#chad kennedy

[archivingspn]

2013:Twitter- Chad Kennedy

Context: Season 9 episode 3 “I’m No Angel” aired on October 22 at 9/8 central. The episode was written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, and directed by Kevin Hooks. After watching the episode, Destiel fans were upset that Castiel had sex with the female reaper, April Kelly, as an exploration on his newfound humanity. Some fans felt like April coerced homeless, powerless Castiel into sleeping with her, making it rape. Not helped by April lying about who she was and then torturing and killing Castiel later in the episode. And, though it’s not mentioned in these tweets below, some factions were also upset that Dean told Cas he couldn’t stay in the bunker at the end of the episode because Gadreel threatened to leave Sam if Cas stayed. All in all, several fans invested in Castiel and/or the Dean/Cas relationship felt like they were being specifically singled out/slighted by the spn direction and tptb.

(Supposedly, before the episode aired Adam directed people to talk to Chad but we do not have evidence of this currently)

Chad Kennedy happened to be tweeting fans around the time 9x03 aired. Where he then revealed to fans that canon Destiel wasn’t in the plans as of then (2013). Below are the are screenshots that were taken by various fans before Kennedy decided to delete his twitter account:

chadfkenn: “This will not end well” xceteras: “chadfkenn No kidding. East coast viewers already found that out in abundance! Sad how platonic Dean/Cas seem to have ended up.” chadfkenn: “xceteras oh, c’mon!!!” xceteras: “chadfkenn Woah wasn’t expecting a response! Not sure which you object to though- that it seemed platonic, or that being platonic is sad?” chadfkenn: “xceteras i’m always listening” xceteras: “chadfkenn Well that addresses the first part but not the second. Thanks for listening though. I appreciate it.” chadfkenn: “It’s the community’s comments about Dean and Cas being platonic. But what you do with slash fiction is your biz... #supernatural” xceteras: “chadfkenn Which community says what? Confused. Slash fiction is great but it would mean a helluva lot to me to have an actual bi lead char.” chadfkenn: “xceteras I support the idea of bi lead chars. But on this specific show, it is not our intention for these chars. Clearer? #supernatural” - 9:35 PM 22 Oct 13

xceteras: “chadfkenn Thank you, that’s very clear. I appreciate it a lot. Would have loved to have heard it earlier, but now is better than never.” Arielle_san: “chadfkenn xceteras Oh must u say with such certainty? We know its not a priority but the hope of D/C means alot to many of us lgbt fans” chadfkenn: “I’ll put it this way: don’t know if we’ll ever go there, but don’t know for sure that we never will... #Supernatural” batalene: “chadfkenn xceteras I’m glad you were honest, we were needing it. It would be nice if someone had said it earlier. But thank you, really.” destiel_my _otp: “chadfkenn Thank you for your honesty. Wish rthompson1138 adamglass44 TheJimMichaels had just come out and said this months ago.”

chadfkenn: “Yotsubii I never said bisexual characters couldn’t happen on SPN. There is not, nor has there ever been, an issue with lgbtq chars” chadfkenn: “I have never been pitched Destiel. If it were pitched and the story made sense, I would not block it. I do not create story.”

M_Bow: “chadfkenn If the show does go platonic with them, it will lose a LOT of viewers--the destiel fandom is huge!” chadfkenn: “M_Bow the show goes long enough, I suppose anything is possible. Keep watching? #supernatural” M_Bow: “chadfkenn You just said there was on intention of making the characters bisexual. Which means to me that the show intends to queerbait.” chadfkenn: “M_Bow that would be awful if it were true. I hope you don’t believe that. I do believe they have a closer-than-friends rel #supernatural” M_Bow: “chadfkenn Going there would be groundbreaking and historic for television. chadfkenn: M_Bow you are preaching to the choir. I STRONGLY support better representation of the gamut of sexual orientation on TV. I hear your frust.

(for more tweets that occurred during this time please visit the FandomDebunker’s tumblr post: [source])

Sometime after these tweets on the same day Chad Kennedy deletes his twitter.

