"If I Walk Away"

I've been thinking about why it is that Josh seems to still like some fans who have been very critical of him -- and even acknowledged a twitter thread that included an online post with a reference to the notorious Gaby Dunn.

Dunn has been publicly blasting a former lover who is widely believed to be Josh, see e.g. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/f--kboy-definition-take-that-haters_n_7471142.html.

Other women connected with Josh have sometimes said negative things as well. I talked about some of this gossip in a previous blog. I have no knowledge about the truth or falsity of any of the allegations, so I just listed some questions, and did not even mention his name.

Many of us had just been hoping that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and maybe it was just "sour grapes" that made these women so bitter -- hoping it would just blow over.

He had been giving the appearance of studiously ignoring the kerfuffle on twitter and Instagram. He tweeted furiously in a rather detached, professional way about tour dates and public appearances.  I suspected he was scared, though.

Then he put out those tweets that seemed to acknowledge, screen shot below.

This was unexpected. I thought he would just continue furiously tweeting -- giving the appearance of ignoring it all. I inferred from what he said that he hoped people would realize that things were probably not so clear as some of these women were implying.

But why acknowledge it -- and why acknowledge one of his most public critics?

Then I remembered his song "If I Walk Away." I and some commentators had originally assumed that this song was written as some kind of love song; but Josh, in at least one interview, said that this was a song he wrote to his family -- and inner circle of friends -- asking them to let him know if he was letting celebrity go to his head.

He had his brother film him -- walking away -- apparently lost in his own thoughts -- apparently detached from the world around him.  The film seemed to show a performer who was turning on the charm to create an act on stage, while staying a normal, lonely man at other times.

The critical posters have been implying otherwise -- that he was using his celebrity status to sexually exploit adoring women.  I wonder if his family even knew about all this, or dared discuss it with him.

I wonder if, in some sense, those critical posters -- though not his family or inner circle, and therefore not the people he really trusts -- were doing exactly what he was asking in the song.  I wonder if he noticed that.  Even if the allegations are distorted, he might appreciate that people are trying to keep him on track.

The acknowledged tweet was citing this article http://www.papermag.com/2015/08/introducing_our_beta_bro_hall.php