My Last Day Without You
Chapter 12: Breaking News from Gawker!
by Quinn D.K.
These articles are excerpts from Gawker and Deadspin published on the following
morning of February 14:
***
The Viking Scored Last Night (In More Ways
Than One)
9:41 am, February 14
Well, uh, Happy Valentine's Day?
To recap for our readers who were marooned on a desert island or stranded on
Mars yesterday: the saga of 'Hezra' came, saw, and conquered. An (accidental?)
bedroom picture of Portland Knights team captain Henrik Ford cuddling up to
former PopViral writer Ezra Grayson leaked on Twitter and oh, the pearls that
were clutched.
What followed was an unpredictable, manic shitstorm of aggressive public
behavior, corporate confrontations and frenzied paparazzi dodging that put
Toronto - Ezra's hometown and the setting of this 24 hour debacle - in an utter
tailspin. (That poor city. Hadn't they suffered enough under the former
mayorship of Rob Ford?)
Last night at approximately 8:04 pm EST on TSN, Henrik Ford apologized to his
paramour Ezra in front of the entire country (of Canada, plus us Americans who
snuck a livestream link to watch). Immediately and abruptly after, Henrik
dashed out of the press room and stole a paparazzi-captured smooch with Ezra on
the street outside the hotel. A grand gesture worthy of the greatest romcoms.
Confused? Well, so were we. According to sources, Henrik and Ezra hadn't been
on speaking terms following a brief trip to North York late yesterday. No one
quite knows what the schism was about - though it wouldn't take a Harvard
degree to guess that intense media scrutiny played at least some part in it.
(Guilty as charged, we suppose...)
We're just gonna come out and say it: we've been rooting for these two since
they came into the public eye. Henrik's speech took some serious cojones. And
even if we're missing the entire picture, we're just glad they ended up
together. We think. For now. And we very much look forward to that picture of
Hezra making out in the street to take on a life on its own - the LGBT
equivalent of the iconic sailor and nurse V-J Day kiss, maybe?
Much has been quiet from Team Hezra since their public kiss-and-makeup last
night and neither party has responded to requests for interviews. May we take a
guess as to what, ahem, has been keeping them occupied?
Go on with your bad selves, Hezra. This Valentine's Day is for you. You deserve
it.
***
PopViral Stand-off Signals Growing Problems
Within Online News Industry
10:17 am, February 14
Several current and former employees of online news giant PopViral have written
to Gawker since yesterday's very public schism between Ezra Grayson and
PopViral editor-in-chief Heather Cassidy.
Ezra's tiff (or rant, depending on how you saw it) inside PopViral's head
office in Toronto leaked in full on YouTube last night and caused quite the
stir. It appears that his complaints only scratch the surface of an
organization that utilizes questionable journalistic practices and shoddy
treatment of its interns and staff. One employee described the company's work
conditions as "soul crushing" and "exploitative".
We are working to compile a full list of complaints from all sources that have
contacted us. If you are currently or formerly employed by PopViral and would
like to share your story, please email us ASAP. We promise full anonymity.
In related news, the 'Hezra' picture that started it all (you know the one) has
disappeared from PopViral's Twitter account where it originally appeared
yesterday. When reached for comment, a representative noted that deleting the
tweet was an internal decision. They declined to elaborate.
PopViral has also refused to comment on the nature of this article.
***
Trouble for the Viking? (UPDATE: Maybe not)
10:56 am, February 14
Woo. Are you tired of all the Hezra news yet? Last one for today. We promise.
Maybe.
Apparently, Henrik Ford's now infamous apology on TSN wasn't supposed to
address Ezra or even reference him at all. Our sources say that a
representative from Klein & Ally Partners (that's one of New York's biggest
and scariest PR firms, for all you peons) had actually written out an apology
for Henrik to read verbatim. That would definitely explain the little white
card he tore up (several GIFs of that awesome moment are already on Tumblr, if
you're curious).
So what does this act of rebellion mean for the brawny Viking? Has he been
jousted from the Knights? Possibly for good?
An earlier version of this article indicated that yes, higher-ups in the league
were considering harsh punishments for Henrik's little sorry-switcharoo. But
we've recently spoken with the NHL about his possible penalties, and you might
be surprised to hear the conclusions they came to.
"Henrik Ford is a talented athlete and a kind, generous individual who's well
known within Portland for his philanthropy," said Sheila Conrad, Executive VP
of Communications for the NHL. She went on to note Henrik's enthusiastic
involvement with Portland's Stand for Children Leadership Program, which he's
been part of for the last six years.
But what of the rumors that several sponsors threatened to pull support from
the Portland Knights in light of the 'Hezra' kerfuffle?
"While it's true that a few corporate partners had expressed concern, in review
of Henrik's speech on TSN and his personal track record, all sponsors will
remain with the Portland Knights through the duration of the season, as per
their contracts."
Speaking of hockey season, there's been an awful lot of murmuring that Joseph
Taggert (the Knights' notoriously bullheaded coach) will bench Henrik for the
rest of it...
"Player discipline of that nature is handled by that specific team's
management, not the NHL. I cannot comment on that, no."
Hmmmm. Looks like the Viking dodged quite a few sidechecks. The Knights have
yet to release an official statement regarding Henrik's availability for the
remainder of hockey season, but fear not, we'll update as soon as we hear them
from them.
Until then, just enjoy your god damn Valentine's Day. Alright?
End of Chapter 12
To be Continued
(One more chapter to wrap things up! Keep reading!)
Please forward your reviews, comments and thoughts to: neworderinthesun@gmail.com or tweet me at @Quinn_DK
And don't forget to check out my new romance "The
Book
of Sky and Stars" at
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/book-of-sky-and-stars/
Stay tuned for my website: www.QuinnDK.com