Married a millionaire, my ass… Turning tricks for old men… Please. Just kill yourself. Make the world a better place.”
“… This is you first and last warnings. Take down your vicious drag queen sheet about Coco and Meg (I know them both); or your shit’s bout to be fried.
You ain’t nuttin but a losin, fugly, stupid bitch, with nuttin to work with.
Why you don’t kill yourself?
Jes sayin. YOU AIN’T SHIT.
Coco and Meg may not be able to hurt you, but WE WILL. NOW.”
Multiple attempts have been made to contact The New York Times, and an NYPD Detective has tried directly phoning the Henson-Scaleses, to no avail. Throughout this entire extended period, neither Abbe Diaz nor any associate of PX This has ever received a direct response from either The New York Times, its legal counsel, nor its Public Editor (whose responsibility “deals specifically with issues of journalistic integrity“).
Rather, the The Times’s sole acknowledgement of the direly unscrupulous matter was issued by New York Times Assistant General Counsel, David McCraw, in a response letter apparently penned to Times staffer Jeffrey Henson-Scales, as legal advisement against Abbe Diaz’s staunch implementation of her First Amendment Rights (in addressing the persistent harassment and threats on her websites and ongoing memoir). McCraw’s written counsel to Scales was quoted verbatim and posted in the comment section of the PX This website by Meg Henson-Scales.
PX This has reached out via email to Times General Counsel David McCraw for clarification on his remarks, which included the suggestion that the Henson-Scaleses retain a "reputation management company" to "push the unpleasant content way down in a Google search," but, again, to this day, has received no reply.
This story will continue to be updated as it progresses.
* * *
The apparent motives and complete timeline of the cyber-harassment and physical threats are as follows:
• In late May of 2004, Abbe Diaz publishes her first book, titled PX This – Diary of the “Maitre d’ to the Stars” [née Diary of the Potted Plant], chronicling over four years of her experience within the fine-dining industry, in its original dated and time-stamped daily journal format.
[It’s worth noting that in the four-plus years it took Diaz to write and publish her daily journal, never had there been any such “star-studded” publication by a front-of-house restaurant worker.]
• In early June 2004, Diaz advertises PX This on Gawker for two weeks.
• On July 11 2004, an article appears in the New York Times titled, “The Hostess Diaries: My Year at a Hotspot,” ostensibly written by “Coco Henson Scales.” It describes several incidents involving such celebrities as Naomi Campbell, three former first daughters of the United States, and Monica Lewinsky.
The owner of the “hotspot,” Karim Amatullah, later asserts that quotes attributed to him were never confirmed for veracity, the essay was never fact-checked by the Times, and that certain events narrated in the damaging essay “never happened.”
Additionally, the article fails to disclose in any way that “Coco Henson Scales,” the ostensible author of the pejorative essay, is the daughter of a New York Times staffer.
• On July 12 2004, Choire Sicha, the head editor of Gawker, praises and lionizes the Times essay on the media-centric blog, calling it “required reading.” He states that he has checked the identity of “Coco” and that she is indeed a “real person,” as confirmed by “somebody who used to work in an office with her.”
Sicha further promulgates the essay on his own blog, choiresicha.com, and deems Coco Henson Scales “the people’s hero.”
Sicha fails to disclose in any way that “Coco Henson Scales” is the daughter of a New York Times staffer, nor does he disclose his own romantic relationship with Frank Bruni, the foremost restaurant columnist for The New York Times.
• Immediately, multiple fans of PX This send e-mails to Gawker comparing the “required reading” essay to Diaz’s book, with at least one noting that PX This had been advertised on Gawker mere weeks prior.
• On July 15 2004, Choire Sicha e-mails Diaz asking for the “campaign” to “stop.” He calls himself a “big fan” of Diaz.
• Diaz responds to Sicha with a link to a just-published July 15 New York Daily News article announcing the release of PX This. Sicha responds, “mmm hot,” but does not publicly acknowledge the existence of PX This in any way, nor its obvious similarity to his “required reading” essay— despite PX This having been advertised on Gawker less than four weeks prior.
