Cooper Lawrence admits she was wrong: Statement

Do not adjust your set, you really did read that Cooper Lawrence, the psychologist who appeared in Fox's unfair and unfounded slander against Mass Effect, has admitted that she "misspoke" about the game and has actually done the right thing in retracting her comments. Having now actually done what she should have done and watched the sex scenes in question, Lawrence has realized that the game was not the foul and degrading porno she told everyone it was:

"I recognize that I misspoke. I really regret saying that, and now that I've seen the game and seen the sex scenes it's kind of a joke.

Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it's like pornography. But it's not like pornography. I've seen episodes of Lost that are more sexually explicit."

This is actually incredibly pleasing news, to see someone who has enough of a spine to admit something like that, especially when it comes to videogames. While it does little to justify her going on air and defending a viewpoint she had no right claiming to hold, and doesn't make up for the disrespect she showed Geoff Keighley and the games industry, it is at least a respectable move and a sign that not everyone on "the other side of the fence" has to remain ignorant and offensive in the face of the truth.

[pwnsause]

your too late. For Gamers (like me), this was like the last straw, we had to take these matters into our own hands in order for your little brain to listen. unless you go out there and make more reserch about video games and play them and make a book about how the media is wrong about video games and how they steriotype them on how they promote violence towards children, then we can accept you again. But not today, what you just did in your show was hurt our beloved games, the games that we play and adore due to their story.

[IzKyD1331]

and it only took her a week and a half to realise how big of a mistake she made, you can literally see the scenes on youtube, and now shes trying to write it off as a little mistake

[Devr]

"Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography."

An expert indeed... :|

[Mercutio]

pathetic

[bootsielon]

You should have apologized while you were on air, you stupid b1tch

[Ashta]

Boy, we gamers are a bunch of pimps aren't we? Big time news corporations be talking smack and we get all rowdy and decide to hand them their ass.

Dramatization: "Girl, I told you Mass Effect was CLEAN! You see me raisin' mah hand?!"

^^^points out that was supposed to be satire and funny. Not an actual true feeling towards the situation.

We might have been a bit tactless in the way we all went about trying to educate the non-researchers at Fox, but they at least got the point.

[bootsielon]

With our wallets and our boycotts. That's why Videogame companies are usually quick to react to trends, and when they don't they incurr in big losses.

[Frag Monger]

That was the most half-assed apology I've ever heard.

It just tarnishes her credibility even more. She has completely admitted here that the full extent of her pre-initerview research was 3rd hand gossip - still from someone who had never even played the game.

What an idiot.

This is a wake up call for journalists everywhere. Don't mess with gamers! :)

[patterson]

Hopefully more critics will do some homework before actually making a critique.

Good on her for doing the right thing.

[SaintedArgors]

We didn't give her a choice lol am just waiting to see what EA has to say next now.

No it a victory but a small one.IMO

[GrammarPolice]

It was great that gamers spoke up and retaliated in such a way that a lot of people took notice. No doubt Cooper Lawrence has seen what damage someone can do without thinking something through. But she has said she's sorry, admitted she was wrong, and has taken it all back. What more can she do? America is a forgiving society and the gaming community has a golden opportunity to show that respect begets respect. So be glad that the campaign worked, forgive the lady, and move on. You losers who keep saying "too late, b*tch, etc." give true gamers a bad name. I can forgive you for your lack of foresight, but if you can't give it up in the long run, you will perpetuate an image of gamers being no-life nerds who can't get dates and live in fantasy worlds when they are not working their paper routes. Mission accomplished, folks. It's time to move on and get back to the fun of gaming.

[Orange]

she's in damage control mode. her entire attitude needs apologizing for. she's an opportunist who sells her opinion to the highest bidder. we should no more forgive her than we should forgive Anne Coulter.

[Tru2U]

Very well put. Your post was one of the more intelligent posts I've read here in weeks.

Thank you.

I agree. In this day and age most people would take the "low road" and not admit they were wrong.

[Genuine]

Although I do think that this lady is an opportunist, she did admit that she was completely wrong. I can put the issue with her to rest. Because, I don't think she will be so quick to speak on things she knows nothing about. The whole Fox News story seeded from a piece that columnist Kevin McCullough wrote on the conservative website Townhall. If anyone should be taken to task, it's Fox News.

