Apparently Mike Arrington (TechCrunch) was on the “B” list for review copies of the Palm Pre and decided to be huffy with Leo, who let him have it back. At some point people need to realize that Mike Arrington is indeed a douche. He once stiffed us at Cranky Geeks, never showed up and never apologized or even bothered to call. It was pretty amazing, unprofessional and inconsiderate. This BS about Leo slanting his opinion based on having a loaner is laughable.
What irks me most about this guy is his constant assertions that he gets never-ending death threats. Why? For what? I do not want to trivialize death threats as I have had them when writing Op-Eds for a daily newspaper and reporting on gun control and Middle East politics. I’ve never gotten any for writing about tech. And I didn’t hole up when I got them years ago for other commentary. So what is this all about Mike?
I’m not so sure that Arrington’s questions was beside the point, Leo’s invested interest in some of the products he advertises should be at least at times questioned.
Aside from that Leo’s behavior was unacceptable as he was on air with audience. This should have been handled with professionalism and the issue discussed and clarified in private.
Finally, from the entertainment angle, Leo can use some swearing classes instead of pilates, he swears like my sister.
i think the ‘baffled’ reaction by arrington is his way of reaching some sort of peace treaty with leo without actually giving in. he has a motivation and passion for making people feel bad that it comes natural.
sure, it can be justified that there is always a logical explanation for what he was doing; but, his reputation and offensive personality precedes him and *how* he carries himself.
he takes pleasure in directing this negativity towards others. there’s no genuine respect, no genuine humility -that’s just bad business.
certainly he will continue with the same negative tendencies towards others. it’s all about offensive power and not necessarily anything genuinely constructive.
i think he will always be a jerk, troll, or a douche. it’s his tendency, his reputation, his character. it’s who he is -not ‘human’, but human.
jeffreymatthias #19: thanx for the pronuncation guide of prē. [prē, pronounced as the English prefix pre,/priː/]
You cleared that for me… thank-you
ive always been a fan of Leo Laporte. hes just a cool old geek. whats not to love? this clip right here… i always knew he had it in him. makes him a cool old geek badass. and i knew it all along.
I understand why Leo who is totally out of his character acted that way..
I get a email alert whenever leo is online and broadcasting..AND HE IS ON ALL THE TIME.. he is working too much, and on weekends. like most Americans he is stressed OUT.. and all for what? look back, life is too short..
take some time off Leo, then bitter people wont bother you…. as much.
In Jesus, Matt
This is from a blog post Arrington made on Jan 28th this year:
“I hope that some of my peers will realize that competitive pressures do not give them carte blanche to accuse us and others of literally anything that pops into their head…”
What a hypocrite!
http://tinyurl.com/douchedick
#30 I don’t know man…when someone is questioning your reputation why not rage? What is your reputation worth? Worthy of defending I hope.
Besides, Arrington was being snotty which only helps add fuel to the fire I suppose. At least Arrington apologized for his actions but being “in your face” seems par for the course for Arrington.
Leo can be a fanboy but he’s a technology enthusiast (aren’t we all here?) who always seems upfront to me. I think because he seems so nice that he comes off as uncritical. Not so.
All so this seems to have blown over and the Gilmore Gang can continue on Leoville. Leo’s other shows have more appeal to me but anyway…
I’ve had a radio program that does tech review here in Bilbao over 10 years. I never did it alone, I always had people of opposing views. It’s what made the show work. I was the anti MS, anti intellectual rights, pro open source guy. My partner was the opposite. It was great for laughs, and at times the discussion got pretty heated, but we always went home buddies. I think Mike Arrington’s an asshole (a one week loaner is hardly something that’s gonna influence the review), but Leo Laporte is the bigger asshole. He obviously has Mike there for contrast. Maybe this is just a set- up to get attention. It just don’t make much sense to me otherwise. If you bring an asshole to your program, yo don’t go complainin’ about the smell.
At this point in his career Leo’s earned the right to be incensed by Arrington’s demand for “disclosure”. Leo’s integrity and ethics are beyond reproach certainly by that assclown.
Arrington admitted he was denied a pre-launch unit for review and is coincedentally working on a “big story” which asserts that Palm is selective in giving pre-launch devices to reviewers who are more likely to provide a favorable review. Really, Mike ya think? Ohhh, I smell Pulitzer!
Trying to taint Leo Laporte with your broad brush of innuendo is really despicable. You deserved each and every screw you and Fbomb he delivered.
Here’s another–fuck you Arrington, strong letter to follow.
Michael Arrogantington
Meh.
The charge was so over the top there was little chance any listener would take it seriously. Leo could have just had some fun with it.
He could have just cut Arrington off and said: “Oops, we just lost Mike”.
Meh as well.
You don’t even know what shit Leo was going through at that time that’s why he reacted like that.
TechCrunch AKA Arrington is an essential part of most everyone’s diet. Mike’s demeanor is part of the allure. It’s 99% quality journalism.
The GG incident was an unfortunate, unanticipated clash of styles.
I’m sure Leo’s regretful of his outburst – nothing but damaging to his brand. Mike was sensible enough to apologize, legitimately remorseful.
Move on. Give thanks for the awesome content they both provide.
I saw this live, this is typical of the Gilmor Gang. Steve Gilmor loves to remind Leo that it’s his show (Gilmor’s), but then he just sits there, doesn’t moderate and it degenerates into a fight.
Mike and Leo had a very good “on-air” therapy session about what happened.
Leo got on Gilmor’s butt too about the constant “drama” the Gilmor Gang generates, as is typical of Gilmor, he played the victim.