• Over the following years, Diaz is subjected to journalistic transgressions and unethical deeds of varying degrees on multiple accounts— including libel, censorship, and unwarranted denigration— by Gawker, The New York Post, New York magazine, Eater, etc. It’s notable that Eater’s founder is a former managing editor of Gawker, and that at least one New York magazine editor is a former head editor of Gawker.
• In March of 2008, the dubious New York Times essay by "Coco Henson Scales" is published in a collection of short stories edited by Ira Glass, titled The New Kings of Nonfiction. The book fails to disclose in any way the relationship of the "essayist" to a New York Times staffer.
• Starting in 2010, Diaz [still unaware as to the relationship of Coco Henson Scales to a NY Times staffer] attempts to hire a freelance journalist to pen an objective investigative report on “how, against all odds, a 4200-word semi-fictional essay by a fledgling (and now, seemingly non-existent) writer with admittedly very little expertise and no upper-tier title in one’s field, came to be published in the venerable New York Times as a substantial nonfictional feature— particularly without any ‘questions asked’ nor ‘arguments clarified’ nor ‘factual errors caught’ (as per the Times’s Op-Ed submissions page).”
In the six years since the publication of the 2004 essay, Coco Henson Scales, a “king of nonfiction,” writes nothing further. Absolutely no online presence exists for Coco Henson Scales.
• In 2012, Diaz offers the writers of Slacktory the investigative reporter challenge. Nick Douglas, the owner of Slacktory responds, "ATTENTION SLACKTORY WRITERS: Any of you who take this job will be summarily fired, and your health insurance retroactively revoked. I have orders straight from Nick Denton, [owner of Gawker] for whom I still obviously work."
• In July 2014, Abbe Diaz releases her second book, titled PX Me, detailing her decade-long experiences. Within it, mounting evidence alleges that Choire Sicha, Frank Bruni, and Coco Henson Scales colluded to misappropriate her work in order to garner a “book deal” and/or “screen option” for themselves.
Diaz speculates that the dubious essay was in actuality ghost-written by Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni (seemingly buttressed by the corroboration of writing stylometry software developed by Drexel University academicians) and was then subsequently lionized on Gawker by Choire Sicha, Bruni’s former romantic partner.
Diaz also discovers the relationship between Coco and Jeffrey Henson Scales, a New York Times photographer/editor, and the current whereabouts of “Coco Henson Scales” aka Coco Tigre Phillips.
She further asserts that Gawker owner Nick Denton colluded in the suppression of the mounting evidence detailed in PX Me, by threatening to blacklist freelance journalists.
• The New York Times and its Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, are contacted via e-mail three times over a period of several weeks, requesting comment/clarification on Diaz’s published allegations. The Times does not respond.
• In August of 2014, Jeffrey Henson Scales writes in his Tumblr blog (created June 2014) revealing Times “essayist” Coco Henson Scales as his daughter. He further attempts to clarify that the dubious essay in question was commissioned by NY Times Art Editor Barbra Graustark.
This, ten years later, is the very first disclosure of the relationship of the “essayist” to a Times staffer; it is the very first disclosure that the disparaging and damaging essay was specifically commissioned by an editor of The New York Times.
• Starting in October of 2014, “troll” messages by "Wanda Smith" and user-handle "til8x8x8is4" begin to appear on Abbe Diaz’s websites. They state such things as:
"Abbe is a moron- a hostile, filthy, moron. Let’s not worry. She’ll be gone soon, like every thing she’s attempted to ‘rite’."
"I hope ALL that parfum helps to cut that nasty stank emanating from your STD ass. You are the WORST. Bitch. Ever."
They are oddly reminiscent of two 2004 e-mails sent to Diaz by a "William Diggs" immediately following the publication of Coco Henson Scales’s essay— despite the NY Times and Gawker never having acknowledged/publicized the existence of PX This. [In 2004, Diaz’s book and website were primarily considered "esoteric."]
