The recent groping scandal that shocked so many in both the animation and indie comic scene has little to no presence outside of that world. A recent search online leads to Cartoon Brew and little else on the story. For those part of that scene it's ever more troubling as it's a very small community. Everyone knows everyone and has worked on multiple shows together or is at least a friend of a friend, literally.To recap, Skyler Page, the creator of Clarence, has been let go of from Cartoon Network after a series of tweets went online about him allegedly groping Emily Partridge, a storyboard revisionist on Adventure Time. Tweets and commentary from cartoonists and artists has been spreading over the weekend with many leaving a comment and discussions over safety for women in the cartoon industry; if Clarence will continue and the mental health of Skyler Page being raised.
Jeff Rowe, a friend of Skyler Page's wrote about how bad a shape Skyler is in right now, telling of how Clarence's creator was strapped to a bed in a hospital recently. Here's a snippet:
"On the same day the assault happened, Skyler also walked through the streets shirtless screaming at cops. I saw him try to smoke cigarettes through his nose and drink days old olive juice. He popped in and out of different characters, and answered questions with riddles. And the next day, when me and another close friend drove him to the hospital to get him treatment, I sat with him for hours in the Emergency Room as he sat strapped to a bed singing They Might Be Giants songs and talking like a cowboy."
You can read the rest here.
Emily Partridge shared via her tumblr some answer to questions being asked online including:
- I did not personally act to get Skyler fired. Cartoon Network made that decision on their own without involving me, and the situation between Skyler and I was not the only reason for his termination.
- Clarence will continue without him. it hasn’t been canned. nobody should boycott the show, it has a great staff.
- Skyler didn’t rape me. this is a really messed up rumour that needs to stop being propagated. sexual assault does not equate rape.
Cartoon Brew, the source for much of the info coming out in general, has been attacked for being insincere in its efforts to convey news on the story properly from multiple cartoonists including Emily Partridge herself.
Here's a snippet from her recent tumblr post:
"-that Cartoon Brew article is gross and sensationalist (“exclusive!!! wow!”), it’s a decent compilation of information but please stop spreading it if you have some other option."
In the comments section of the groping scandal article on Cartoon Brew, Niki Yang explained how the "Join the hug force" ad was inappropriate for the article. Niki Yang is the voice of Beemo on Adventure Time and a storyboard artist on multiple Cartoon Network shows. The ad shows the main character, Clarence, hugging three little girls.
"Hi my name is niki yang, I am a storyboard artist on Clarence. I drew that picture of Clarence hugs three girls and wrote the dialogue, "join the hug force". It was a simple joke that clearance tries to include everyone for fun in episode, 'slumber party' . It's nothing to do with skyler and current event. Please stop projecting the current situation on every things from show,'Clarence' . It made for laughs,no hidden layers or codes.And there are comments on social medias say that 'sklyer didnt do much work on show' That's not fair. He worked hard and so did we, every single person on a crew.It's a collaboration. Please don't jeopardize "Clarence". There are many people behind the show. We all still working hard and care about the show."
Questions from Emily Quinn, an Adventure Time production coordinator are raised in her online post as to why Skyler was allowed to work at Cartoon Network with known mental health issues and problems occurring in his past.
