Meinert
Dave Meinert is facing accusations of sexual misconduct as reporter Sydney Brownstone has surfaced details of alleged sexual assault and rape from multiple women against the Pike/Pine nightlife entrepreneur.
The report details encounters between Meinert and five women “alleging a range of disturbing behavior by Meinert” over a fourteen year period between 2001 and 2015.
Brownstone, who left Capitol Hill-based the Stranger earlier this year to join the reporting team at KUOW, writes that the accusations include “two alleged rapes (one that was never reported to authorities, and one that prosecutors declined to charge) to a woman who said she had to physically push Meinert out of her apartment after she declined to have sex with him.”
Meinert, who denies the specific allegations of rape and sexual assault in the story, does not face criminal charges in any of the allegations and there is no record of any legal action currently underway in King County against the 52-year-old.
Meinert currently plays a smaller role on the Hill than he has in the past but still maintains a large presence in Pike/Pine. He recently announced he had sold his share ofBig Mario’s as he gets ready to open his food+drink investment in the ground-floor commercial component of the Gridiron condo project across from CenturyLink. When we heard from Meinert last, he remained co-owner of company that operates Lost Lake, and the Comet, and part of ownership of Grim’s and The Woods, and Queer/Bar. He is also owner of the 5-Point Cafe in Belltown and music management company Onto Entertainment, representing The Lumineers, Seattle-based Hey Marseilles and poet and spoken word artist Andrea Gibson.
UPDATE: Meinert’s music management company has lost one client in the fallout from the accusations — the band Hey Mareilles announced it is dropping its relationship with Onto:
(2/2) Onto Entertainment most recently has been our management company. We’re working on a path forward, but know that path will not include David Meinert.
— Hey Marseilles (@heymarseilles) July 21, 2018
We’ve asked Meinert and his business associates Jason Lajeunesse and Joey Burgess for more information on his status with the restaurants and bars but have not yet heard back from the partners. The companies involved are longtime CHS advertisers. UPDATE: Burgess tells CHS that Meinert is “stepping away” from “our company” —
This situation is heartbreaking. David has real issues and will be dealing with them. Effective immediately, David Meinert is stepping away from operations and management of our Company. Personally, I’m trying to get my thoughts together and process everything. However, right now my only focus is on my employees, how they are coping and how to support them.
Burgess is co-owner of Grim’s with Meinert and Lajeunesse and is a co-owner with Meinert in Queer/Bar.
Meinert posted a lengthy response to the article to Facebook Thursday afternoon. “I don’t claim to be perfect and certainly have many faults,” he writes. “That’s not a secret. Age and fatherhood and the #metoo movement have given me a different perspective on my past actions.”
The #metoo movement — and his social media posts about it — also may have inspired the women to speak out. Brownstone writes that at least two of the women were angered by the outspoken Meinert’s comments in support of women’s rights and against a football player accused of rape.
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Worst Yelp reviews ever.
Being a rapist isn’t a “fault”, it’s a crime.
“Meinert does not face criminal charges in any of the allegations and there is no record of any legal action currently underway in King County against the 44-year-old.”
Remember “presumption of innocence until proven guilty”? Nobody else does either, apparently.
Not with rape. Guilty until proven innocent.
He’s not in jail, so he hasn’t been found guilty of anything, but one can still consider him a scumbag.
You can if there’s any credible reason to. Well, I suppose you can also consider him a scumbag if you just don’t like him.
@spiffy d and @Jim98122x then it sounds like that’s your personal opinion and not something you should be basing calling someone a rapist on. scumbag or no, innocent until proven guilty regardless of the charges. that’s how our system works. otherwise you are just another trump or elon musk.
What Spiffy said. Presumption of innocence is for the courts, not public opinion.
Real, truly legitimate question: what would it financially take to cut off their advertising? I am absolutely not ok with business as usual because that’s what keeps these people above reproach and insulated from real consequences.
the reason we have courts is to have evidence that someone is actually guilty. we’ve seen time and again that the “public opinion” is mostly shit as the public is pretty ignorant on its own.
you can be “outraged” all you want over”business as usual” but if you don’t know what the actual facts are then you are just talking out your ass and causing real people real negative consequences when they may be innocent.
is meinert innocent? i don’t know. is he guilty? i don’t know. i don’t have any of the facts other than what’s been spewed on a local blog. maybe, before destroying someone we should get all the facts first, from the source.
otherwise, aren’t we just like the president we love to hate? going off the rails based on speculation and rumor?
short answer: no.
long answer: why are you a driveling centrist rape apologist?
Sign me on as a rape apologist if that is the definition of someone who prefers to wait for a jury of our peers to decide before tarring and feathering someone. God, what a great country!
Thanks, zeebleoop, for your sensible comment. We are a country where the “rule of law” is important, and that includes “innocent until proven guilty.
This isn’t a court of law, asshole.
So. Now that ELEVEN (and probably more) women have come forward, can we consider this pile of shit rapist yet? Of do we still have to wait until a trial.
Oh. Wait. There won’t be a trial. Because rape victims are treated like shit by people like you and the criminal justice system and the crime of rape is still governed by totally sexist evidentiary standards.
So I guess, because shit piles like you, we can’t call this rapist a rapist… ever.
I believe the women.
So much for due process. Such a quaint notion. It’s back to lynch mobs again, internet style. Progress!
“against the 44-year-old”
he was 44 almost 10 years ago.
Corrected. Sorry for error.
ok then “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, I guess that means you (you specifically, not the general “you”) are guilty of rape until you prove otherwise. holy shit you are stupid.