[Orange]

let's hope she changes her style, too. completely unprofessional...calling geoff "sweetie" on national tv and smirking and laughing when he asks if she's played the game. geoff handled himself so much more professionally. yay for video game journalists.

[xionpunk]

yeah, I felt that Lawrence and the news anchor were acting like they were
pretty much just humoring Geoff. Laughing when he asked her if she'd even played the game was what pissed me off, like that was some absurd idea.

[xionpunk]

Now, that wasn't so hard , was it miss Lawrence?

[Towers]

It's good she has admitted she made a mistake. It's bad cause yeah, do your research before you go on televsion and make stupid statements

[v1c1ous]

she lied on live television. she gave out purposely wrong information. if she was working at an actual place of business, she would have been fired on the spot.

but because she was on fox news television, speaking out against a medium of entertainment that can't really defend itself yet, she went for an easy subject to fling around her pseudo-intellectual babble and got exposed for the hack she is.

she deserves it.

[Silver360]

She and Fox thought that they could pick on a bunch of children. The can't get it through their moronic heads that there are adults that like to play video games. She is only apologizing because she can see that it is hurting her book sales. We need to do the same to Fox maybe protest to their advertisers about their misleading news stories and how we will not support them if they continue to support Fox lying ways.

[Mikey Mike]

that people get bent out of shape for what one person said about a game. Big freaking deal. No one cares, it's media sensationalism.

[Shankle]

I think we all get annoyed about the stigma directed towards video gaming, especially from people who know little about it. Things like this news show really do lower people's opinions of videogames and therefore gamers. When someone attacks videogames like this, it feels like an attack on gamers. You surely must understand that.

[i Shank u]

Game ratings guidelines are strict enough as it is (how exactly is Halo 3 rated M, same as the Darkness or Manhunt? alot of games that arent really "mature" still get the rating ), and with the majority of publicity on videogames being negative in recent memory (People flipped out on Bioshock's "killing girls", GTA hot coffee, Mass Effect, Manuhunt 2, etc.) , gamers as a whole don't want to see our hobby be censored/restricted further.

Edit @ above - look, the Shank's unite!

[TheZippo]

I think it was also the fact that she and Fox had done absolutely no research. There wasn't even a story there to begin with. She also has a radio show... so I think that may have something to do with her apology. It's hard to tell what some (or all) of her callers had to say about the matter.

[i Shank u]

apologizing for being an imbecile is good!; though it doesn't change the fact you are still an imbecile, it makes it easier to accept :)

[ygxbrayzie]

She talksh!t big time on TV and she's apologizing
but who say she's sincere, who say she's just sorry! what just to run away from what she's started?but you can't can you?haha its gonna hunt you for the rest of your life BIOTCH LOL
what's done is done can't go back...

[Mr_Kuwabara]

BOHICA

[Pain]

About EVEYTHING ><;;

[antoinetm]

gamespot and cnet, now we are going to burn fox!

we should form a n4g militia. "freedom fanboys"

its amazing what fanboys can do when they focus their hate on the same target.

[SRuN4]

the damage is done but atleast she's admitted she was wrong. most people wouldn't even go that far, so you have to respect that.

[Salvadore]

Go and promote your book somewhere else.

[L0Kl]

I know I won't be happy until the only way Cooper Lawrence can make any money is to sell her mouth for crack.

[crunchie101]

what the hell is wrong with you people?

she apologised OK?

If you can't accept her apology and move on then you're no better than the people you're railing against.

[L0Kl]

You are more than free to accept her apology. But for me, and a lot of other people apparently, until her apology comes at a time when her livelihood is not at stake or she completely retracts everything she said not just about the game, but about gamers in general, I will still consider her to be as bad as Brent Bozell, Joe Liberman, Hillary Clinton, Fox News, and everyone else who has bashed video games without giving them a fair shake.

[Shankle]

Well I would simply like her to apologise with the same level of publicity as the level with which she attacked the game. I do not know where the quote here comes from, but until we have a televised apology I won't feel satisfied.

