Patterico's Pontifications

5/17/2016

Update: Fake Hate Cake In Austin

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:13 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Remember this?

love wins

Jordan Brown is the gay pastor from Austin who accused an employee at Whole Foods of writing the homophobic slur on his cake seen above. As a result of the alleged act, he filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods, and in turn, Whole Foods filed a suit against Brown for fraud.

Just this week, Brown announced he was dropping his lawsuit against Whole Foods:

I was wrong to pursue this matter and use the media to perpetuate this story. I want to apologize to Whole Foods and its team members for questioning the company’s commitment to its values, and especially the bakery associate who I understand was put in a terrible position because of my actions,” the statement read. “I apologize to the LGBT community for diverting attention from real issues. I also want to apologize to my partner, my family, my church family, and my attorney.”

Whole Foods responded:

“We’re very pleased that the truth has come to light. Given Mr. Brown’s apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication, we see no reason to move forward with our counter suit to defend the integrity of our brand and team members.”

Brown had been sued a month prior to the fake cake incident for defaulting on a $27,000 student loan.

–Dana

47 Responses to “Update: Fake Hate Cake In Austin”

  1. Given Mr. Brown’s apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication

    Did he really admit that his story was a complete lie?

    Dana (0ee61a)

  2. those colors

    happyfeet (831175)

  3. Good news: he’s Christian, so we automatically have to forgive him! I mean, it’s not like a racial & sexual minority is supposed to be held accountable for defamation and fraud. Best to let this just pass without any recriminations.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  4. Fake but accurate. Whole Foods sells meat and fish and eggs and milk and all kinds of other products which come from the killing and exploitation of living creatures. People that heartless would certainly also be homophobic. Bet you that cake was made with cow milk and, I can hardly bring myself to say it, eggs! Res ipsa loquitor.

    nk (dbc370)

  5. Best to toss his ass in the clink for a year and hold him libel for actual dollar damages to the business plus twice in compensatory damages for the amount he was attempting to extract from the store.

    ropelight (a24807)

  6. Bad news: He’s not a Christian, as he eschews the Lord’s declaration that his activity is an abomination, and he leads others to disregard the Lord’s very clear declaration. Millstones and oceans come to mind.

    John Hitchcock (2f599c)

  7. Given Mr. Brown’s apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication

    Did he really admit that his story was a complete lie?

    Dana (0ee61a) — 5/17/2016 @ 8:14 pm

    Last I saw, there was no statement coming from him that actually said “I did it”. He said the cake was a fake and that he knew it. I think Whole Foods accepted his non-apology just to wash their hands of the mess. It was just enough to claim a victory.

    Question: Has he now been 86’d from the store? I would hope for at least that much.

    Bill H (971e5f)

  8. He admits he “knew” the cake slur was “fake.”
    Oh my God, that’s totally the passive voice.

    That’s like Bonnie & Clyde saying they knew the money they walked out of the bank with didn’t belong to them per se, as opposed to saying, “Yeah, we robbed the bank.”

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  9. Bad news: He’s not a Christian, as he eschews the Lord’s declaration that his activity is an abomination, and he leads others to disregard the Lord’s very clear declaration. Millstones and oceans come to mind.

    John Hitchcock (2f599c) — 5/17/2016 @ 9:02 pm

    Not to mention that whole false witness thing.

    NJRob (a07d2e)

  10. Question: Has he now been 86’d from the store? I would hope for at least that much.

    Well, seeing as how this guy is apparently $27k in arrears I wouldn’t expect him to be shopping at Whole Paycheck anytime soon. I hope he knows someone with a membership to Sam’s Club.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  11. ” Given Mr. Brown’s apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication”

    Did he really admit that his story was a complete lie?

