MODERATORS: Why was the Ben Vereen thread deleted?

I am not someone who has been very vocal in all of controversies on this board surrounding posts getting censored. Generally, I haven't gotten worked up about it, even during the debates around [a particular actor in a Disney show who shall not be named]. I sort of figure it's your right to enforce your own site's rules, and even when I don't agree: c'est la vie.

But I have to ask about this Ben Vereen thread.

First I'll say that there was a large time gap between when I last checked the thread (around 2pm?), and when I noticed it was deleted (just a few minutes ago). So if I missed a crucial turn in the conversation during that gap, then I apologize in advance for this post being irrelevant and uninformed.

But if your objections were simply to the fact that we were discussing sexual assault allegations of two well-known people in the industry, I have to object. These allegations are on record on news sites, and have been discussed on this board before without having threads deleted. I understand that you wouldn't want people on this board throwing around loose and baseless defamatory statements. But when there have been articles written about a person's misconduct, doesn't that give us the freedom to discuss it on this board without violating the "personal attacks" rule?

Also, I think your deleting of the thread left a particularly bad taste in my mouth given the actual sentiments expressed within it. I, and a few others, were lamenting the fact that the entire Broadway community has collectively chosen to ignore the allegations against these two individuals, and that it seems to have been brushed under the rug - despite the fact that the Broadway community claims to be so progressive and just.

So by deleting the thread, you have become part of the problem.

EDIT: Also, I would like to point out that I have deliberately worded this post in such a way that I am not directly accusing any specific individual of anything. You'll notice that I used Ben Vereen's name only as a means of identifying which thread from earlier I am referring to. I did this so that you won't delete this post, and instead you will hopefully give me a straightforward response.

Updated On: 9/4/19 at 01:27 AM

Deleting the thread seems entirely consistent with the reaction of the Theater Community as a whole - to ignore the allegations and continue to celebrate the accused until it becomes impossible to do so in the face of insurmountable evidence.

Alexander Lamar said: "The censorship has really gotten out of hands here, but I really really don’t like ATC. Are there any other Broadway focused message boards anyone frequents?"

I originally tried to discuss Broadway on reddit. But the discussions there are pretty quiet.

Our policy on these matters has always been that discussing published reports is completely acceptable. However, unpublished gossip and accusations are not permitted on the board. If someone has first-hand information in cases like these, we are happy to help individuals contact journalists who will be able to investigate and potentially report on those circumstances.

If you would like to explore that option, you are welcome to PM or email (moderator[at]broadwayworld[dot]com) us. But, discussing rumors and hearsay is not permitted, and will be deleted. This is simply not an appropriate forum to handle those types of discussions.

If you have further questions. You are welcome to send us a message, and we will gladly discuss them. If you would like to start a new thread for these types of issues, we welcome those conversations, as long as they stick to the legitimately reported, researched, and investigated cases that have been published by established media outlets.

I hope that reiterates our positions on these types of cases.