[ScottEFresh]

Her book cover was really ugly :(

[andron]

Fine, she realized the errors of her ways. But it seems like a half hearted apology to me.

But it might get others to think twice before angering the gamers of the world...

[ben806]

rough translation = please stop giving my book bad reviews! wah!

i hope other people eager to jump on the anti-gaming bandwagon look at this situation,

[vortteexx]

lol you have to think that gamers are a huge train, and she is a twig on the railway line.

crushed!

[SaintedArgors]

Fox and Cooper screwed up big time right from the start, and we the gamers said it will not stand lol , now even thought i will never truly respect Cooper or Fox ever again I will gauge my next actions on how EA responds to this and Fox News. I will wait and see.

[GITPWNED]

"I’ve seen episodes of Lost that are more sexually explicit"

LOL. She thinks that just because she likes Lost I will stop hating her? I don't think so. Stupid lezbo.

[permutated]

Everything I thought was true was just confirmed in her statement.

Not only did she NEVER play the game, she didn't even see the damn scene that she was speaking out against.

Fox news, shame on you.

[Doctor Strange]

At least she came out and said that she is complete idiot and never played the game but the damage has already been done. Her book will never sale now.

[BloodySinner]

Mission FAILED.

[L0Kl]

You know, I was going over her statement and I realized something: SHE DID NOT APOLOGIZE. Rather she said that "I recognize that I misspoke. I really regret saying that, and now that I've seen the game and seen the sex scenes it's kind of a joke.

"Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it's like pornography. But it's not like pornography. I've seen episodes of 'Lost' that are more sexually explicit."

At no point does she say that she is sorry for her remarks or the pain that it caused our community. So I say that until she comes out with a real apology, I don't feel that anyone needs to ease up on anything anyone decides to do to her.

[HB-Sauce]

Just watched the video on youtube, wow. Does fox news screen any of these clowns?

[L0Kl]

You know, perhaps we shouldn't be venting here and on Amazon and other places on the web when we can be venting on her radio call-in show on M-F from 7p-10p eastern. Here's the number:1-877-6-COOPER

[GITPWNED]

To make matters worse, she said the game was a "joke."

I WANT TO ASSRAPE THIS UGLY WOMAN IN THE BUTT THEN MAKE HER TASTE IT.

EDIT:

I've had more b1tches than you, stupid nerd. now get assraped.

[GrammarPolice]

Cooper Lawrence was right about at least one person. Dude, I hope you're kidding or really, you take games much too seriously. Why don't you just start up a he-man woman haters club? I'm sure you can find 2 or 3 more losers who've never had a girlfriend but can beat Halo 3 in 2 hours flat. Stop making the rest of us normal people who enjoy gaming as a diversion look bad.

[tonsoffun]

It's idiotic, retarded fukwits like you that prevent videogame fans from having a proper chance at rebuttal or counter argument because comments like that show us to be nothing but childish retards.

Not only do I think that you are a child, but I can safely assume that you are a 13 year old child that not only has no social skills, but has yet to even get near enough to a girl to hold her hand, let alone to do anything else with.

[ravenguard88]

Get off our site.

[MadMax]

Geez,what more do u want . She apologized its over and done with,next topic. Actually u wanna hear somethin really f@cked up what the media is hiding. An illegal hispanic just killed someone in a hit and run accident fled back to Mexico and guess what, they are refusing to cover it because he is an illegal. So the family of the victim are continuing to call the media stations mainly in Mexico to televise it, so maybe they can catch this scumbag and they are refusing to help. They are protecting this piece of trash and are basically telling the U.S f@ck you. After all the sh@t weve done for these people, its outrageous. Can you imagine if it was the other way around, holy sh@t Mexico would go into a rage. You would never hear the end of it. My point is the media doesnt always give u the truth and there are more important things to get upset about. Call the media stations people and help this family out. Only 2 local channels out here in the OC have covered it. Its time to bombard the mexican media with calls. Mutherf@ckers!

[L0Kl]

Max,

She didn't apologize. I believe I pointed that out.

As for the illegal alien thing, hey I agree. We really have to do something about this non-militaristic invasion of our country. However, this is a video game website dealing with a video game discussion.

