“This is when we were told to move on. When Bryant retired from basketball, it was seen as “not the time” to talk about the rape case because it was a moment of celebration. It would never actually become the right time, which is a lesson you will learn repeatedly when trying to talk about sexual violence”.
This quote stood out to me because another instance of this that I immediately thought of was the Cristiano Ronaldo case, which was actually mentioned as I continued reading this article. It really is a tricky scenario when rape accusations come to sports stars, or celebrities in general, because they have so much at stake; their credibility, their revenue streams, and personal life, and will try to do anything to resolve the issue without making as much noise as possible. And because of the amount of wealth that they have amassed, these celebrities can afford to settle these accusations in court and eventually nothing ever comes out of it again. In regards to “the time” to talk about the issue, I don’t think that can ever be possible because these celebrities will always have so many entities and groups behind them that will try and silence the matter. Of course, people won’t forget and can bring it up whenever they please, but a whole lot of other people will point out that a certain star wasn’t proved guilty and eventually settled in court with the accuser. Thats another big problem when it comes to situations like these, the word accuser. It’s really hard to be given credibility when you’re alone and are faced with plenty of backlash in regards to the validity of your case. And the fact that such matters have no concrete evidence and is only first hand experience, it just really complicates matters.
Lastly in regards to Kobe’s situation, he will always be considered as one the best to ever do it, but there is a blemish in his career that one can’t simply ignore. Of course, not everyone is perfect and he has changed as seen through his personal life and outside works that he has done off the court. However, the “time” to bring it up is not now because he has lived his life and everyone was or still is grieving or celebrating his life. However, cases like these should be analyzed and talked about when other celebrities or sports stars face similar issues so that justice can truly be served properly.
I think you mentioned a good point about celebrities being accused. Since they have such a famous reputation and people who support them, it’s difficult to know the truth about the case.