COHEN'S LIES MET WITH JUST CONSEQUENCE
On April 15, 2009 the soccer world stopped to remember the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, where 96 innocent fans were needlessly crushed to death. News outlets the world around remembered the facts of the tragedy, and mourned its horrible human and psychological cost. A lone voice, Steven Cohen decided to sully this solemn remembrance by repeating lies about the cause of the tragedy to a US audience less exposed to the facts of the matter, pinning blame for the dead on the supporters themselves.
This was not an isolated incident for
Mr. Cohen, in fact it's something he has already apologized for. Sadly it also isn't close to the most offensive and inaccurate remarks he's made about the disaster. He has repeatedly ignored attempts by fair minded fans to educate him on Hillsborough. His statements are in direct contradiction to the first hand testimony of survivors, CCTV evidence, and the evidence and judgments produced by independent government inquest in what is known as the Taylor report.
Mr. Cohen never substantiated his claims, continued his prejudiced vitriol, and has now twice made comments at the most inappropriate, raw time as families, friends and survivors remember the needless dead . While the vast majority of soccer supporters have the modicum of perspective necessary to put the game aside to recognize a tragedy that resonated through the soccer world, Mr. Cohen even childishly gloried in the fact that his numerous insensitive and unfounded comments provoke Liverpool supporters.
Instead of impotent disgust, football supporters responded by organising a boycott of Mr. Cohen's shows, World Soccer Daily, and Fox Football Fone-In, and successfully urged sponsors to cut their commercial ties as well. The sponsors listened, he lost the vast majority of his original sponsors and struggled to replace them, media outlets listened and Fox Soccer Channel replaced him. Cohen said on his last WSD show that he hadn't changed his opinion, despite this being in contradiction with his latest apology, and despite his justification for his initial remarks involving ever shifting phrasing about responsibility, and evidence. Stubborn to the last, Cohen has been the author of his own misfortune.
