Coren's a wrongun

[Gurke and Hare]

One of the very, very few times I've agreed with Julie Burchill was when she wrote about how nepotistic and middle/upper-class the journalism industry is, and how it's not what you know but who you know and who you're related to, and the net result is twats like Coren getting column spaces despite being completely useless.

That's true, but it also makes me wonder what Burchill burst into the bubble based on, after all it's not merit, is it?

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

The Foster comment was obviously horrible but at least he deleted it. I guess he'd had months of being riled by her dismissive nepotism comment, got stewed a few days after she died and thought fuck it.

He's admitted that being Alan Coren's son was an advantage to him, but it obviously means a lot of people will call you a lucky, worthless sponge - which if you actually are a very good writer (which I think he is - probably on my own here) will rankle.

What he wrote was nasty, but worse things have been written here about people we hate.

Twitter is a different matter. I've done some terrible, terrible, terrible things, and I've ended a lot of friendships, and basically my neighbours don't speak to me.

[AllisonSays]

Perhaps there's the germ of a thoughtful point about fatherhood, masculinity, the weird intimacy of raising a child, the way it changes your relationship to sexuality, etc, there, but of course to germinate it into an ideaflower you'd need not to be a moron and a cunt.

[Kankurette]

That's true, but it also makes me wonder what Burchill burst into the bubble based on, after all it's not merit, is it?

Tony Parsons?

[Dayraven]

That's true, but it also makes me wonder what Burchill burst into the bubble based on, after all it's not merit, is it?

Can't really say about that, but I'm not sure there's a lot of difference between how Coren got there and how Burchill's stayed there.

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

By the way, if anybody has a Times subscription and doesn't mind posting the whole piece here, I'd quite like to see the rest of it, to see if it balances it out or makes it even worse.

I read the original magazine piece at the time. I remember thinking the sexy comment was a little offbeat and thinking he might get flak for it, but I didn't get any paedo vibes from it.

I think the woman who tweeted the photo he took of his daughter a few days ago is weirder, for what it's worth.

[idunnosomename]

Gawd I'm surprised more of you don't know Alan Coren. That said he was rather banal and massively overrated.

And for his piece of shot son, I thought this published the the other day was a good summary.
https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/the-subtweet-and-unsackable-giles

Warning, gets quite sordid and depressing that someone so angry, pervy and completely untalented just gets free reign in the UK media because people know who his dad is.

[poodlefaker]

I think it was merit for Burchill, originally. She got into the NME on merit, along with Parsons and Morley; she was young and edgy, her writing has style and energy and she could hack it out to a deadline, which suited her to the weekly broadsheet column grift. I guess being a very highly paid professional troll for 25 years turns you into a dreadful person.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

What he wrote was nasty, but worse things have been written here about people we hate.

Bit of a difference between stating something within a club of like minded people than shouting it across the entire internet for everyone to see. As you say, he must also have belatedly realised that.

To rejoice in a young disabled woman's death so moronically all because she had the courage to challenge the privilege of a well connected powerful industry figure who effectively inherited an easy route to a job for life shows what a contemptible heap of shit he is. His blasé fecklessness that characterises his every utterance is born of that entitlement and privilege and it would be truly fantastic to see that permanent smirk wiped off for good.

[BlodwynPig]

"At least he deleted it"

Forgives all sins

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

*Post removed by request*

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

"At least he deleted it"

Forgives all sins

Not what I implied.

I just meant in the sense that he knows it was too much. He wouldn't have thought no one will have seen it.

[Chollis]

cast iron paedo

[madhair60]

cast iron paedo

yeah, 100%. Hard drive must be rammed

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

We've been here before, of course.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/giles-coren-leaves-twitter-after-claiming-owen-jones-followers-harangued-his-family-at-home/

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

cast iron paedo

Is this scale similar to wedding anniversaries.

Titanium paedo?

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

Warning, gets quite sordid and depressing that someone so angry, pervy and completely untalented just gets free reign in the UK media because people know who his dad is.

Gary Lineker's usually quite hot on tweeting transgressors out, but he's one of Giles's drinking and dining mates.  👍

[dissolute ocelot]

I think it was merit for Burchill, originally. She got into the NME on merit, along with Parsons and Morley; she was young and edgy, her writing has style and energy and she could hack it out to a deadline, which suited her to the weekly broadsheet column grift. I guess being a very highly paid professional troll for 25 years turns you into a dreadful person.

The music weeklies traditionally employed a lot of young people, many of whom were not great writers, but she was more memorable than most. Compare Caitlin Moran, who got started in a similar way.

The reason for well-paid columnists seems to be this idea in British newspaper publishing that people will buy a paper (or, I guess, take out a Times subscription) just to see what Burchill or Littlejohn or Clarkson or whoever is writing. If you sell more newspapers by hiring someone, it makes sense to pay them lots of money, and it's cheaper than doing investigative journalism or even just good journalism. So really, it's the public who are cunts.

[MoreauVasz]

It's such a weird phenomenon though as no other country seems to have as large a section of the commentariat made up of well-connected 'baffled middle class dads' and 'hand-wringing feminist mums'.

