Rumors, can they destroy your life?
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger allegedly said this on Oprah's show:
"If I had known that African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice," and "I wish those people would not buy my clothes - they were made for upper-class whites." What did he say when Oprah asked him if he said these things? He said "Yes." Oprah immediately asked Hilfiger to leave her show.
Surprisingly enough, I just got the e-mail in Spanish. I had not heard this so far. So I asked myself, how weird is this? and found this on the web (very short):
What do this kind of rumors do to people? How can you live with that?
At one moment Hilfiger is saying his son was asking only the other day: "Dad, I go to school with a Jewish kid and he says you don't like him". How do you explain to a child that this is a rumor circulating on the web with no foundation at all?
21 Answers
If it's on the Internet, it must be true!
Social scientists have proven absolutely that people do not remember the source of the stories they hear.
An abominable person, like Adolf Hitler, may have made a remark or observation that was false and intentionally misleading and the world would remember what was said but forget who said it. This only makes the lie seem to be founded and does not make the lie true..
Many are duped by this problem. Those who are decieved by it are still dupes.
Here is what Snopes.com has to say about the destructive Hilfiger lie ----> The Hilfiger Lie. Snopes.com investigates and reports about many urban legends. One of the Snopes web site's founders has been quoted as saying. “When you’re looking at truth versus gossip, truth doesn’t stand a chance.”
Rumors and false allegations can definitely hurt someone. When the accusation is made people tend to believe it is true even if later it is proven to be false. Of course the more famous a person is the more attention it gets.
If I am accused of something I did not do, I even look guilty and never feel exonerated even when proven innocent.
There is so much bs on Internet that I had to change my attitude towards what I receive in my email, even from friends. EVERY TIME I get a story on something or someone I double check it to see if it's true or not. I recently received an email from a friend (Christian). It said please pray for those poor people that are being massacred in India by some Buddhist extremists. So I checked it and sure enough the answer was that Buddhists are in fact a minority in India and they don't have extremists LOL. She got upset when I straightened her up. Unfortunately our laws are not following our technology. Judges don't know how to handle and punish cyber crimes yet as the guidelines are still very vague. Case like Hilfiger are pure defamation and imo should be strictly punished, I think life in prison would fit the bill and maybe 5 to 10 years for those that go on carrying the lies. Go ahead, make me president for one month, I'll scare everyone. And start building jails I need room for hackers, cyber stalkers, virus makers, etc.
We must take a step back and look at our own involvement in situations like this. The gossip is not only the person (or entity) who makes a slanderous comment, but also anyone who repeats it. We all have minds, and we can choose to believe everything we hear or we can use our minds and make rational decisions and act accordingly.
It is alarming that so many people can be so easily led. A prime example is politics. All it takes is one person to make some completely outrageous claim in a public forum and suddenly it's everywhere; people believe it and act upon it.
Yes, I think they can destroy a person's life or at the very least their livelihood.
Read what this guy has to say about gossip.
This makes me think how decent people can be involved in this type of rumors. It is amazing. And the worst of all is that they are famous and they are more defenseless in front of these attacks than the rest.
There was a similar rumor, maybe much worse, about a Spanish rock group. They were supposed to have said they supported ETA, terrorists, in a talk show, and were thrown off stage by the host,
I got the mail, which like this Hilfiger one, is circulating each year for some time, and I was stunned and disgusted and promptly sent it to my friends.
Until one of them sent me a link to the rumor stuff, and then I was really stunned! 
All this stuff had never existed. Incredible but true, but one can see there are always people who believe these rumors, whatever the people try to do to clear things up, the rumor sticks.
And I think it is perfectly possible that these kind of rumours do destroy people's lives.
Jeezle you are actually proving the point of this thread...people carry rumors without knowing, without any proof. Whether you are right or wrong doesn't matter, the fact is that you are carrying a rumor. "We stopped selling his clothes" and "I remember the news from 10 years ago" are not proofs. Have you ever done any research on the veracity of the statements, I strongly doubt it. Keep in mind this thread is about rumors, not about Hilfiger.
Marianne said:
Although these rumors are eventually proven false some people continue to carry the belief that they are true.
I think this is the most interesting thing about those rumours. Actually, there is a very stupid saying in Spanish.
"Cuando el rio suena...agua lleva"
Which boils down to something like: if people talk, you can be sure, something has happened.
It does not seem to matter whether the rumour is proven false or not.
We should all get back to the teachings of the great spiritual masters (like Sai Baba for example), and let their wise writings be our read before bed, thus avoiding flashy (cheaply attractive) materials in books, magazines and on the T.V.
Having done this, we will learn how to see the good in others and let the feelings of godness get into us, making us unable to perceive and convey anything malicious that could lead to hurting not only the targeted person(s), but the whole families...and eventually the whole humanity, because what goes around, comes around...
Whether it truly originated from what Tommy Hilfiger said, or was indeed started as a deliberate malicious lie, it's absolutely horrible and offensive to all humanity.
Frenchie said:
Case like Hilfiger are pure defamation and in my opinion should be strictly punished..."
He's right. There are not enough lawsuits bringing these people to justice because it's so hard to know where the B S started.
This was an awful rumor about Hilfiger, this along with others posted on the internet about president Obama when he was campaigning. Although these rumors are eventually proven false some people continue to carry the belief that they are true. These people are stubborn in the face of facts and want to believe the sensational news rather than accept the facts.
It's really sad.
Fortunately here in America (and other countries) we are protected by law, we are guilty before proven innocent. Just kidding people, don't hang me yet. 
Rumors just escalate and exagerate out of control and thats why they can destroy people lives. UNFAIR
Popular opinion seems to be to just smile and agree and let the votes role in. Yep, you guys are right, he was somehow wronged and we've all been fooled all these years. Tragic.