    Dana (0ee61a) — 5/17/2016 @ 8:14 pm

    No, he clearly didn’t. My guess, probably the result of a very long meeting with his lawyer. With two purposes:

    1, To avoid the potentially lethal embarrassment of “yes, I carefully planned to slander a bakery employee” with the juxtaposition by media outlets of this photo, which is too precious for words:
    Jordan Brown needs the comfort of everyone around his at a press conference (that photo was nausea inducing even before we knew for sure it was a hoax – what kind of grown man collapses like that over an insult from a rude, bigoted person?)

    2. to avoid the potentially devastating civil lawsuit coming from “yes, I carefully planned to slander a bakery employee” – maybe his lawyers advised that giving juuust enough wiggle room to discourage a bakery employee’s lawyer from rolling the dice on pinning it on him. IANAL so whether that’s a good bet, no idea.

    Can the bakery employee (apparently LGBT herself) sue him now? That’d be interesting.

    no one of consequence (1955a0)

  12. From the information provided, I would say that the cost of pursuing a case against him would exceed any award. Unless the employee or his attorneys can find a “deep pocket” involved, this pastor is “judgement proof.”

    Michael Keohane (fb34ce)

  13. 6. Bad news: He’s not a Christian, as he eschews the Lord’s declaration that his activity is an abomination, and he leads others to disregard the Lord’s very clear declaration. Millstones and oceans come to mind.

    John Hitchcock (2f599c) — 5/17/2016 @ 9:02 pm

    Lots of peeps calling themselves Christian these days.

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/03/17/im-a-presbyterian-minister-who-doesnt-believe-in-god-2/

    I find myself picking on the Presbyterians a lot these days. Because unlike the Unitarian Universalists they haven’t dropped the pretense.

    Episcopalians aren’t much better.

    http://www.christianpost.com/news/episcopal-priest-defrocked-after-refusing-to-recant-muslim-faith-37847/

    The surprising thing at least to me is her bishop gave her six months to think about it.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  14. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2014/08/jesus-is-not-my-god/

    Apparently everyone who is actually Christian has already fled the PC USA.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  15. If the “LOVE WINS” part was done by the store, someone did an excellent job of matching the color and script when adding the non-sanctioned word for homosexual to the cake. It’s hard to see how the store would put the first two words along the edge like that without the expectation that something else would be added after.

    Jcurtis (4181b9)

  16. And yet another one gets away without any real consequences.

    cedarhill (4535ba)

  17. cedarhill, I was really pleased when I read Whole Foods was fighting back. This non-apology does protect their brand, and I get they have a business to consider rather than my political views, but I sure wish they struck a blow against lawfare for paydays and sued that guy into the next time zone.

    I hope the baker sues. This man’s plan involved ruining that baker’s life.

    I like whole foods. I particularly like this specific one on 5th and Bowie, which isn’t far from where I work and is just an awesome place to kill some time. But I’ll keep using HEB and their Central Market ripoff of Whole Foods. Good men standing idle being a bad thing.

    Dustin (2a8be7)

  18. http://fusion.net/story/303149/donald-trump-hilary-clinton-obituary/

    “Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose, instead, to pass into the eternal love of God on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at the age of 68,” her obituary begins…

    Steve57 (eca648)

  19. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighborhood Whole Foods.

    Colonel Haiku (6047c1)

  20. Jordan Brown, meet Marcus Owens.

    I’m rather ambivalent regarding SJW liars being sued or prosecuted for false claims. Every hoax revealed diminishes the credibility of the SJW idiots to the point where the general response to a claim is wondering how quickly the liar will be caught. Actions which do not require the waste of resources, such as the firing of Melissa Click, seem reasonable and booting Marcus out of the University of Iowa would work in that respect.

    Rick Ballard (97c612)

  21. 19. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighborhood Whole Foods.

    Colonel Haiku (6047c1) — 5/18/2016 @ 7:24 am

    A whole lot of the Old Testament seems to have slipped by the gay pastor.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  22. If the “LOVE WINS” part was done by the store, someone did an excellent job of matching the color and script when adding the non-sanctioned word for homosexual to the cake. It’s hard to see how the store would put the first two words along the edge like that without the expectation that something else would be added after.

