Patty Hearst Defends Son-In-Law, Chris Hardwick, In The Wake Of Abuse Allegations By Chloe Dykstra
In the 1970s, Patty Hearst — the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst — was thrown in the middle of controversy when the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) allegedly kidnapped her and beat up her fiance.
Now, she’s back in the middle of controversy again, this time because she defended her son-in-law, Chris Hardwick, from the recent allegations by his ex-girlfriend, podcaster and cosplayer Chloe Dysktra.
According to Deadline, Hearst sent out a cryptic tweet today that suggests that it’s her son-in-law, Chris Hardwick, who’s the victim of abuse at Chloe Dykstra’s hands, not the other way around.
“Beware the person who stabs you and then tells the world they’re the one who’s bleeding,” she wrote. She then proceeded to tweet a series of stories in support of Hardwick — who is married to her daughter, the socialite Lydia Hearst-Shaw — before calling Dykstra a “bunny boiler” in response to a tweet put out by TMZ. The tweet has since been deleted, but several intrepid fans took a screenshot of her response and posted it for the world to see.
— Patricia Hearst (@PatriciaHearst) June 15, 2018
Patty Hearst tweeted a Fatal Attraction reference to TMZ in defense of Chris Hardwick- because he's her son in law. 2018 is like a year of MadLibs. pic.twitter.com/5sUY5JPjiD
— don (@donswaynos) June 15, 2018
Needless to say, the response against Hearst was swift and angry, with several people pointing out that, when she was kidnapped, and then, ultimately, charged with a crime thanks to her actions after she was kidnapped, according to the Crime Museum, she relied on people believing her story to earn her freedom, but wouldn’t afford the same privilege to a woman who needed people to believe her story.
Chris Hardwick has already denied Dykstra’s allegations. Although his ex-girlfriend doesn’t mention him by name, several details in the story she wrote immediately pointed to him. In response, Hardwick admitted that while he and Dykstra weren’t a good match, “at no time” did he sexually assault her. He also paints himself as the victim of Dykstra, not the other way around, claiming that they broke up when he discovered she was cheating, and after he kicked her to the curb, she went crazy and threatened to kill herself if they didn’t get back together.
Nevertheless, the fallout against the former Singled Out host was swift and decisive: Nerdist scrubbed all reference to him from their site, and AMC pulled Talking Dead from their lineup ahead of its premiere.
In addition, Chris Hardwick has been pulled from all his comic convention appearances, including San Diego Comic-Con, where he moderated several panels in the past.
