Just yesterday, we were told of the passing of Derrick J. Wyatt. For those of you who don’t know, he was best known for his work on Ben 10. In my case, I knew him for Transformers: Animated, which is hands down one of the best Transformers cartoons in the history of the franchise. He made appearances at BotCon. He helped to create something that Transformers fans absolutely loved.
But there was a dark side. That dark side involved none other than John K.
Yes, that John K, of Ren and Stimpy fame. The John K of sexual abuse infamy. That John K.
Wyatt worked for him, while John K was at his absolute worst and Wyatt knew about it:
“Byrd doesn’t remember Kricfalusi taking explicit photos of her; she also wasn’t aware, she said, that he showed explicit photos of her to other people. But Wyatt recounted an interaction with his then-boss that was similar to Mora’s. He said that at a party at Kricfalusi’s house between 1999 and 2002, Kricfalusi showed him “a stack of Polaroids” of Kricfalusi and Byrd having sex. He never mentioned the photographs to Byrd, nor did he confront Kricfalusi about the interaction.”
Derrick J. Wyatt knew. He knew. He chose to do nothing.
When I read that article three years ago, I was livid. Reading that Wyatt, who had created something I enjoyed so much, had seen something that disgusting and chose to stay silent…
Let me go on the record and say that I have not rewatched Animated since then. I don’t know if I ever will again. The entire series is now tainted, a dark cloud hangs over it, one that I can neither look past or excuse.
Now Derrick J. Wyatt is gone. He will never be able to shed light into the reasons why he kept silent, why he felt the need to tacitly and quietly approve of Kricfalusi’s revolting behavior.
The chance for him to condemn Kricfalusi is gone. The chance for Derrick J. Wyatt to salvage some of his credibility is also gone. All that is left is his works, which are now problematic in their own rights.
I literally don’t know how I feel.
Am I sad? Am I angry? I can’t say. I don’t know what or how I feel, if anything at all. There is only silence.
That may not be a good thing.
Iacon East 