John Waters complained on RTÉ today that he was libelled on Wikipedia, and told by a lawyer there was no point suing on the interwebs.
The trouble with Wikipedia, of course, is its revision history. Even after an entry is deleted or updated, it’s possible to see what once was written.
On 30 September 2007, a paragraph was deleted from Wikipedia by someone claiming to act “on behalf of John Waters whose attention had been drawn to this article. I have removed a section which seeks to level a charge of hypocrisy against him.”
But the real fun is in reading the revisions to the section covering Waters Eurovision Song Contest entry.
“[Waters] referred to people who had publicly criticised his song as “corner boys” in a column in Village magazine.”
“The song finished last in the competition, however Albania did give it 5 points. Thus proving that there are in Albania at least, there are no corner boys.”
“Allegations that John Waters blackmailed the Albanian judges, using material provided to him by Enver Hoxha in the early 80s have yet to be proven.”
Though to be fair, the Wikipedia editors did ask for a citation for the last allegation.
Seems there are only stoop kids in Albania then…you learn something new every day!
I’m so glad I missed Pat Kenny and John Waters discussing “citizen journalism” this morning. Something of a flat earth society in that conjunction.
(And I say this as a PK fan, but his attitude towards new platforms is a real blindspot–and bodes ill for the relevance of his new political TV show).