    Jcurtis (4181b9) — 5/18/2016 @ 5:43 am

    They did a terrible job adding the matching color and script. Under digital analysis the letters are written with different colors. The words are written from a different angle and the gel ends at a different point with an amateurs decorating ability putting pressure leading to the bumps in each letter.

    As for why the center is open… it’s how the cake was asked to be decorated. That’s what you do when you order a cake. You decide how you want it.

    But you just can’t help yourself because the ends justify the means to you. So you don’t mind supporting evil and making excuses for it.

    NJRob (a07d2e)

  23. Steve @14,

    Holy crap, what a load of garbage in that article you cited. The guy who wrote it is very clearly NOT a Christian, and most of the commenters are likewise unsaved.

    “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

    The lot of them will hear that, to their horror.

    John Hitchcock (9d9f04)

  24. Jcurtis – is there anything you don’t get wrong?

    JD (7fd277)

  25. 24, what did I get wrong? If there is evidence that the guy ordered the cake to say “LOVE WINS” and that the words should be around the edge, then that is pretty clear evidence that it was a planned self-hoax project. But I think there is something they are covering up. Perhaps just maybe the guy working there was in on a scheme that wasn’t fully thought out because of the stupidity of the players involved.

    But that would mean that Whole Foods is trying to cover up some elements of the hoax. Maybe the employee was gay or something and the store doesn’t want to be seen as going after a gay employee so they would cover up that aspect because they don’t like the optics of how it would look in court.

    jcurtis (028437)

  26. jcurtis #25 – where to start ?

    1) When one orders a custom-decorated cake, one traditionally delineates what it should look like, as descriptively as one wishes … there is no evidence that this did not happen in this case …

    2) When one picks up the ordered custom-decorated cake, one customarily looks the cake over, to ensure that the custom-decoration has been done as ordered … I do not believe that I know of anyone rational who wouldn’t at least give the result a quick glance to make sure that the wording was spelled and placed as ordered – and most of them would look it over to be able to courteously say “Good Job !” or the equivalent …

    3) In this case, the box had a transparent top … when one custom-orders a decorated cake with specific decoration, I don’t think I know anyone who wouldn’t give the cake a glance-over, even if just to be sure that it was the *correct* cake in the box … how did Jordan Brown manage to avoid doing so ? How did Jordan Brown manage to miss such an obviously-tobacco-based slang term as was “supposedly” put on the cake as a hate-crime ?

    Would you care to comment on any or all of these first three ?

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  27. “there is no evidence that this did not happen in this case …”

    I’m asking for evidence that it did happen. Recorded phone call? Something?

    Convenient that we won’t have the employee testifying about that because Whole Food decided to not pursue justice.

    Is the employee still decorating cakes for WF or did he decide to bring his amazing talent elsewhere?
    I suspect he’s moved on.

    jcurtis (028437)

  28. 27. …Is the employee still decorating cakes for WF or did he decide to bring his amazing talent elsewhere?
    I suspect he’s moved on.

    jcurtis (028437) — 5/18/2016 @ 2:49 pm

    Shame on you for potentially misgendering. Shame! Shame!

    Steve57 (eca648)

  29. timothy 2, foresaw even then, the proliferation of all sorts who would customize their doctrine, yet the gnostics, essenes et al, did not reach wider audience, wonder why,

    narciso (732bc0)

  30. Ahhhhhhh, jcurtis is peddling a conspiracy theory. Better let ropelight know.

    JD (2e3880)

  31. Rendition him to Singapore for a caning and then bring him back home to Texas by dropping him off somewhere between Laredo and McAllen with a $10 bill and no shoes.
    I forgive him, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to kick his butt

    steveg (fed1c9)

  32. If you’re going to make a wedding cake, and there’s going to be writing on it (no class), you’re going to make sure there is room on the top of the cake for a BRIDE and GROOM. (Any other combination is not a wedding or marriage, but that is beside the point.) Thus, having the wording around the periphery is logical.