I'm reminded of the fact that about ten yeads ago, the Guardian handed a column about science fiction novels to this absolute gimp who seemed to be neither a published author nor a regular reviewer. For years he'd spend his time crowd-sourcing column ideas on twitter and then dumping these astronomically bad takes. The Graun's actual reviewers are usually published authors and/or practiced critics but this dude? I can only assume that he was someone's nephew. No expertise, no wit, no insight, just dull and stupid opinions.

[jobotic]

I'm fairly certain Coren also accused a woman of colour who was on some programme that he was on of only being there to make up the quotas. Think it was him anyway, could have been one of the many many others.

On other words, her presence and employment was unearned.

[thehungerartist]

The likes of Giles Coren and Jay Rayner can write, at least.

Max Gogarty, anyone? North London's Shame has carved out a decent media career on medium talent.

[Sebastian Cobb]

There's a bit in the film Twins where Danny De Vito comes to the realisation he's basically been compiled from genetic dregs.

This is how I feel about Giles, although I do realise that Victoria isn't his twin sister.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Is this scale similar to wedding anniversaries.

Titanium paedo?

Paedoak

[Ambient Sheep]

Or it could be an attempt at a sort of shock humour?

That's why I wanted to see the rest of the article, to see if there was more context to it.

Like when Rhys Ifans of Notting Hill fame went on radio a few years ago and said the reason people want to fuck kids is because they're so fucking sexy, or something like that. Attention seeking.

Don't remember that, but on a similar note there was this, also from the Noel Clarke thread:

Didn't Rod Liddle come out with something pretty iffy too?

Said he didn't become a teacher because he'd have probably tried to shag the kids, or something along those lines.

"could not remotely conceive of not trying to shag the kids", to be clear.

Not just finding something about teenagers attractive or something about the fetishisation of youth and its imagery playing on his mind, or even deciding that on balance his desires and urges might pose an unacceptable risk, but being thoroughly unable to imagine himself not attempting to fuck "kids".

Yes, that was the one.  Thanks, you two.

Or maybe Coren has an undiagnosed psychological condition?

It's a distinct possibility, I suppose.

[Egyptian Feast]

I'm fairly certain Coren also accused a woman of colour who was on some programme that he was on of only being there to make up the quotas. Think it was him anyway, could have been one of the many many others.

On other words, her presence and employment was unearned.

Yeah, that was him.

[Pijlstaart]

Watching Quarrel-giles badoosh a traffic inspector with a chunk of dislodged curb has been the privilege of my life. Great art is born from the fires of anguish and the tortured existence of lost but handsome wanderer Giles Coren is the furnace from which all of Earth's majesty springs. He is the unreconstructed man that 90s women coo for, and if he does ever don a child's leotard in the midst of an award-winning sex-fug, well, it would through juxtaposition only enhance his raw masculinity. How poignant that those oaken hands would find as much comfort curled around a pen as they would a woman's neck, and a penis too, they sing for him, a song of ink and cum. The bible teaches that when Jesus, Son of God, came into this world to virtuously badoosh a temple merchant with a chunk of dislodged curb it was the alt-left that cried nepotism and had him crucified, think on that awhile.

[Ambient Sheep]

Perhaps there's the germ of a thoughtful point about fatherhood, masculinity, the weird intimacy of raising a child, the way it changes your relationship to sexuality, etc, there, but of course to germinate it into an ideaflower you'd need not to be a moron and a cunt.

Agreed.

I read the original magazine piece at the time. I remember thinking the sexy comment was a little offbeat and thinking he might get flak for it, but I didn't get any paedo vibes from it.

Interesting, thanks for that.

I think the woman who tweeted the photo he took of his daughter a few days ago is weirder, for what it's worth.

Yeah... I was rather conflicted over that, which is why I only linked it and didn't include it directly into my post.

I can't decide whether the photo is completely innocent, or a deliberate attempt to ape a scene from Nabakov, or anything in-between.  I guess in the light of the earlier article it can come across as disturbing to some, but I honestly don't know what I think about it.

[Brundle-Fly]

Doesn't Coren have really bad anger issues and he wrote a book about it? Those tweets sound like somebody has drunk too much vino. Not even Caligula would get that annoyed about her tweet.

[dissolute ocelot]

And for his piece of shot son, I thought this published the the other day was a good summary.
https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/the-subtweet-and-unsackable-giles

Warning, gets quite sordid and depressing that someone so angry, pervy and completely untalented just gets free reign in the UK media because people know who his dad is.

Reading that, it's striking how mild what she said about him was. It wasn't a long diatribe about the evils of nepotism or a claim that he's an evil, talentless bully, just a lighthearted remark: "Giles Coren: a prime example of how the 'if I've heard of yer da, I don't need to hear from you' rule holds for almost every man bar Jesus." If a rightwinger said that about someone else, Coren would doubtless defend it as a joke.

[Ambient Sheep]

Doesn't Coren have really bad anger issues and he wrote a book about it? Those tweets sound like somebody has drunk too much vino. Not even Caligula would get that annoyed about her tweet.

Yes, I do get the impression that a lot of his really bad tweets are the result of too much alcohol.