Side note: wasn’t To Kill a Mockingbird about someone falsely accused of rape? It just seems like an odd moniker for someone advocating a “presumed guilty” approach. Maybe its sarcasm?
Ya think?
It’s telling that the words handpicked to describe a history of sexual assault are “a range of disturbing behavior” and not “local business owner who admits to sexual assault continues to be an absolute terror”. Shame on you. At what point would you accept that the charges levied are substantiated enough to merit more substance? Should we hold survivors accountable for their abuse? Super gross.
You’re referring to a phrase borrowed from the KUOW story. I’m not sure what else you’re talking about.
>> In total, five women shared stories with KUOW alleging a range of disturbing behavior by Meinert between 2001 and 2015.
Just so we’re clear, he admits to like 90% of the accusations, but people are super “let’s protect the accused!” for that last 10%? That’s the hill you want to die on?
Maybe consider reserving that kind of outrage for something a wee-less likely.
Just so we’re _really_ clear:
“Meinert, who denies the specific allegations of rape and sexual assault in the story, does not face criminal charges in any of the allegations and there is no record of any legal action currently underway in King County against the 52-year-old.”
He denies charges of rape and sexual assault. He does not at present face criminal charges.
Just so we’re _really_ _really_ clear, he’s admitted to over aggressive, “handsy,” and to various bits of inappropriate behavior that could be considered sexual assault had charges been brought by the accusers (and at least one tried, but she was pretty much given the runaround in even bringing charges, which I guess is further proof of innocence?). So again, is this the guy you want to stand up for as the paragon for “don’t rush to judgment?” The one who admitted doing almost everything he’s accused of doing, while leaving the out of “I don’t remember” the more sordid parts?
Let’s consider this, more broadly. Trump doesn’t at present face criminal charges, so I guess no one should discuss or believe that anything nefarious or illegal or treasonous is going on with any aspect of his presidency because “he denies charges … [and] does not at present face criminal charges.”
Why that could be a Fox News headline!
Anyway, thank goodness people like you are here to have the back of the wealthy and privileged and powerful in Seattle over their accusers. There’s literally no way for wealthy folks and the crisis management PR firms that orchestrate their statements to deal with these kinds of problems. They really need good, pedantic people yourself to help them out! You’re really doing God’s work.
You are not paying attention, “Privilege.” I am not standing up for a person. I am standing up for principles: of due process, of presumption of innocence, of rule of law You, on the other hand, just want to signal your awesome virtue so the whole world will know how very right on you are. You are juvenile, at best, “Privilege.”
So many principles, and so boldly stated in front of the world, or at least the world of the Capitol Hill Blog. A tip of my fedora to you, good sir; you’re a goddamn hero.
Why I also imagine you have interesting things to say on a myriad of other topics! Let’s talk about Harvey Weinstein! Maybe you have a hot take on R. Kelly? Maybe some Roman Polanski? What about Cosby? Or let’s talk about Jordan Peterson. I bet he’s your jam.
I’m not pretending to be a hero. Just somebody with principles. Try it sometime for a change. Or just keep on with your frantic virtue signalling. That’s a very popular activity these days, for sure.
“Virtue Signaling: The action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.”
@Rocko:
“Remember “presumption of innocence until proven guilty”? Nobody else does either, apparently.”
“So much for due process. Such a quaint notion. It’s back to lynch mobs again, internet style. Progress!”
“’m not pretending to be a hero. Just somebody with principles.”
“I am standing up for principles: of due process, of presumption of innocence, of rule of law.”
—
So another tip of my fedora to you, great man of principles and virtues and signaling of said virtues.
Also, here’s a nice quote about those who use “virtue signaling” as a pejorative: “What started off as a clever way to win arguments has become a lazy put down. It’s too often used to cast aspersions on opponents as an alternative to rebutting their arguments. In fact, it’s becoming indistinguishable from the thing it was designed to call out: smug posturing from a position of self-appointed authority.”
Privilege, FWIW you’re kinda starting to come off as a petty, trolling dick.
True dat, though I’d rather be a petty, trolling dick who takes the side of rape and assault victims/accusers in the court of public opinion.
Lol ok. We all raise our fists in solidarity with ya, you CHS comment section social justice warrior you.
Indeed, I am a warrior for social justice. I tip my fedora to you as well, user of the term.
I am, however, disappointed there was no mention of snowflakes and/or ethics in game journalism.
Ooooh snap. I also missed the opportunity to somehow work “triggered” in there too. Oh well, such is life.
It’s almost always the toads. Great article by Sydney Brownstein. Meinert is clearly guilty. Writing a bunch of psycho babble on his Facebook page isn’t going to change this, only make it worse. It also sounds like his attacks on women are getting worse over time. This is clearly going to hurt all his businesses, as it should but what I really hope is that the law catches up with him and I can’t wait till the full story on the Stranger comes out. I mean, who reads that thing any more?
Yeah, The Stranger has become bloated with numerous ads for pot businesses….I doubt it would still be in business if for marijuana legalization. I guess it’s still good for younger people who go out alot to clubs and shows, but for those of us of a certain age (cough, cough) it’s of little interest. And the alternative “Seattle Weekly” is a shadow of its former self….I think it should be called “Seattle Weakly.”
He is done. He can say all the things from his perspective but when he is hypocrite and there was a witness at one of the event (the business manager saw David walked into his boss’ room) and hire a PR company, everyone knows. He should really stop lying to himself. He even deleted one of the facebook post that has over 100 comments in one day. Stop trying to defend himself. He is at fault and some people are still covering for him. I hope the world knows that karma will catch up.
No surprise then, that he condones bigotry at his front doors.