I’d like to address the issues brought to my attention regarding our new freelance contributor, EJ Rosetta. I had a conversation with EJ after allegations of harassing tweets surfaced. We investigated these claims and ultimately found her behavior to be regrettable, but forgivable.
We were initially eager to hire EJ after she wrote on Twitter about failing to complete an assignment from her former employer, which was assigned as “20 Transphobic JK Rowling Tweets We’re Done With.” After 12 weeks of research, EJ was unable to find any transphobia in JK Rowling’s writing. We loved her authenticity and integrity in this thread. EJ is a lesbian and a former contributor for HereMedia, Diva and HuffPost. With these credentials, we invited her to submit. After we accepted and ran her first story, we were made aware of her involvement in a Twitter storm, which called into question her suitability to write for us.
EJ posted some now deleted tweets involving Standing For Women’s Kellie-Jay Keen, a well-known woman advocating for the rights of women and girls, and a woman I highly respect. EJ, a member of Standing for Women, took to Twitter to respond to some allegations about her motives. A statement from EJ posted here the following day apologizing for her tweets re: her involvement with Standing For Women has been discussed. I asked EJ for her comments, and they are as follows. “I’d like to apologize for my behavior in the form of some aggressive Tweets in response to some of Standing For Women’s members and fans. I extend my sincere apology to Standing For Women, of which I am a member, and the tweets have now been deleted and a full apology issued both publicly and privately. I wish them the best in the future and will not engage in any more Twitter tantrums.”
I reiterate that I do not condone EJ’s conduct on that day. Going forward, I want to reassure our readers that AfterEllen remains a female-centered, supportive outlet for same-sex attracted women. AfterEllen editor-in-chief Jocelyn Macdonald and I have invited EJ to write for us again, and I am confident in our future collaboration with her.
