Humbly Admitting What is True About You and Rejecting What Isn't Factual
Paul Reubens, known as Pee-wee Herman, has passed away. We look back on his statement about alleged socially unacceptable behavior.
Paul Reubens, an actor, comedian and children’s entertainer was best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. On Sunday he passed away from a six-year struggle with cancer. This article examines one reply he made years ago about one of his arrests for alleged sexual misbehavior.
First, the backstory:
“On Nov. 16, 2001, police searched Reuben’s home in the Hollywood Hills. They seized boxes of materials that his spokesperson characterized as ‘vintage erotica,’” Lauren Samer wrote in the New York Post. Those boxes of materials were said to be decades old magazines, focused on adults yet the allegations were for child pornography.
“Before his charges were dropped, Reubens’ lawyer had determined that a tape seized from another case had been included in the evidence against Reubens,” Samer wrote.
In the end, Reubens was fined $100, given three years probation and he agreed, Samer reported, to register as a sex offender.
How Reubens responded was interesting and worth briefly discussing.
“One thing I want to make very, very clear, I don’t want anyone for one second to think that I am titillated by images of children. It’s not me,” he said.
It was smart of Reubens to speak directly and concisely against the charge and public perception. It wasn’t enough though and Reubens continued communicating.
“You can say lots of things about me. And you might. The public may think I’m weird. They may think I’m crazy or anything that anyone wants to think about me. That’s all fine,” he added.
He knows how he is perceived by others and that he was the reason for those perceptions and judgments. Reubens accepts that part of his reality and communicates it. He then comes back to the filthy, socially unacceptable allegations against him.
“As long as one of the things you’re not thinking about me is that I’m a pedophile. Because that’s not true.”
Maybe people didn’t believe him then and don’t believe him now but him realizing and communicating how he contributed to how he was judged helped him when he denied what he says was not factual and true. This approach proved successful, as Reubens’ career wasn’t forever destroyed.
Not everyone communicates the problematic parts of their reputation. Reubens did. Then he spoke against claims that he claimed were false and he didn’t do it in a defensive, arrogant manner. He communicated civilly. That benefitted him.
Now, was Reubens telling the truth about not being a pedophile? Who knows, really.
The charges were dropped and he said he didn’t engage in that type of behavior and seemingly enough of the public, media and entertainment decision-makers believed him.
Michael Toebe writes “Reputation Notes” and is the founder and specialist at Reputation Quality, a practice that serves and assists successful people and organizations in further building reputation as an asset and responsibly, ethically protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.
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