In March 2006, a Lacrosse team from Duke University in America had been denied the freedom of enjoying Spring break. In compensation, they were allowed to throw a party outside campus, at a residence owned by Duke, that housed team captains.

Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans and Ryan McFayden were at the party. It was a wild one. Someone had even called for strippers.

Kim Mera Roberts and Crystal Gail Magnum, the strippers, arrived at the residence in Durham, North Carolina when the party was already in full gear. They joined the boys nonetheless and it would have been a good time except that one of the “turnt” team members at the party suggested that one of the strippers, Kim, use a broomstick he handed her as a sex toy. He demanded this because he’d had his ego seriously wounded when Kim jabbed him with a comment about his penis being too small when he asked her if she brought sex toys.

Suffice to say that the party went awry from there on. The exchange got so heated that the girls ended the show abruptly and even had to lock themselves in a bathroom to keep from being forced to go on.

As would anyone with an iota of sense, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and a bunch of other players figured this was a good time to leave the party. So they did.

The strippers came out but the went back in again when the captain who hired them urged them to come back in to appease the teammates who had not left and were mad about the abruptly cancelled show. The girls were ready to start things up again but got scared when they saw the boy who’d caused the rift in the first place. They locked themselves up in the bathroom again and this time, when they came out, David Evans locked them out as well as the other party boys.

Party was over.

By May 2006, the police arrested Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans of first-degree forcible rape, sexual offence and kidnapping based on an allegation of rape by Crystal Magnum.

Despite the inconsistencies in the story of the complainant, the charges were fortified by an e-mail that Ryan McFayden shot to other teammates after the party:

“To whom it may concern, tomorrow night, after tonight’s show, ive decided to have some strippers over to edens 2c. all are welcome… however, there will be no nudity. I plan on killing the bitches as soon as the[y] walk in and proceding [sic] to cut their skin off while cumming in my duke issue spandex … all in beside arch and tack [two of his teammates] please respond”

Everyone agreed that this was a joke delivered in bad taste. The Duke boys had all taken classes where they were taught ]about Patrick Bateman, the protagonist of the Bret Easton Ellis novel,  American Psycho, which was read and lectured upon in more than one Duke class, as shown by the e-mail responses from other players. One response read, “I’ll bring the Phil Collins,” another reference to the American Psycho book.

But the deed was already done. The boys were already charged with rape and related offences and the e-mail helped. Nobody cared that he was joking in his email. Although Mc Fayden who sent the email only got suspended from school, his sick email had already been used as a prosecution tools against the poor boys.

****

Fast forward to 2017. A time when no one needs to leak any emails. A time when tweets may or may not continue to live even after being deleted, Pablo Ayodeji, a young 18-year old who is already known as the entitled brat who gets mad when he takes a girl to the movie and then finds out “she’s just not that into him” goes on a Twitter rant about a crises that is yet to – and may well, never – hit him.

[Catch up: Pablo finally apologises to Ore, #5kBae]

While Pablo has claimed that he intended his tweets as jokes, and he may be telling the truth about his intentions, we feel it is imperative for him to be warned about what can come off a sick at attempt at humour like this one.

May the popularity he so badly craves not turn around and bite him in the butt.

One can only hope that he learns soon.