Former CW Exec’s Lawyer Cries ‘Ableism’ in Audacious Response to ‘Forcible Touching’ Charges
Back in 2017, Arrowverse executive producer Andrew Kreisberg was suspended from his duties on shows including Supergirl and The Flash due to allegations of sexual misconduct that included touching and kissing women without consent, asking for massages from female employees, and sexualized comments about women’s appearances or “desirability.”
At the time, Maureen Ryan, pop culture journalist and author of the book Burn It Down, reported on the allegations after speaking with 19 sources. This month, Ryan reported on new allegations against Kreisberg, as well as his arrest.
In a new piece for Vanity Fair, “Disgraced Warner Bros. Producer Arrested for ‘Forcible Touching’ at Bar Mitzvah,” Ryan reports on new allegations against Kreisberg from March of this year. Kreisberg, who now lives on the East Coast, was attending a bar mitzvah in Westchester County. An unnamed female guest in attendance, who was friends with Kreisberg’s wife, was standing at a high-top cocktail table facing the dance floor and enjoying the party when Kreisberg approached her.
The unnamed guest said the following in a statement to police:
“[Kreisberg] approached me at the table. While we are standing at the table, Andrew gets behind me and starts putting his hands all over my arms and back. He then slid his hands around my waist, grabbed my waist firmly, and thrust his fully erect penis into my buttocks twice. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on until I felt Andrew shove his fully erect penis into my buttocks. When I realized what was going on, I screamed, ‘What the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck away from me.’ Then I went to the bathroom.”
Per Ryan, another party guest corroborated that the accuser told them about the incident the next day and “was crying” and an “emotional wreck”: “I’ve known [name redacted] my whole life and I could tell she was struggling with what she was describing.”
Kreisberg was charged with “misdemeanor forcible touching” and voluntarily surrendered to the Pleasantville police on March 23. He was arraigned on the same day, posted bond, and was released two hours later. In August, the Pleasantville Village Court granted an “Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal,” meaning that as long as Kreisberg continues to comply with certain conditions set by the court, including psychiatric therapy, the charge will be dismissed and the record will be sealed in February.
Kreisberg’s lawyer cries “ableism” in the most ableist way possible
Obviously, Kreisberg’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, is going to claim that her client is innocent. However, she managed to do so in the most infuriating way possible—by referring to both the charge and Ryan’s reporting as “ableism.”
In a statement Richman sent to Ryan, she said the following about the charges brought against her client:
Mr. Kreisberg was arrested based upon a citizen’s claim/arrest. The Office of the District Attorney had no part in the charging or arrest procedure. Upon evaluation of the allegation, interviews with the complainant, and evidence (video and text), which belied the allegation, the prosecution determined the matter should be dismissed.
In essence, this alleged instance of dancing at a bar mitzvah was not deemed to be criminal.
Please note this was not some random citizen but one of a set of women who had grown up with Mrs. Kreisberg and were disparaging of her husband because they did not understand his neurodivergency. This is classic ableist bullying, sadly by adults.
Richman proceeds to throw the accusation of “ableism” at Ryan’s feet, saying the following:
The District Attorney’s Office carefully reviewed this matter and Mr. Kreisberg’s history. It would seem part of the inspiration for the false allegation was your article of 2017 which was referenced in the review of this matter. It too was not seen as elevating of any concern as to Mr. Kreisberg.
Mr. Kreisberg remains a very talented creative person. He is misunderstood for being a neurodivergent individual who is socially awkward. Your article will be another event of the ableist bullying of people who are neurodivergent as they are misperceived.
She then claims that Kreisberg was already in therapy for PTSD, “caused by [Ryan’s] original article in 2017.”
HOW. FU*KING. DARE she use neurodivergence to try and explain Kreisberg’s conduct. As a neurodivergent person married to a neurodivergent spouse with neurodivergent friends and family all over various spectrums, I can tell you there’s a huge difference between “socially awkward” and touching someone without their consent.
There’s definitely a thing where socially awkward neurodivergent folks can sometimes come off “weird” or even “creepy” to people, but they’re usually so self-conscious about how they’re perceived that they’d never even get to a point where they’d be in the realm of touching someone.
The accuser is someone who knows Kreisberg’s wife, and knows Kreisberg by association. Is it possible that someone with that level of proximity could be guilty of “bullying” him for his neurodivergence? Of course. People are mean to neurodivergent folks all the time, wittingly or unwittingly, to their face or behind their backs, for their perceived “weirdness.”
But does it make any kind of sense that someone who knows him would go through the trouble of pressing actual charges with the police over a “misunderstanding” about a neurodivergent person’s behavior? Especially knowing him and knowing he’s neurodivergent? It seems like such a stretch to believe that someone who didn’t experience a violation would want so badly to be so mean to a neurodivergent person that she’d be willing to deal with a police report and court papers and lawyers just to … what? Mess with Kreisberg?
It’s infuriating that Richman is claiming ableist bullying in regard to Kreisberg’s conduct. She is essentially arguing that neurodivergent people can’t help their own behavior; that neurodivergent people are just gonna make neurotypical people uncomfortable all the time, and you just have to deal with it. I’m sorry, but no they do not.
My nephew is autistic, non-verbal, and has always had issues with his motor skills, his body often moving involuntarily. He communicates using the Spell to Communicate (S2C) method, and has described his experience by saying (I’m paraphrasing) that his brain knows what to do, but it’s as if it’s not connected to his body, so he can’t always get his body to do what he wants. There have been times as he’s gotten older (and bigger) that his hugs have been a little too tight for me, or he’s grabbed me more firmly than I would’ve liked, but:
- Knowing him and his neurodivergence, I was never angry with him. I would simply remove his arm or hand and remind him that he should try as best he can to remember his own strength and to let go after a few seconds.
- The touching was never inappropriate. “Obviously” he wouldn’t touch his aunt inappropriately, but I feel like this needs to be said because justifications like Richman’s seem to be riding the line and saying that neurodivergent people have no control over acting inappropriately. So, essentially a neurodivergent person would do that to anyone, right? They “can’t help themselves,” right?
- Over the years, through lots of work at school and with his parents at home, my nephew has made so much progress in taking ownership of his body and having more control. As a young adult now, he’s even able to say a few words! In other words, even the most neurodivergent person in the world can take steps to better navigate the way their bodies and minds work to coexist comfortably and peacefully with neurotypical people if they choose to.
Randomly grinding up against someone with your genitals at a party and calling it “dancing” and “having fun” is not “misunderstood neurodivergence.” One has to make the choice to do that. It is a choice to ask female colleagues for massages, kiss female colleagues, or touch female colleagues. (And only female colleagues, not male colleagues. Somehow these behaviors are only directed toward women, so Kreisberg is capable of controlling himself and not being “creepy” to a certain degree.) If you are told to stop that behavior, and you don’t make the effort to do so, that is also a choice.
“Socially awkward” people get walked away from. Predators have charges brought against them. How dare this lawyer throw neurodivergent people under the bus in the name of fighting “ableism.” If only that energy were directed toward fighting sexual harassment and assault instead.
(featured image: Warner Bros. Television)
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