[nancylou444]

WB executive deletes Twitter account after angering ‘Supernatural’ fans

Never mess with Destie1 entitled spoiled babies fans.

“This will not end well,” tweeted WB executive Chad Kennedy on Tuesday night, shortly before deleting his Twitter. He was right. This week’s episode thumbed its nose at Supernatural fandom’s most controversial subject: Destie1—the unrealized queer romance of Dean Winchester and the angel Castiel—and the show’s lack of queer representation.

Heading into Supernatural’s ninth season, the show has had only five gay characters—all of them minor except for a brief recurring role played by Felicia Day. Queer representation is a major subject in Supernatural fandom, which has a huge contingent of slash shippers and queer viewers. Many people believe that main character Dean Winchester is bisexual, an idea that has created considerable controversy in later seasons.

Kennedy didn’t know any of that on Tuesday night when he commented that Destie1 would probably never happen on the show.

“[I]f it served the story, I would support it,” he added, noting that in general he supports the addition of queer and bisexual characters to narratives—but stating that Destiel had “never been pitched” to him as a story arc. This left many fans to wonder what narrative they’d been consuming all this while.

LMAO, they did this to themselves. 

And many fans saw the “serve the story” narrative as a cop-out on a night when Castiel had just been shown having a one-off sexual encounter with a girl that did nothing to further the plot. Additionally, numerous fans argued that Destie1 would serve the story, especially given the number of romantic tropes that the show has arguably already applied to their relationship. And regardless of their investment in Destie1 as a romance, fans questioned why the show couldn’t have at least given Castiel, who is a genderless, sexless angel currently inhabiting a human male form, the opportunity to have a queer sexual experience.

Though Kennedy is not a writer, he has executive decision-making power, which made many fans feel disrespected. His comments remained positive, but shortly before deleting his account, he tweeted, “Damon Lindelof was right,” referring to the Star Trek: Into Darkness writer who deleted his Twitter account after his dismissal of fan complaints about the film’s sexism led to backlash online.

After many fans lined up to accuse the angry fans of bullying Kennedy offline, spnantibullying noted that simply receiving a large volume of opinions about a subject does not constitute bullying or harassment.

Yeah it’s only bullying when it’s about misha/castiel/destie1 otherwise it’s “opinions”. 

But Destie1 has always been a dark horse given Supernatural’s depiction of its three main male characters as emphatically straight. While few would deny that the show’s emphasis on male bonding and figurative brotherhood is full of homoerotic undertones, there’s no reason to believe that in its last seasons, the CW’s most popular show will stop being anything but relentlessly heterosexual. The logic of those frustrated with the fans who tweeted at Kennedy is simple: Why waste time arguing about it when it’s never going to happen?

But many Destie1 shippers, despite the long odds, have grown increasingly convinced that their ship has been a long-planned and intended queering of two of the show’s three main characters. Just last week, those fans thought they’d achieved validation, with the disclosure that Dean Winchester had originally been scripted to tell the angel Castiel, “I love you,” in a crucial episode from last season. And given the popularity of the theory that Dean is queer, why wouldn’t it happen?

Kennedy’s tweets seemed to put paid to all of that passion—there are over 15,000 Destie1 fanfics at the Archive of Our Own alone. Fans felt he’d dismissed a tremendously popular pairing along with years of devoted shipping and a community full of hope for what Season 9 could bring.

How can Dean be ‘queer’ if he has slept with only WOMEN? Being ‘popular’ doesn’t mean it has to be canon. 

Perhaps the core issue in this Twitter debate was the lack of understanding the production team seemed to have about the viewpoint of the fandom. Kennedy stated that he’d only recently learned what Destie1 was, and had no idea it was so big; Bee asked, “what’s a ship?” at one point while trying to figure out what he’d said wrong.

What’s a ship. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

But luciferkingofspookiness seemed to sum up the ideas most Destie1 shippers had on the subject, when she vented, “I’m so sick of being put down by tweets from people who work on the show… I’m the damn audience. And I’ll ship my damn ship.”.

