Mike Daisey apologizes for his exaggerations and falsehoods involving Apple in China

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


Following an exposé that dismantled the accuracy of his claims regarding workers' conditions among the manufacturers in China Apple uses to build its products, performer Mike Daisey has offered a new, broader apology.



Writing on the subject of getting the facts right when telling stories, Daisey acknowledged in his blog, "I fell short in The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs."



Daisy added, "when I said onstage that I had personally experienced things I in fact did not, I failed to honor the contract I’d established with my audiences over many years and many shows. In doing so, I not only violated their trust, I also made worse art."



He concluded, "I am sorry for where I have failed. I will look closer, be more patient, and listen more clearly. I will be humble before the work."



While Daisey specifically apologized to the audiences he lied to, apologized to "my colleagues in the theater, especially those who work in non-fiction and documentary fields," apologized to "journalists I gave interviews to in which I exaggerated my own experiences … Things came out of my mouth that just weren’t true, and over time, I couldn’t even hear the difference myself," and apologized to "human rights advocates and those who have been doing the hard work of bringing attention to these kinds of labor issues for years," he didn't offer any apologies to the actual target of his lies and exaggerations.











No apologies for smearing Apple



Beyond the plausible-sounding events Daisey falsely claimed to observe as an eyewitness, he also stated to various media sources that Apple, and the company's then chief executive Steve Jobs, were fully aware of the events but refused to take any action because they didn't care about what was going on in China.



In the context of his false story about meeting many workers who were 12 to 14 years old, Daisey rhetorically asked "Do you really think Apple doesn’t know? In a company obsessed with the details, with the aluminum being milled just so, with the glass being fitted perfectly into the case, do you really think it’s credible that they don’t know?"



Daisey's monologue has played for over a year, creating and pushing momentum behind a story that was picked up by a wide variety of media outlets, despite Apple's efforts to transparently and accurately report was what actually occurring in China, and detailing what actions it was taking to stop problems it discovered in its regular audits dating back to 2006.



Dramatic apology almost as phony as the show



It was only over the past two weeks that his story began to unravel, when radio show "This American Life" retracted its episode on Apple after investigating Daisey's claims.



When the translator Daisey had worked with to obtain reports of child employees, workers crippled by hexane, and threatening armed security guards was identified by investigators, she testified that the stories Daisey told were fictional fabrications.



Right up until his work was outed as a series of exaggerations and lies, Daisey continued to insist that his play was factually accurate and based on his real world observations, complaining to skeptical critic Brian Ford, "You insulted my art form and my work, at length, without knowing what it is, proud of how ignorant you are, and your sneering and contempt say a lot more about your worth than I ever could. You insulted my integrity, and in a better world we should settle this in an alley outside a bar of your choice the next time I'm in Kansas City."



Despite his apologies to audiences, the theater, journalists and human rights workers, Daisey is still unapologetically selling tickets to his show.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 63




    Pants on fire?
  • Reply 2 of 63
    vinitaboyvinitaboy Posts: 156member
    Sorry for the harshness of this post, but I think Apple and Tim Cook should sue the living crap out of this blowhard moron to make sure such lies and distortions are never "free" for someone like him ever again. Punch him in the pocketbook hard and mercilessly. He'll think twice next time before baselessly defaming someone who cannot answer back.
  • Reply 3 of 63
    buzdotsbuzdots Posts: 452member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VinitaBoy View Post


    Sorry for the harshness of this post, but I think Apple and Tim Cook should sue the living crap out of this blowhard moron to make sure such lies and distortions are never "free" for someone like him ever again. Punch him in the pocketbook hard and mercilessly. He'll think twice next time before baselessly defaming someone who cannot answer back.



    +++++



    Fatass SOB should be relegated to cleaning urinals in theaters.



    Art? What he does is not art, it's BS of the worst smelling kind. These kind of actions should not be tolerated by any business or society.
  • Reply 4 of 63
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Bite me little Miss Daisey. I hope either Apple or Foxconn makes an example out of you so other jerks like you can't claim theatrics and try to pass it off as fact.
  • Reply 5 of 63
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Sure, he's sorry now that he's been exposed as a fraud.
  • Reply 6 of 63
    rbonnerrbonner Posts: 635member
    My favorite part:



    I will look closer, be more patient, and listen more clearly.



