Four women accuse 'male feminist' writer of rape and choking (2024)

Los Angeles-based writer Michael Hafford who styled himself as a so-called 'male feminist' in a column for Vice news is facing serious allegations of rape and assault by four women.

On 6th October Helen Donahue, a former social media editor for Vice tweeted a set of pictures showing her with bruises on her chin, chest and shoulders, hinting that a man who writes about feminism was responsible.

Writer Abby Carney quoted Helen's tweet and claimed: 'I too was forcibly entered and choked by the same male feminist.'

Another writer, Deirdre Coyle quoted Helen's tweet, adding: 'These bruises came from the same guy who physically forced me to do cocaine during sex.'

Deirdre's tweet was then quoted by a woman with the Twitter handle Dilara, who alleged: 'This is the same guy who choked me at the foot of his stairs until I passed out and then repeatedly punched me in the face', indicating in a later tweet that she was raped.

The rapper ka5sh, a friend of Helen Donahue, tweeted: 'The guy that did this abused multiple women. His name is Michael Hafford and we shouldn’t let him get away with this.'

According to Jezebel, Deirdre, Dilara and Helena confirmed to each other privately that their attacker was Michael Hafford.

MailOnline has contacted Hafford for comment.

Expanding on her alleged attack, Helena said she had blacked out and woken up covered in bruises.

'This was the first night I met this person. He wrote a column on male feminism, making fun of dudes who masquerade as allies,' she said.

'So many peopleknew about this the day after it happened and he only apologised because he thought it would impact his career and maintained I asked for it.

'Dunno what I'd have asked for, an anvil to be dropped on my body? Like what did he even do to make those bruises. I've never personally known.'

Dilara also shared more details the night she was allegedly attacked two years ago.

'Michael asked me to take my dress off at the foot of his stairs, and when I said no, choked me until I passed out,' she said.

'I woke up on the floor, and he still made me take my dress off, and led me upstairs, walking behind me like I was a freaking hostage.

'I saw him one more time where he tried to coerce me into a threesome with a friend, refused to wear a condom, called me many names etc.

'I didn’t see him again, but every few weeks I would hear from him, usually after midnight. I asked what he wanted he said, “I don’t know.”

'Looking back, I guess I did not want to admit that I the bookish intellectual (sometimes called frigid) girl was such an easy target.'

Michael Hafford, was previously a columnist for Vice's website Broadly, and most recently worked as entertainment editor of Playboy.com.

The freelance writer has also contributed to outlets such as Refinery29, Rolling Stone and Time Out New York.

In his Broadly male feminist column, which ran for three months in 2015, he satirised men who champion women's issues in posts such as 'How to Come Out as a Male Feminist at Thanksgiving'.

He wrote: 'First thing you do when you walk through the door: Immediately act really upset about the latest news.

'If you don't read the news, you don't have to; trust me, it's bad. The real point is that you should be upset to the point of inaction. Faint if you can. This will give them a good idea of how sensitive you are to issues.'

Since the allegations against him emerged he has gone to ground, deleting his Twitter account and making his Facebook and Instagram pages private.

A spokesperson for Vice told Jezebel, Hafford is now banned as a contributor.

A spokesperson said: 'Vice does not tolerate assault of any kind, or behavior that is disrespectful or offensive to any group or demonstrates bias or bigotry, and we took action as soon as we learned what happened. We continue to review the matter.'