In cases like that of Shawn Rhoden’s accusation of rape where information is still pretty sketchy but, at the same time, the subject is laden with delicate moral implications, things usually heat up very quickly. People’s emotions boil up, so that the dynamics of the public discussion make it really difficult to keep a rational distance to the matter at hand. In such situations, the tone of the different voices fighting over the prerogative of interpretation eventually gets noticeably harsh. Strongman Robert Oberst now delivered a good example of this phenomenon, even though one can rightfully say that his utterances were heavily influenced, if not outright manipulated…
The “Rhoden case” provoked a lot of different and partially extreme reactions: As we have reported during the last days, the American Media Inc. responded very fast and, as one may say, prematurely to the accusation of Rhoden and the issuance of a warrant for his arrest by immediately revoking his eligibility to partake at Mr. Olympia for the coming years. After all, there’s still no substantial proof of Shawn Rhoden’s guilt, and the case has not been treated in court yet.
It seemed as if Shawn Rhoden’s career really took off last year after he won the most important bodybuilding competition and was crowned Mr. Olympia. Nobody had expected the Jamaican-American to prevail against the back then actual title holder and sevenfold winner Phil Heath. But now Rhoden is confronted with serious problems against whose backdrop […]
And while IFBB Pro president Jim Manion acted as a good role model of how to deal wisely with such a situation by releasing a concise, even-tempered and thought-out statement on behalf of his organization within which he unequivocally announced his neutrality on the case for the time being and also expressed his empathy for “all involved“, others demonstrated a much less composed behavior. Strongman Robert Oberst, for example, found some very clear words when asked about the situation with Rhoden by a TMZ reporter in a YouTube video: “Put him in a pen and let other people, let him know how it feels. That’s what he deserves honestly. That’s the truth Between people who treat women like that and people who treat kids like that I got no f—ing pity for them. Put him in a pen, tell everybody what he did.”
However, we should note that Oberst seems to have been steered deliberately into this polemic direction by the TMZ reporter: As one can see in the clip, the US-American strongman is rather careful with his comments at first, since he obviously didn’t know anything about the accusations against Rhoden, let alone about specific details as far as they have come to light. Really surprised about the news, Oberst’s first thing to say about Rhoden is that he, Oberst, “never had a bad interaction with him.” He goes on to explain that every time he would have met the current Mr. Olympia, he would have seemed nice, though this would be typical between athletes who are onstage the whole time and meet within a professional context. The strongman remains neutral up to this point, though: “It sucks, whether it’s true or not, it sucks that it’s out.“
When a celebrity is accused of a serious crime, speculations about the particular circumstances, guilt or innocence of the accused and integrity or malice of the accuser often run wild. Quite frequently, many people judge hastily and primarily based on emotions in such cases. They quickly defend or attack one of the involved parties because […]
But his stance changes drastically from reservedness into indignation and outrage, once the TMZ reporter discloses that Shawn’s eligibility for competing at Mr. O has been revoked and, on top of that, dishes out speculative presumptions, amongst others, that Rhoden would likely be stripped of his title – a claim which, at this point, lacks any substance whatsoever. The reporter claims that there would be “a lot of evidence“, which is, to say the least, a pretty controversial proposition to make, given the rather thin current evidence base. Unsurprisingly, Oberst reacts more and more shocked, repulsed and enraged: “Whatever punishment they can get, they deserve it.” This is affirmatively commented by the reporter with the suggestive words: “Yeah, it’s a terrible thing to happen.” So ultimately, the 34-year-old strength athlete is led to believe that the commission of the crime has already been proven. We won’t hold it against him that he reacts accordingly: “I’ve got a child, I’ve got five sisters, raised by my mother. It makes me feel bad, and it pisses me off.”
Although one could argue that the US-American strongman let himself persuade too quickly by more or less subtle insinuations, loose speculations and outright false claims of the TMZ reporter, the agenda of the interviewer seemed to be geared towards an escalation of the interviewee’s reaction. Since Robert seemingly had been completely unaware of the whole situation with Shawn Rhoden and, therefore, was caught off-guard, he could easily get manipulated into believing in a crime which is nowhere near proven! In our opinion, the interview with Robert Oberst had very little in common with the most fundamental standards of serious reporting.
The post Strongman Robert Oberst demands jail time for Shawn!? appeared first on Gannikus.com.