    Like any of the above would keep him from lying.
  • Reply 7 of 63
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VinitaBoy View Post


    Sorry for the harshness of this post, but I think Apple and Tim Cook should sue the living crap out of this blowhard moron to make sure such lies and distortions are never "free" for someone like him ever again. Punch him in the pocketbook hard and mercilessly. He'll think twice next time before baselessly defaming someone who cannot answer back.



    Couldn't agree more. Apple should ask he be fined in the form of community service or donate the monies to a charity. He definitely should be made an example of. Quite honestly, I feel shabby journalism such as HeatGate from Consumer Report, now shown to be the same as Androids doing the same task, is just as bad. It's in the same vein. It's all about using Apple's hard won fame as a way for these cretins to get attention.
  • Reply 8 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VinitaBoy View Post


    Sorry for the harshness of this post, but I think Apple and Tim Cook should sue the living crap out of this blowhard moron to make sure such lies and distortions are never "free" for someone like him ever again. Punch him in the pocketbook hard and mercilessly. He'll think twice next time before baselessly defaming someone who cannot answer back.



    GUY's A MORON just like his BUTT bro Michael Moore-on
  • Reply 9 of 63
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    [Apple was] fully aware of the events but refused to take any action because they didn't care about what was going on in China. [...]

    "in a better world we should settle this in an alley outside a bar of your choice the next time I'm in Kansas City."



    Pathetic. He's only sorry he got caught.
  • Reply 10 of 63
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I would like to see Apple sue him for defamation just on the principle of it, but it might not be very smart PR.
  • Reply 11 of 63
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    Sheesh, some of you people need to chill out. The guy lied, he should be held accountable. If there is a legal recourse for this it should be taken. Enough with the slurs against him directly. Call him a liar, call him unethical, call him a jerk, but don't go further than that. You make yourselves look like bigots. You know who you are...
  • Reply 12 of 63
    The tone of the replies thus far makes the Apple community look petty, reactionary, and tone deaf. Yelling about his weight does nothing to prove your point, and makes you look like a sad, pedantic troll. Drop the ad hominem bullshit. Address the issue of dishonesty, move on, stop acting like sad little children.
  • Reply 13 of 63
    So...if I were to tell a million+ people that Daisey is a disease carrying, incestuous, baby molester and that he eats whale turds...I could say it was artistic license?!



    Oh, sorry! My bad. Only some of what I said might be embellished.



    Gotta love a loop-hole, but not this a**hole.
  • Reply 14 of 63
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    Was the guy ever in China at all? and if so just who exactly were the 12 to 14 year old "workers" that he allegedly spent so much time with?
  • Reply 15 of 63
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "... You insulted my integrity, and in a better world we should settle this in an alley outside a bar of your choice the next time I'm in Kansas City."



    I'm your huckleberry
  • Reply 16 of 63
    macvictamacvicta Posts: 346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Iandanger View Post


    The tone of the replies thus far makes the Apple community look petty, reactionary, and tone deaf. Yelling about his weight does nothing to prove your point, and makes you look like a sad, pedantic troll. Drop the ad hominem bullshit. Address the issue of dishonesty, move on, stop acting like sad little children.



    Did they hurt your feelings, tubby?
  • Reply 17 of 63
    Lying fat pig
  • Reply 18 of 63
    bigdaddypbigdaddyp Posts: 811member
    I hope Apple's lawyers kick him in the iBalls.
  • Reply 19 of 63
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    I would like to see Apple sue him for defamation just on the principle of it, but it might not be very smart PR.



    That's exactly why I suggested Apple make a point of asking any award be donated to a worthy charity, teaching ethics to journalists maybe?
  • Reply 20 of 63
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    People still believe him?and still boycott Apple as a result. His show is still billed as fact, and the made-up incidents still move people.



    Those people (who I have met in fact) then go on to buy Chinese-made electronics from some other company instead. A company that doesn?t do nearly what Apple does to improve these issues.



    Nice work.



    And none of the press coverage on this situation EVER seems to mention that these are NOT Apple problems (even the ones that are real) but problems of ALL companies manufacturing in China. Everyone but Apple still gets off the hook. And no comparison is made between Apple and other companies.



    So even people who DO understand that Daisey lied still think Apple is worse than other Chinese-sourced goods.
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