I’ve seen Leo “adjust” his views to fit a particular program, but never has Leo ever given me the feeling that his reviews are influenced by freebies.
cool go leo your in right mate.
cheers
I have every confidence that Leo is 110% objective when doing review of new products. Just recently on Windows Weekly he made a statement “you don’t want this” about a windows mobile phone which he received a review unit. Leo might get a little over-excited about upcoming and new products but he would never ever deliberately mislead his listeners because of influence from a manufacturer or advertisers.
Nice one Leo, all respect, and thanks John for the info, of something due to my work comitmment I’d otherwise have missed.
Leo was right. As a tech reviewer he lives by his impartiality. If having a review copy of something really impacts the quality of a review it would have come out by now and Leo wouldn’t be as highly regarded for his neutrality of position.
Leo’s one of the nicest people I’ve met and that Arrington still managed to get under his skin is a testament to Arrington’s douchiness.
Thanks for bringing this up, John.
I didn’t comment when the editors here at DU brought up the incident. Didn’t feel I had enough info to offer anything more than a personal opinion.
Now, I will.
Reading Arrington’s commentary – on tech or on personalities – I decided a long time ago he’s a world-class egregious jerkoff. I have no respect whatsoever for his personal opinions.
Because I think people’s lives are rarely distinctly and successfully compartmentalized, it’s a matter of personal policy – again – that I don’t reference Arrington’s tech publications and analysis at this blog. I distrust his opinions on tech as much as I do his vitriol often directed at those he perceives as competitors in the industry.
I don’t think he’s capable of separating the two. Then – neither will I.
I saw this on Twitter:
“There are 2 kinds of people in the world : Those who think Mike Arrington is an asshole and Mike Arrington”
Wow, you go Leo. Mike is a douche.
While I do think that Mike’s question should have been rephrased, I have heard both sides of the story here, both from watching the video and reading Arrington’s blog at Techcrunch to understand what he was thinking. While I do not normally tend to “defend” Mr. Arrington, as I do believe him to be arrogant and rude, I must say that I am severely disappointed in Leo’s outburst.
Leo has been a journalist for many years, and before the fact that he is a techie, before the fact that he is a “famous personality,” or an author; Leo is a journalist, a husband, and a father to two wonderful children. His actions should always represent those final three points.
Leo has been a journalist long enough that his ethics and bias has been called into question many times before. He’s “been around the block.” To have such a reaction as a professional is quite disturbing to see from someone as respected and distinguished as Mr. Leporte, regardless of whether such an outburst was antagonized or not. Secondly, as a husband and a father, Mr. Leporte sets a standard for his own family, as well as the many families out there who have grown up listening and watching Mr. Leporte as well as the younger generation who still listens to Mr. Leporte regularly. While some of the humor expressed from Mr. Leporte as well as some of the commentary on shows such as TWiT Live do tend to be PG-13 or worse on a rare occasion, the show and the TWiT network have always been family oriented and many families appreciate that in today’s world.
As I said, while I do not believe that Mr. Arrington was innocent in this matter, I do believe that Mr. Leporte strongly over-reacted and tarnished his own reputation and lost respect in many viewers eyes from his lack of professionalism and lack of family values in this outburst. I believe that Mr. Leporte not only owes all the guests of that particular show an apology as he has apparently given to Mr. Arrington (as per Mr. Arrington’s blog), but he also owes an apology to his loyal viewers and fans.
For those that think that Leo should have handled it better, keep in mind that MikeA goaded Leo by saying “What are you going to do about it?”. I guess he found it.
I think technology is partially to blame here. The audio quality of Arrington’s voice-only call was pretty shite so I, for one, find it believable that he thought that Leo was “play-mad.” Arrington’s on-air persona is that of someone that tries to get people’s hackles up and I think Leo’s a pro and knew that. Sounds like Arrington caught him on a bad day but good on Leo for not taking an attack on his integrity. Whether or not any given journalist is a shill for accepting a free unit is a great topic for another discussion but wasn’t the topic at hand. Leo’s reaction was from the heart and pretty hilarious. That’s what’s so great about new media; stuff like this makes it to air.
Complete Douchebaggery, by Arrington. Hope his childhood neighbor is now in a registry for a certain type of offender, shall I say…
What a titty baby Mike Arrington is and I didn’t think it was possible for Leo to get angry. Good for Leo and screw Mike.
I agree with Matthew Jackson that Leo unfortunately overreacted to Arrington. However, Leo prizes his professionalism, and Arrington directly questioned that.
Unfortunately, what is lost here is that there IS possibly a story about how Palm might be trying to manipulate the press around the launch of the Pre.
In the case of Leo, based on his earlier comments about the Pre, it is a good bet that he will be fairly positive about it. Similarly, Arrington would probably have more negative things to say. This isn’t about bias or influence, but, if what Mike says is true about there being selective distribution of Pre evaluation units, it seems that Palm is trying to choose the reviewers who will likely give them the best reviews.
That is an interesting story, and it’s too bad Leo and Mike weren’t able to engage in it.
It did feel a little like grad school. “Screw you guys….I’m going home” or in this case “Screw you guys…..I’m kicking you off and going home”.
Someone should throw up a WTMND site saying “Mike Arrington is a troll/dick”
I agree with #55.
Everyone seems to eager to call Arrington names while ignoring the lack of professionalism on Leo’s part? This wasn’t a TWIT show. This was Steve Gillmor’s show. Leo got pissed of at one of the guest and effectively said, “I’m taking my bat and ball and going home. None of you can play to today.”
Play Arrington off, Keyboard Cat
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Jnpi-uBiIg
[Please drop the WWW from URLs as WordPress doesn’t display it properly… plus it’s unnecessary. – ed.]