"You must be a horrible disappointment to yourself to call Coco such horrible names. Somewhere in you, you must know that your restaurant job isn’t"moonlighting"; that you’re a total failure. I know her, and she’s great. You, clearly, are much less than that. One thing, though– I didn’t know they had maitre d’s at Burger King. Are you volunteering, or what?"
“You have so little class (unlike Coco), and are obviously so beneath EVERYone, I don’t think I’ll bother with you anymore. You’re nothing but an under-educated foul mouthed wretch. You’ll be on the sidelines cursing at your betters forever. Tata, loser.”
• On November 18 2014, a threatening message is left on Abbe Diaz’s website:
“Your head is so far up your ass. Because YOU haven’t a scintilla of talent, you assume coco is (puke) like yoour nothing ass.
Let it go. She wrote it. She didn’t like the writer’s life, and lives happily with her husband and daughter.
I will tell you this, though. IF I ever find your twisted weave within reachin’ distance of me, I will likely break your neck- if you have one, you no-necked piece of filth.
Coco has something you lack- talent,looks, personality, and a life that isn’t buried beneath a pile of shit. That’s you.
I hope you die soon. I’ll keep my eye you, cunt.”
The IP address is the same as those responsible for the prior malicious messages.
• On November 26 2014, the Time Warner RoadRunner IP address behind the malicious and threatening messages is online-traced and cross-referenced to a location one-half block from the residence of Jeffrey Henson Scales, in an unusual section of Manhattan. The assumption of Jeffrey Henson Scales’s innocence constitutes a statistically impossible coincidence.
• On November 28 2014, a report was filed with the New York Police Department, who deemed it Aggravated Harassment. On this website, the perpetrator of these threats was warned against further contacting Diaz, this website, nor any of its affiliates using a concealed identity.
• On December 19 2014, another threatening comment, signed "Meg Henson" was left on this website. It reads:
"… But now? I’m coming for you. Watch out, whatever you are. I don’t stop, and I don’t lose. Say ONE more lie about my wonderful TALENTED daughter, don’t make this pile of shit page disappear, and I guarantee you. You will regret it. What?!? You’re garbage and you know it, clap your hands? Clap them nasty things. I will have EVERY law enforcement agency on your nothing else SO quick. Ask around, it. You need a job! This ain’t one. Married a millionaire, my ass. NO ONE would marry you, or even befriend you. Why? Because you’re a liar, an EDP, and you need to be institutionalized. When I get your highly hidden name; it will become the prejorative for cowards. That’s what you are. Self publish, it. NO one wants you. No one. Except the police. At this point, I officially acknowledge that you are a threat to my life, and that of my family. And I WILL stand my ground, you nasty piece of nothing. Yes. I am here for you. Come find me! Let’s see what happens then, fugly mind, soulless, unwanted, it. Come get some. File this under BYE! You’re gone."
It was followed hours later by another message stating:
"Your failed life sounds miserable. Turning tricks for old men,deluding yourself into thinking you’re a writer? Please. Just kill yourself. Make the world a better place."
Diaz considers the blatant psychological projection of the continuing messages "disturbing" and "alarming."
• On December 20 2014, the evidence of continuing harassment and threats was filed with the New York Police Department.
• On February 1 2015, MORE threatening and abusive messages were left on Abbe Diaz’s other website. They include malicious sentiments such as:
“you keep that shit lies about Coco? you fucking bitch. you twat. wannaget raped?“
and
“Keep talking about Coco Henson Scales. You must think actions doon’t have consequences. But you are a sychopath. Arent you?“
Unlike all the prior messages, they were posted with the use of a free server proxy which distorts IP address locations and masks the identity of the online service provider. These messages have been traced to an empty field in a remote rural area of Utah.
