An email from Briana Wu, dated May 3, 2014 (about 3 months before the start of GamerGate) 11:39 ... Drinking the Mountain Dew B Brianna Wu May 3, 2014 to zoe v •.• Hey Zoe, You I hope this will stay between us. But, I did want to share something with you. The first time I really heard about you, and Depression Quest, a mutual gamede friend of ours in Boston was complaining about Depression Quest. They had counseled you to take the money from big pharma. They were talking all kinds of shit about how shortsighted it was of you to not do this - but you'd stood your ground and said no. They thought you were a total fool. I didn't know about your reality show, but I did read about the aftermath. And what really impressed me about the situation was you did the exact same thing. A situation was anathema for you, and you said no. You were willing to burn your bridges with an entire production company over the situation. You and I are similar people in that we really care about women in games and calling out the sexism in the industry. But, the truth is - I'm a pragmatist. And, if I were being embarrassingly honest with you, I probably would have taken the money from big pharma. And, I would have drank the Mountain Dew on camera. But, here you are today, and you're doing just fine.
11:39 •.• You and I are similar people in that we really care about women in games and calling out the sexism in the industry. But, the truth is - I'm a pragmatist. And, if I were being embarrassingly honest with you, l probably would have taken the money from big pharma. And, I would have drank the Mountain Dew on camera. But, here you are today, and you're doing just fine. You stood your ground, you made your choices and you still won. There's been a situation at GSK that's been really bad for us and bad for the company. And, I can't go into it just like you can't go into the reality show stuff - but I can tell you, I drank the Mountain Dew on camera for far too long. I have dealt with a really awful, humiliating situation for far too long. It finally ended this week. I don't know you that well, but - I have been thinking about your integrity a lot lately, and how going forward I need to be less of a pragmatist and more of a Zoe Quinn in leading my company. I want to let you know - that's something I really intend to follow through on. I hope that doesn't seem emo, but it is true. And, I think when other women in the industry inspire us, l think we should let them know it. All the best, Bri VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE + Reply → Forward
Yknow what? I’ve been sitting on this for a decade because I’m not into punching laterally but I AM FINE with punching far right lunatics.
Just a handful of short weeks before GamerGate started, Briana Wu, who I spoke to 0 times before this, sends me this *wild* ass email. 🧵
