“I’ve been called many things, but I prefer to be forgotten.”
So said Dominique Pelicot as he prepared to be sentenced for inciting at least 49 foreigners to rape and assault his wife.
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Gisele Pelicot’s evil ex-husband Dominique was sentenced to 20 years in prison on ThursdayCredit: AFP
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OnlyFans star Lily Phillips had an orgy with 100 men Credit: YouTube
The monster from Avignon was jailed for 20 years on Thursday, while the twisted men who defiled his “first love” Gisele Pelicot as she lay unconscious were also jailed for a combined 428 years.
There is finally some kind of justice for a woman whose personal horrors are beyond belief matched only by the humbling way she chose to give up her anonymity and face her attackers in court (and watch video after video of the humiliation inflicted on her).
Now she is rightly considered a feminist icon, a trailblazer for thousands of women who are exploited and abused by shameful men every day.
Some victims are already taking her lead and also giving up their right to anonymity to confront their attackers.
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We will never forget Gisele.
And despite his hopes, we must never forget Pelicot either.
He must be remembered for the vile creature he was, along with all the other inhuman rapists he enabled.
We must never forget the men.
This case was a nightmare. So much of it didn’t make sense.
How could a husband be so barbaric as to actively seek out strangers to rape and torture – because that’s what it is – the woman he professed to love?
Gisele Pelicot says she fought for her children after 51 jailed for rape conspiracy
And how could he find so many people from his local area to carry out such an unimaginably horrible act?
Unfortunately, the answer is not that hard to find and is not exclusive to this alarming story.
Indeed, the case of Gisele Pelicot is a warning.
At the center of this case was the vile objectification of women by men, intoxicated by increasingly extreme pornography that can be found at the click of a mouse.
For these men, that mouse click was on a “dating site” where sick fantasies were not only exchanged, but acted out.
Pelicot gave them the opportunity, prompted by his own twisted mind and knowledge of powerful sedatives.
He claimed that his wife wanted men to molest her while she slept. That was enough for her attackers.
It didn’t matter to them that Gisele Pelicot didn’t give her consent in person.
Of course, it is inconceivable, as Thursday’s guilty verdicts confirm, that people believed Pelicot’s lies.
Their claim that they had consent was nothing more than a cynical ploy to let them off the hook once they were caught.
Thank God that the five judges who oversaw the trial did not believe it.
What they and Gisele saw were the faces of men who, despite their own domestic arrangements – some were married, some with daughters – could happily treat a woman as nothing more than an object.
Not once did they think about the feelings of the woman they were abusing.
Fascinated and appalled
There was no satisfaction for Gisele, who described her treatment as “a rag doll . . . a garbage bag.”
Since this case broke out, we have heard another scandalous, and I would say not frivolous, story from these shores.
British OnlyFans “star” Lily Phillips’ 100-person orgy fascinated and horrified the nation.
Of course, unlike Gisele, Lily Phillips invited men into her bedroom to have sex with her.
She did give consent, she was conscious and watched over by people she trusted throughout her ordeal.
However, I believe there is a disturbing link between the men involved in these two stories.
Although none of those who facilitated Lily’s “gangbang” were guilty of any crime, they were only in that bedroom because of their warped objectification of women.
Just as the men who burst into Gisele’s bedroom traveled there for their own.
Both groups participated in a sexual act in which the woman was used for their pleasure and her well-being was of no importance to them.
I do not believe for a second that any of Lily Phillips’ people cared about her well-being as they callously “put her to bed”.
I’m sorry, but it doesn’t take a paragon of virtue to realize that being part of a line of 100 men having sex with a woman, one after the other, is probably not in her best interest.
Shame on them.
What will these people, also hooked on an apparently unstoppable conveyor belt of increasingly degrading online filth, do next in their quest for perversion? I fear the worst.
Because only when deviant men stop thinking of women as vehicles for their twisted and selfish sexual “needs” will we stop hearing about these disturbing events.
