Cancel culture has claimed a new victim, in this case literally. The family of comic book artist Ed Piskor, known for "Hip Hop Family Tree," "Red Room" and "X-Men Grand Design," announced the death of the artist, who left a long suicide note before taking his own life. Piskor was accused of harrassment on social media by two young women, which he flatly denied, and received thousands of "hate-filled" messages as a result. The campaign also cost him his job, several collaborations and even the cancellation of exhibitions of his work.
'I am defenseless against a mob of this magnitude'
It was his younger sister who broke the news via her Facebook account, with a message and family photos Monday night. "It is with the most broken heart that I share that my big brother, Ed, has passed away today. Please keep our family in your prayers as this is the hardest thing we've ever had to go through," she wrote.
Hours earlier, Piskor uploaded a post to the same platform unleashing fear from his followers in what appeared to be a suicide note. In the text of the post, the artist wrote: "I am helpless against a mob of this magnitude. Please share my side of things. Sayonara."
'Curiosity killed the cartoonist'
In the attached letter, Piskor narrated the events that led him to take his life, admitting that he acted "stupid" by not realizing how someone could misrepresent what happened to orchestrate an online hate campaign that cost him fame, friends, work and even his life. The artist told his version about the serious accusations poured on him by two young women, Molly D. and Molly Wright through Instagram and X that were the origin of the controversy.
Piskor acknowledged that he chatted with Molly D. at the end of the pandemic, but he charged that his messages were taken out of context to make them seem otherwise and much more "terrible," especially since the girl was underage when they began chatting, something he didn't know at first. "I definitely should never have talked with Molly D. The language and optics look real dumb at best but I promise my innocence. Especially out of context it looks terrible," begins the note from the cartoonist, who assured that he chatted with her out of curiosity about the younger generation. "Curiosity killed the cartoonist," he writes.
'I was murdered by internet bullies'
The second Molly, (Wright), accused him of asking her for fellatio in exchange for her agent's number and of being a danger to young women, something Piskor vehemently denies, going so far as to ask her family to go ahead with the lawsuit against him. "Molly Wright is a conundrum to me and her actions border criminal. He said/ she said never looks good but none of what she said happened and I can’t believe she’d be so malicious and pile on like this. Now that I’m officially checked out I think my family has a civil lawsuit and she should be held accountable."
Subsequently, Piskor talks about himself and his situation after the posts from both young women and, above all, after the reactions from many media outlets and social media users, who condemned him without charges having been filed against him. "I was murdered by Internet bullies. Massive amounts of them. Some of you out there absolutely contributed to my death as you were entertaining yourself with gossip. I wasn’t AI. I was a real human being. You chipped little bits of my self esteem away all week until I was vaporized."
