By Sandy . . . A life has ended, the life of a man with a unique talent, a successful career, and, at 41, the expectations of a brilliant future. The circumstances are heart-wrenching but not unfamiliar.

Ed Piskor wrote what appears to be a suicide note on social media and was subsequently found dead on April 1, 2024. Nothing more is currently officially known about how he died. According to the New York Times, it was “. . . about an accusation of sexual misconduct that led a gallery in Pittsburgh to indefinitely postpone an exhibition of his work.”

Ed, a gifted comics artist, was the creator of, among other notable works, the “Hip Hop Family Tree” and “X-Men: Grand Design” and was scheduled for a five-month exhibition of his work, announced by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to open April 6 at 707 Penn Gallery, an art gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was abruptly cancelled and announced to be postponed indefinitely after a woman made an accusation on social media that the artist had tried to “groom” her when she was 17.

An accusation. Nothing suggests an official complaint to the police, only an accusation; a rant; and words from what are purported to be his texts to her posted on social media.

That’s all it took. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust rushed to cancel his upcoming exhibition at the eleventh hour before it was due to open. Ed could see the handwriting on the wall. The ongoing social media pile-on of vitriol would have done nothing to give him any hope that he could receive a fair hearing on the subject.

As media coverage points out, he wasn’t under arrest. He was not charged with a crime. It is quite possibly doubtful if charges would have been filed even if an actual complaint had been made.

But that didn’t matter. It didn’t even matter whether the accusation was true or not. Any attempt he made to explain would have been ridiculed as his making excuses, his trying to justify his behavior, his trying to cover up his guilt.

Surely it was with this in mind that he wrote, “I’m helpless against a mob of this magnitude” and “Now it’s all gone. Art show evaporated . . . I have no friends in this life any longer. I’m a disappointment to everybody who liked me. I’m a pariah” and, as relayed through his agent Bob Mecoy, “. . . no matter what the circumstances were, what the truth of the situation was, his career was over, and what he had to offer would be objectionable no matter what he did . . .”

He ended his last message with “Sayonara.”

The next is total speculation and can easily be dismissed as coming from an over-imaginative writer’s brain.

What if . . . her accusation had been that he tried to kill her–or he tried to burn down her house–or he tried to overthrow the government? Would the railing against him have been so one-sided? Or would there have been an equal or greater number asking that she show some evidence, advising her to file a complaint with law enforcement? Would the Pittsburg Cultural Trust have so quickly shut down the upcoming exhibition? Or would they have announced a belief in innocent until proven guilty and bravely allowed the exhibit to open as announced?

But that wasn’t the case. The accusation was not for murder nor for arson nor for sedition; it was for sexual misconduct.

Back to reality:

This accusation alone is enough to destroy careers and end lives, figuratively if not literally.

Roy Price, abruptly removedfrom his position as the head of Amazon Studios due to a an accusation that never led to charges, can attest to that.

Cliff Hite, a senator in the Ohio legislature, resigned suddenly following a complaint from a woman that he engaged in “inappropriate behavior” with her.

Actor Ed Westwick was fired from his role in Ordeal by Innocence after allegations from several women, allegations that were never charged due to lack of evidence.

The revelation that one has a historic sexual offense conviction is a death knell wherever it sounds.

It kept Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, from continuing a political involvement career path—40 years after the misdemeanor sexual incident for which he served a few months in jail.

It destroyed the aspirations of college athlete Luke Heimlich, a “shoo-in” for the MLB draft and a projected brilliant professional baseball career—until a newspaper found and “outed” his juvenile sexual offense.

In a case very similar to Ed’s, it caused a Maine art gallery to remove works of art by Bruce Habowski after he was identified as having, at some previous point in time, been listed on Maine’s sex offender registry.

Allegation of any of a dozen crimes will be met with, “Where’s your proof?” “What evidence do you have?”

Allegation of any of dozens of sexual offenses or inappropriate behavior has immediate and long-lasting consequences, destroying careers; ruining futures; even taking lives.

We were all taught, “. . . words can never hurt you.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The post If sticks and stones can break your bones, what can words do? first appeared on NARSOL.