But if that’s the attitude Destie1 shippers take, it’s a far cry from having the endorsement and respect of the Supernatural production team.

For now, at least, it seems the show queer fans and slash fans have supported for nearly a decade has little interest in returning the favor.

You’re only a FRACTION of the audience. The majority don’t give a fuck about YOUR ship. So ship your damn ship and leave the show alone.  They haven’t supported the show. All they care about is that ship. 

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I knew if I followed the right path, it would lead me to this:

 The author of this article is one of them, so is anybody surprised by their cries of q/b?

[teamfreewill2pointo]

Is mark the same person who went on the rant about "you are crazy" where Misha responded "you aren't crazy"

You mean this guy?

[obsessionisaperfume]

charlie-minion replied to your post “Well, twitter just baked my brain into a tinhat, and not an RPF”

@obsessionisaperfume That's been my headcanon all these years too! ;)

RIGHT?  That was a wild night on tumblr.com, I tell you what.

[bluepiccadillytakesmeaway]

chadkennedy It was a surreal moment to see Betty White taping the final episode of the last TV series of her life. She's 93 and just never stops! She should be an inspiration to all of us. #HotInCleveland #seriesfinale @hrhchriscolfer@michaeldouglas84

[yellow-turtle]

Hi Turtle! So...I read on tsomewhere that the idea of a Destiel romance was "shot down by CW network executives." As a debunker, do you know anything about this? Is this true?

Oh, are you referring to twittergate 2013? (Also known as Kennedy gate, the Chad Kennedy fiasco, UGH STUPID CHAD KENNEDY etc.) If you joined the fandom recently and were not around when it happened, well lucky you. That shit wasn’t fun. But basically:

Chad Kennedy is a Warner Brothers exec (they’re the ones who own the CW). He does not write for the show. We have vaguely been told that he gives notes on the show and/or checks for in-episode continuity. He briefly deleted his account. I believe it has since been reinstated with some of the specific tweets deleted. We have a lot of screencaps, so that’s ok.

A few interesting things happened when 9.03 aired. 1) The promo pictures were released extremely late, and were uncharacteristically spoilery. (If I recall, Suzanne Gomez’s tweets passed off the lateness of the pictures as a mistake. The rumour that april’s evilness was revealed early because of the negative feedback to Castiel’s kiss is extremely impossible to verify.) 2) Both Adam Glass and Robbie Thompson went into complete radio silence, with Glass explicitly linking the fans to Kennedy’s twitter if we had complaints. Glass’s joke became prophetic. 3) Because Cas slept with a reaper-lady who then proceeded to kill him, who then proceeded to get killed by Dean, who then proceeded to kick Castiel out, many viewers were unhappy with the turn of events. Some took their complaints to twitter, and shit hit the fandom at previously unheard of levels.

First, the news landed that bi!Dean had been sunk. The post that I personally came across had the rather alarming title of ”OKAY STOP THE PRESSES. I GOT ACTUAL CONFIRMATION FROM A CW TPTB THAT DEAN IS NOT INTENDED AS BISEXUAL”. For a few terrible minutes, we mourned. Chad Kennedy then proceeded to backpedal so hard he probably got a hernia from the whiplash. He also claimed that reapers were angels, which puzzles me to this day. Some of his wording was very unfortunate, such as the infamous “if it serves the story” comment about bisexuality. (But you don’t have to take my word for it. Like I said, LOTS of screencaps.) Choice quotes include: “I’ll put it this way: don’t know that we’ll ever go there, but don’t know for sure that we never will…” “I have never been pitched Destiel. If it were pitched, and the story made sense, I would not block it. I do not create story.” and “Damon Lindelof was right.” 

The fandom was in turmoil for a long time. Some jumped ship. Some kept faith. Some of the show’s staff were asshats, and some were very sweet. Glass reminded us that only the showrunners have the last word on this subject which, while completely true, is frustrating as shit. Many of us - myself included - decided to wait until Jeremy Carver gave an official statement on the subject. And of course, JC being a mysterious, ineffable, God-like creature, decided to say absolutely fuck-all. And like with most insurmountable mountains of wank, things eventually got back to normal.