• On February 14 2015, another threatening message was left on Diaz’s website. It reads:
“if you don’t take your shit about Coco?? You WILL lose the bullsit you have… ll change your mind. Keep an eye on your front and your back: WHORE.
You disgusting piece of smegma. I’d go to the electric chair laughing, if I only got to kill you.”
• On April 17 2015, Meg and/or Jeffrey Henson Scales reconfirm their cyber-harassment by leaving more messages via Facebook:
“Just enjoy your ‘rich husband’ (pics? No? awww)…"
• On May 18 2015, Meg Henson Scales continues the cyber-harassment of Abbe Diaz by emailing this website via Gmail:
“ … Are you transgender or schizophrenic? What’s your deal, pobrecito?…Try me. You think you’re made now? Whew! Try me. I am so done with you… You should be finished, now. And take down those vile lies about us, or you’ll always be Poor. Always. Be. Poor.
Always.
Think about it a lot harder, crazy,
You will either be in jail, or always be poor. Or both!”
Henson’s email address has been online traced to the same residence as the original IP address under which the harassment began.
• On June 17 2015, another harassing message was left on popular Q&A website Quora in response to the question, "How does a false story get into The New York Times?" Although screen-captured and posted to the PX This website, the “answer” was promptly deleted by Quora administrators upon its discovery, and anonymity privileges were revoked against its registered user to prevent further abuse of the social media platform:
“Abbe Diaz, whoever the fuck IT is… If it spent nearly as much time trying to learn it’s place in the world… It should STFU, because the wheel turns. It turns slowly,but it does turn.“
• On August 31 2015, a new “hidden” message was left on the PX This website via its "search function":
“Your lies are getting ready to cost you, nobody.”
Another message signed “Meg Henson” was also left at Diaz’s other website, stating:
“… you psychopathic piece of shit. Let’s meet soon. You name the place.”
The new Time Warner Roadrunner IP address behind these messages, despite being slightly different from the original IP address under which the cyber-harassment began, was online traced to the very same vicinity in an unusual section of Manhattan, one-half block from the residence of New York Times staffer Jeffrey Henson Scales.
• On November 6 2015, "friends" of Jeffrey and/or Meg Henson-Scales issue an additional threat against Abbe Diaz via e-mail to the PX This website, using a disposable guerillamail address:
“… This is you first and last warnings. Take down your vicious drag queen sheet about Coco and Meg (I know them both); or your shit’s bout to be fried... YOU AIN’T SHIT. Coco and Meg may not be able to hurt you, but WE WILL. NOW.”
• On December 10 2015, Meg Henson-Scales contacts the PX This website via its comment section, and encloses the aforementioned "response" by New York Times Assistant General Counsel, David McCraw, in rebuttal to Diaz’s multiple allegations of impropriety and harassment.
The NY-based TimeWarner-Roadrunner IP address under which the latest comment was posted, although somewhat different from the other IP addresses under which the harassment has progressed, was online traced to the very same Manhattan vicinity as the other IP adresses, all previously traced to the same vicinity as the Henson-Scaleses residence.
• On March 11 2016, more messages are left on Diaz’s websites, signed “Meg” and “Meg Henson Scales.” They include an untenable demand to “cease and desist” reportage of the proceedings depicted in this account, and additional fallacious accusations:
"poor souls like yourself, who are tormented by mental disease… you will regret it enormously… the voices won’t stop unless you get help!!!! Poor thing!!!! … I know who you are now."
PX This has consulted with a PhD Psychologist (who wishes to remain nameless) regarding the persistent sentiments expressed by the Henson-Scaleses. The resulting determination includes the opinion that the messages "exhibit a cognizance absent of reality" and "symptoms of Psychological Projection, *in which humans defend themselves against their own unpleasant impulses by denying their existence while attributing them to others" –that represent a "mental state" which historically/ frequently results in "physical harm to others and/or to one’s self."
Diaz finds this diagnosis worrisome.