I would be more than happy to chat about this with you more at vdare if you like.

[MadMax]

Just checked out vdare, adding to my favorites. Interesting site, have u checked out the site, outragedpatriots.com? Good stuff man.

[Dathcha]

An apology perhaps... But I'd far rather see some bigger and more elaborate apology... A larger article written by her, not just 2-3 sentences saying 'oops, sowwy...'

She could use a BIT more effort to redeem herself to the masses than what this article states... Maybe she did a more lengthy interview on it all, but I'm not seeing that anywhere yet...

Come on ma'am, this event riled the developers and quite literally millions of people... I don't need a ritual suicide in the centre of the town-square... But a bit more public one would be nice...

It just doesn't work for me how the damage is usually done in a grand and bombastic manner (TV, big magazines, big newspapers, etc), but the apology or retraction is a small footnote in some distant corner of journalism (a side-mention in another interview, a blog-post on the person's own website, etc)... (my 2 cents merely)...

[Enigma_2099]

No one will give a sh*t...

[Adamalicious]

She could have saved herself a lot of grief by spending 90 seconds on YouTube before the segment instead of after.

[INehalemEXI]

She sounded like such a fool it was painfull to watch. Dude let her off to easy. I would have interupted her before she stuck all that foot in her mouth.

[ReBurn]

I wonder how many copies of Mass Effect were sold because of this controversy?

[Chris_GTR1]

well obviously she had to.. shes got all the mentally retarded going after her on amazon hating on her. damn retards with no life get all pissed off about her claiming that commander shepard is having sex in the game. i dunno how she was wrong. he does have sex and they were nude.

[SaintedArgors]

You appear to be missing the point just like she did, Have you see the Tv spot and how it was handled ? wow that just echoed have you played the game. If you have and still don't get the point you never will.

[Chris_GTR1]

i have the game. i pickd it up the first day it was out. what im saying is that theres a ton of mentally handicapped retards on the internet now a days that complain about everything.. did u know that when the halo 3 beta was dalayed 2 days last year the entire bungie team got death threats to their personnal phones and emails. seriously she says somethings about the game that were a bit exessive and these retards start sending her deaththreats on the damn amazon and personal email... these people are out of hand to take something by a non gamer so seriously.

[SaintedArgors]

so you haven't seen the TV spot then LOL i rest my case you will never get it.

[Gamingshouldbefun]

whats a best way to advertise/sell game? in this case they take fox news flame mass effect then retards fan boys gonna do the rest of the job spamming forums and all kinds of sites.

[SaintedArgors]

lol you can't be for real lol you must watch to much Fox News bahahahaha

[LightningPS3]

She's kinda hot. Or else no one would be wasting their time with this.

[ravenguard88]

Someone stands up and admits they're completely wrong, and that it's pretty much a big joke.

I still can't stand this woman though..

[Sarick]

Not long ago this industry had little power. Now that games ave become more interactive and etched into society it's more difficult for people to talk trash about the industry without harming their reputations.

I think this is a good thing though. It gos to show you how we as gamers are finally to the point where political and/or popular figures are more careful how they try to spin this industry. Attack it without proper merit and you'll likely suffer casualties in the process.

This woman is really hurting right now do to the backlash of her comments. She'd be best to lay low for a bit until people forget what she she said. Her field of experience was severely called into question and the damage caused to her reputation could harm her ability to earn money off publications now and in the future.

The truth is gamers are becoming a stong influence in todays society. The popularity of gaming is rapidly earning favor amongst a large audience. I'm thinking in the future news, pop icons and political figureheads will think twice before screwing with us gamers.

[LJWooly]

At least she apologised, unlike countless other of Fox's 'experts'. However, in the eyes of gamers, it may be too little, too late.

Come to think of it, though, this means she has more of a spine than Fox, which is just pathetic. When I see Fox do a FAIR discussion of Mass Effect, all will be forgotten.

Still, she shouldn't have done it in the first place.

[djroberts]

The whole Fox will speak with EA on a TV spot sounds a l ot like Activision and Harmonix where Activision will only allow the guitar patch released of Harmonix pays.

Maybe Activision should join up with Fox and start making crappy games with no nudity but lot's of yelling and torturing.