And that kids, is how I met your mother.

Also to answer your actual question, the thing you read is technically not true, no. Because ^ this is what happened.

[storyalchemy-blog]

Chad Kennedy and the Word of God

            Supernatural 9x03, “I’m No Angel,” literally had fans atwitter.  Castiel, a fallen angel exploring his newfound humanity, slept with a female character.  Normally, no one would have cared, but Castiel is one half of the popular slash pairing “Destiel” opposite demon hunter Dean Winchester.  In the opinions of vocal fans that support the relationship, Supernatural flirted with or hinted at Destiel repeatedly.  Castiel’s fling with a woman, therefore, left many fans feeling led on and betrayed.

            When the volume of Tweets and questions became too overwhelming, Kennedy deleted his Twitter, but not for long—he reinstated it the very next day.  One of the last things he Tweeted before temporarily deleting was “Damon Lindelof was right.”  Lindelof, one of the writers of Lost, maintained a consistent and vibrant Twitter presence for three years, interacting with, responding to, and joking with fans.  Then, after the Breaking Bad finale aired, fans still bitter over the way Lost ended took to Twitter to complain to Lindelof.  Lindelof quietly deleted his Twitter, and said in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter that he was simply done defending his own show.

            Interacting with fans over a social network can be draining, even when the energy is positive.  Centers of perceived positive energy can rapidly turn negative—as demonstrated in Kennedy’s case, when he tried to appeal to Supernatural fans on Twitter through the tag #SPNfamily.  Actors and performers who constantly face the limelight and are used to public attention expect rapid shifts between gushing adoration and vitriol.  More often than not, their public social networking accounts are monitored by a PR representative who knows better than to encourage online arguments.  Either that, or the celebrities in question rapidly develop a thick skin.

            Writers and producers might not feel that what they Tweet or blog will be scrutinized quite as closely.  They’re wrong.  For many fans, particularly the younger and more vocal ones, the words that come from a writer’s mouth (or fingertips) is akin to the word of God in the show’s universe.  When Kennedy said “I have never been pitched Destiel,” some fans heard, “There was never any intention to actually develop this pairing in the show, and our minds aren’t changing anytime soon.”  These fans were left to wonder if they’d been led on and if the writers of Supernatural had engaged in queerbaiting by dangling Destiel in front of them with no intent to deliver.

            Similarly, by interacting with and responding to fans, Lindelof, who was percieved as having control over the world of Lost, made himself into a target—someone to whom fans could vent their frustrations, and who might offer answers or apologies.  Engagement only opened him up to further questioning, and not all of the feedback was welcome. 

            Especially in fandoms with passionate online followings, it has reached the point where writers and producers, along with actors, singers, and celebrities, should either adopt a policy of non-escalation while interacting with fans.  Either that, or create separate social networking accounts for public and private use, with the public accounts monitored by a dispassionate third party.  For Lindelof, the level of personal engagement he maintained with his fans proved unsustainable when the attention turned negative.  For Kennedy, ignorance of Supernatural’s online fanbase led to a major fandom faux pas.

            If either of these men had simply stopped responding, or if their public accounts had been supervised by someone whose sole job it was to monitor online opinions and become aware of the potential pitfalls, it is likely that neither situation would have escalated to the point where these men felt that they had to delete.  Because some—not all—fans view anyone in an authorial or executive role as holding an absurd degree of power, when these figures are made accessible, they’ll be asked for answers.  Fans become saddened or enraged when the answers are not what they want to hear, which can creates feedback loops of misunderstanding.

            Writing out the word of God is not always fun and games, especially when done unwittingly; sometimes, the best way to win is not to make that first move at all.

[littlehollyleaf]

wow, anon. really? childish, rude, hostile? we're going there? how about i felt used, crazy, and baited as all hell. and yeah, i let guy norman bee have it, he was being a total prick

I don't even know what Guy said.

But yeah, I'm not going to begrudge anyone for tweeting in anger over this. Emotions would have been understandably high.