[* Wikipedia – Psychological projection]
• On May 26 2016, the Henson-Scaleses reaffirm their persistent harassment of Abbe Diaz by e-mailing the PX This website under the very same e-mail address used previously to transmit a prior message.
This latest e-mail appears to employ a different strategy from all their prior correspondence; although maintaining a fallacious and blatantly disingenuous claim of innocence, it is the first message to Diaz and this website that does not contain any threats, insults, nor profanities.
"You then tried to get my husband fired… Think about it… I would like to go on believing that people don’t try to destroy other peoples’ lives, just because they’re not fulfilled in other areas… Take it easy, Meg"
It’s worth noting again that Abbe Diaz, and/or any affiliates of PX This, have received absolutely no communication whatsoever from either The New York Times nor its General Counsel, despite multiple attempts to contact them regarding the persistent online harassment by their staffer and other journalistic improprieties allegedly perpetrated by their organization.
As a matter of fact, Diaz’s most recent consultation with an attorney has elicited merely this informal opinion:
"If the NY Times were to terminate an employee, that could be perceived as an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and/or a collusion on their part regarding the misdeeds perpetrated by any individuals in question."
Ironically, it would seem that Abbe Diaz has, in actuality, inadvertently salvaged Scales’s career with The New York Times, due to The Times‘s apparent refusal to acknowledge, respond, or investigate Diaz’s dire accusations of journalistic misconduct– in complete contravention of the basic tenets of ethics outlined by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Diaz has penned a reply to "Meg" with the intent to publish it on her own websites and ongoing memoir. However, under the advisement of the New York Police Department and a Psychiatric Doctor who deem the perpetrator of the persistent harassment "potentially injurious, unstable", and/or "dangerous," Diaz has removed the open response from public view.
• The New York Times has been contacted on numerous occasions but to this day has not responded. This story will continue to be updated as it progresses.
Previously: NY TIMES STAFFER ENGAGES IN CYBER-HARASSMENT / PHYSICAL THREATS
See also:
• The Curious Case of Coco Henson Scales
• Media Colludes in Cover-Up of Media Scandal
• New York Magazine Admits Censorship/ Collusion to Cover-Up Media Scandal
• Should I pay $10,000 for this writing assignment?
• Journalists = Rocket Surgeons
• Freelance Writer Wanted
*** This post has been updated throughout. ***
Tags: CHOIRE SICHA, COCO HENSON SCALES, CORRUPTION IN THE MEDIA, FRANK BRUNI, GAWKER, JEFFREY HENSON SCALES, KARIM AMATULLAH, NICK DENTON, THE NEW YORK TIMES
December 26th, 2014 at 9:37 AM
https://www.quora.com/Is-the-New-York-Times-slipping-journalistically/answer/Steven-Wilson-21?share=1
February 6th, 2015 at 11:38 AM
I wish I could tell you to sue the crap out of all of them, but I know how expensive that can get.
February 6th, 2015 at 8:24 PM
Abbs, I know that you guys have been deleting our comments responding to this sick person due to legal reasons, but I just wanted to say be careful. I am here for you if you need ANYTHING.
February 7th, 2015 at 12:35 PM
Abbé I think Bettr Call Saul is right. This is getting out of hand.. NY Times won’t respond??? Time to LAWYER UP. Yes it is going to be expensive but you can also sue for legal fees, will take a long time but you can’t just lie down for this BS. We are here for you, we got your back!!
February 19th, 2015 at 1:14 AM
Meg Henson Scales came into my radar recently and I thought it was frightening to see those same words echoed in the comments printed here. Check out this article from North Carolina where a playwright unfortunately used some of Scales writing without permission. While I’m usually one to side with the author being plagiarized, reading the nasty letters Meg sent and the comment she left regarding the article, I have no sympathy with her whatsoever. I hope Abbe Diaz mops the floor with her and that all Meg’s battles be “extremely painful and extraordinarily costly.”
Note that the article in question was written over a year ago, but Meg’s nasty soul commented just a few days ago which should give some idea of how long she’s been in the harassment game.