I won’t hold my breath.
H&M ON THE LINE OF FIRE
NETFLIX bosses are apparently ready to end Harry and Meghan’s $100 million deal after the Duke’s critically-acclaimed Polo series proved to be a real stinker.
The streaming giant is said to follow Spotify in ditching the pair, who were kicked out of their $20 million podcast deal and branded “fraudsters” by a senior Spotify boss.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix deal is in jeopardy Credit: Netflix
But the royals should be thankful they lasted this long on Netflix.
Many were not so lucky.
Corporate America is a brutal place to work and lays people off as often as you and I change underpants.
I know people who work there – and also who worked there until they were shipped out cold, thrown out with the day’s trash.
The company’s business culture revolves around something called “radical honesty,” a philosophy summed up as “caring personally while challenging directly.”
In practice, this means they don’t put up with any bullshit and call it out, loudly, on anyone they think deserves it.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when it’s H&M’s turn to “talk a bit”
PENNY DROPS
It’s impossible to open your email this time of year without being bombarded with Christmas “gift idea” spam.
Usually these tattoo listings are deleted immediately, but one caught my eye: “Drops After Pooping.”
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Aesop sells poo drops
Yes, you read that right.
Toiletries company Poncey Aesop has come up with pipette-delivered toilet bowl droppers to tackle the situation when “there’s been a flurry of activity in the bathroom”.
Powerful? Ouch!
Perhaps a better solution is to put a few drops of bran in your breakfast bowl.
DARTS MISS THE TRICK
I WENT to world darts this week and was subjected to the kind of security search that would have impressed a guard at Abu Ghraib.
With a heavy pat that reminded me I hadn’t had a good massage in months, my wallet was splashed – until all my receipts were reviewed.
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Darts ace Luke Littler Credits: PA
I half expected to be asked to pull the drawers down for a cavity check, but thankfully I was spared that humiliation.
Was all this really necessary, I wondered?
Well, apparently the searches are aimed at stopping people bringing in “contraband” – ie. coke and pills – and then get a little carried away on live TV with a star like Luke Littler in the background.
Fair.
But after an hour I realized they might be missing a trick here – as well as some hidden supplies – as two groups of excited guys hit each other.
Some were dressed in milieu, and others in penguins.
If that’s not great TV, I don’t know what is.
FLEXIT RECIPE
GOOD LUCK to Grace Dent as she replaces the disgraced Gregg Wallace alongside John Torode on MasterChef.
Grace knows a thing or two about food, having made her living as a restaurant critic for years.
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Grace Dent replaced Gregg Wallace on MasterChefCredit: BBC
She is also what pretentious people call a “flexitarian”, due to the fact that her diet is “mostly plant-based”, but she will eat meat.
However, she does not call herself that because – as she once stated: “Announcing that you are a flexitarian is a bit like coming out as bisexual.”
Or, er, just admit that you like to eat meat and vegetables like a normal person.
LAST CHRISTMAS SHOWS GEORGE’S CLASS
The BBC’s tribute to Wham!’s Last Christmas – now No.1 in the holiday charts – is a heartwarming piece of TV.
Even the sometimes prickly Andrew Ridgeley manages to exude some warmth as he recalls how he and his best friend “Yog” made arguably the best Christmas pop song ever.
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The BBC’s tribute to Wham!’s last Christmas song! is a touching part of TVCredit: Alamy
Of course, the absence of George’s physical presence looms large in Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped, but we’re treated to ample reminders of his genius.
Not just his reaction to learning that Last Christmas was likely to feature on Band Aid’s 1984 Christmas No1 Do They Know It’s Christmas? (at which he performed).
Instead of throwing a tantrum and kicking his agent around the office like most stars would, generous George decided to donate all the profits from his single to Band Aid.
You will be hard pressed to find a better example of the Christmas spirit.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education