John Roderick posts a lengthy statement to apologize after his Twitter thread about his daughter's struggle to open a can of beans was deemed 'abusive' and 'unhinged.'
- Jan 6, 2021
AceShowbiz - John Roderick a.k.a. Bean Dad has broken his silence after his Twitter thread about his daughter's struggle to open a can of beans went viral. His parenting story, which many lambasted as "abusive" and "unhinged" and earned him the nickname "Bean Dad", was soon followed with the unearthing of his past racist and homophobic tweets.
After taking time to reflect on his controversial tweets and the criticism that came at him, the musician made use of his website to express his remorse. He posted a lengthy statement on Tuesday, January 5 which began with, "Hi.. I deactivated my Twitter yesterday in a panic. I had to reflect on what I'd done and the hurt I'd caused and my mind was clouded by an unprecedented flow of new information."
Admitting his guilt, the lead singer and guitarist of band The Long Winters, stated, "I want to acknowledge and make amends for the injuries I caused. I have many things to atone for. My parenting story's insensitivity and the legacy of hurtful language in my past are both profound failures. I want to confront them directly."
John realized his story of her daughter's struggle to use a can opener "was poorly told" that it "framed" him as "the a**hole dad." While he blamed it on his "comedic persona," he acknowledged that his poor choice of language "reminded people very viscerally of abuse they’d experienced at the hand of a parent."
"I was ignorant, insensitive to the message that my 'pedant dad' comedic persona was indistinguishable from how abusive dads act, talk and think," he added. "I'd conjured an abusive parent that many people recognized from real life."
John also addressed his old anti-Semitic and homophobic tweets that only earned him more backlash in the past few days, claiming that they "were intended to be ironic, sarcastic." He claimed, "I thought then that being an ally meant taking the slurs of the oppressors and flipping them to mock racism, sexism, homophobia, and bigotry."
Once again acknowledging his "insensitive use of the language of sexual assault in casual banter," he realized "that my status as a straight white male didn't permit me to 'repurpose' those slurs as people from disenfranchised communities might do."
"I deeply regret having ever used those words. I do not want to spread more hate in the world. I want the opposite," he assured, adding that "this experience will have a profound effect on the way I conduct myself throughout the rest of my life."
The 52-year-old father of one went on informing his fans that he'll be "taking a hiatus from my public life" as he has "a lot more reflecting to do in the coming days." Concluding his message, he once again extended his apology to "my partners, my friends, and to all the people affected by my words for the hurt I caused."
Prior to this, John's podcast co-host Ken Jennings came to his defense after the musician became trending on Twitter with the nickname "Bean Dad". "If this reassures anyone, I personally know John to be (a) a loving and attentive dad who (b) tells heightened-for-effect stories about his own irascibility on like ten podcasts a week," the "Jeopardy!" champion tweeted on Sunday, adding, "This site is so dumb."