    John Hitchcock (9d9f04)

  33. I would pick between El Paso and Fort Stockton, myself.

    John Hitchcock (9d9f04)

  34. The guy who wrote it is very clearly NOT a Christian, and most of the commenters are likewise unsaved.

    And John Hitchcock should know. After all it was he who called me “a knowingly lying piece of caca tuckfard”. A decidedly Christian description I’m sure. Especially when directed at a fellow Christian in a public forum on politics. That’s just the sort of remark that allows the heathens among us to point their boney fingers and shout “hypocrite”.

    So yeah, “Depart from me. I never knew you.” is appropriate.

    Rev. Hoagie ™ (734193)

  35. Amen!

    ropelight (391c40)

  36. Are not Christians saved, rather than perfect ?

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  37. jcurtis #27 – your Ockham’s Beard must be prodigiously-long, given that you seem entirely unacquainted with Ockham’s Razor …

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  38. ropelite,

    I hear there was a “third man” at the assassination of President Garfield. What do your sources have to say about this?

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  39. John-
    I defer to you on the location where to leave the pastor

    Wonder if Trump offers Cruz anything… keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that.
    Maybe Trump offers Cruz something and then reneges on the day after the election… totally possible with Trump

    I am about 45 minutes away from having some bourbon, so I am going to stay away from posting… don’t want to call someone I don’t even really know “tuckfard” or worse over partisan political nonsense. Passions running high and all that

    Maybe something easy sipping like Black Maple Hill, or Basil Hayden’s.. (the packaging on Haydens has no dignity..)

    steveg (fed1c9)

  40. If the “LOVE WINS” part was done by the store, someone did an excellent job of matching the color and script when adding the non-sanctioned word for homosexual to the cake. It’s hard to see how the store would put the first two words along the edge like that without the expectation that something else would be added after.

    Jcurtis (4181b9) — 5/18/2016 @ 5:43 am

    Someone actually bothered to look into this, and if you use photoshop the color of the upper text is consistent and the color of the slur is consistent, but they are different from eachother in that the slur is more yellow. Hard to see without help, but when it’s pointed out I can see it.

    Also, the handwriting is definitely different. The lower text is carefully done, but the frosting pools in the corners (probably because he wrote very slowly) while the upper text is consistent. Also, some of the vertical lines on ‘FAG’ look tampered with. He could have easily taken a knife and manipulated the text due to an error.

    Whole Foods actually proved the hoaxer was lying. The hoaxer claimed he had never opened the cake, but they showed security footage that the cake was originally in a different box.

    It does seem like an awful lot of these petty hate crimes are hoaxes and I don’t mind that you’re even more skeptical, but I don’t think there’s any evidence that the baker was involved, due to the cake being removed from its box out of the store, the text being different, and a different frosting being used. Not to mention that the plaintiff was very dramatic about the ordeal this apparently put him through. That seems to add up to him pulling a stunt.

    Dustin (2a8be7)

  41. 31. Yeah, because conspiracies never happen. Especially where a confirmed hoax is concerned.

    jcurtis (028437)

  42. 41. …Whole Foods actually proved the hoaxer was lying.

    Dustin (2a8be7) — 5/18/2016 @ 4:24 pm

    Can we stop? Who believes Whole Foods is an outpost of the Westboro baptist?

    I don’t even know gay people who believe this.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  43. I wasn’t criticizing you, Dustin.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  44. there’s a double picard facepalm at #30,

    narciso (732bc0)

  45. @42, conspiracies happen. I hate it when people blithely dismiss “conspiracy theories.” It’s a crime; it’s on the books.

    Steve57 (eca648)

  46. > As with many other things in life, one must
    > be discriminating in giving credence to
    > various conspiracy theories. Some are totally
    > on target, others off the wall, with a whole
    > range in between. Some are enragingly true,
    > some fun, some tedious,
    > some just plain annoying.

    – Carol Moore (in 1997)

    Sammy Finkelman (d062db)


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