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/chaunesti-webb-her-play-at-manbites-dog-theater-and-the-woman-accusing-her-of-artistic-theft/Content?oid=3804090
February 26th, 2015 at 9:58 AM
– Chance
Very interesting, kind of ironic.
But I read Abbe’s books, and I think the reason that Jeffrey Henson Scales is being named more aggressively here is because, although Meg Henson may be a “nasty soul,” it proves from her comment and her writing (which Abbe does address in PX Me) that she is NOT this stupid nor practically illiterate.
But then again we haven’t seen the emails sent to that playwright either.
Certainly adds a new twist to things…
December 10th, 2015 at 12:32 PM
I want to thank you for that tangled web you wove.
My first cousin, whom I was raised with (we’re nine months apart in age), died on Thanksgiving Day. My TWIN brother died on March 4 of this year.
I was diagnosed with a blood malignancy, and underwent 90 days of chemotherapy, beginning July 27, 2015. I nearly died. I know this must please you.
I am in the “90 days after” phase now, which has not been deathly; but I am in constant physical pain. I cannot go into daylight, without wearing an SPF of 50 or more. SPF is like wax. I cannot do it, since it makes me perspire, since it literally smothers my skin. My perspiration washes the sublock off, so I develop second degree burns.
This has disfigured me, substantially. You may know (since you’ve spent so much time maligning me), that I was the first black Juniors model for Jantzen. I mistakenly believed I was not vain. Boy, was I wrong!
One of the things that puzzles me– other than your truly hateful mission– is that anyone, it seems, who attempts to defend me, you deem as me! Do you honestly believe that I have absolutely NO friends?
But I just wanted to thank you, for making one of the worst years of my life, a little easier. It put you in perspective.
I hope you are proud of yourself. You took my daughter’s success as an affront. You ridiculed my efforts to let you know that she did write the essay in Style, and that her success should not have any impact upon you. She did not ‘steal’ your ideas, nor your experience. Frank Bruni does not even know my daughter.
I choose to trust in the Lord, to make this right. I don’t see anything wrong with you self-publishing your book. But as a writer of decades, I can confirm that there is nothing ‘new’ under the sun.
You can win, if that is what is important to you, anonymous. That you hide under the psuedonym “Abbe Diaz”, is indicative of at least a trace of shame around your true identity.
I am glad that you no longer bother me. I am pleased that my daughter elected another field, so that she would not have to deal with situations like this.
I hope you get some real love in your life, for yourself. I hope that you find a way to derive pleasure, other than lashing out at others. That is really sad. Next week, my husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary. We have never spent more than two weeks apart, and I love him more now, than I did when we met. I wrote about him, when he had cancer. Twice. You should read this. Perhaps you’ll find a way to twist it, to make it about you– but I don’t care. I just hope, since you seem so taken with me, that you understand how genuine people live- how people who have actual lives and those who love them, live. You sadly seem to lack this in your life. I feel so sorry for you.
http://www.jeffreyscales.com/projects/jeffrey-scales-that-year-of-living.html
Finally, here is the response from the NY Times legal department:
Jeffrey,
Sorry to see this is still going on. Incredible.
Your daughter could of course sue, but that seems like more trouble than it could possibly be worth and the court will just award damages not order the takedown of posts. She could also hire a reputation management company like reputation.com. It will work with her to do some things that push the unpleasant content way down in a Google search. That often helps.
I also think she could ask her editor to write some sort of letter that she could then post in response to these posting. Basically, it would say that the paper has investigated this and have concluded that the claim is totally false. Whether that helps people see the truth or simply keeps the matter alive, I don’t know.
I wish I had some better solutions.
David McCraw
So, there you go. You can either use it as more ammunition, or you can take it as a it is sent. I am praying for you. And I am looking forward to being able to go outdoors, without suffering from second degree burns. What are you forward to?
With God’s Grace,
Meg