Comments

1
Jeez, did he cut in front of you in the Draft Kombucha line or something?
2
No more comps for him.
3
How many free tickets does the Stranger Staff get to shows, concerts, ect? Do they bring dates too?

4
Yes, but does he stay for the entirety of the production?
5
Just when I thought the stranger couldn't get more assholish...
6
Does he stay for the whole performance?
7
The issue here isn't that Mr. Sieden is attempting to leverage his status as a theatre/music critic to get dates, it's that he's trying to resell tickets provided to him gratis by venues and pocketing the proceeds. Not only does it smack of borderline ticket scalping, but it's just very poor form. The complimentary tickets are provided to him as a courtesy so that he will attend performances (presumably with another person of his choosing) and write and publish reviews, not so that he can make a few extra bucks on the side.

That said, one has to wonder what self-respecting woman would even WANT to attend anything in this man's company - and pay for the privilege, whatever the proffered "discount" - knowing full well he didn't have to purchase the tickets in the first place?
8
I agree that this is unethical behavior, but I don't think you should have shamed him so. Just reporting on his Craigslist ad would have been enough.
9
Notes
______________

1. Public, J. Q., "As long as the guy isn't an MRA d-bag, his companions aren't misinformed as to what is actually going down, and the public doesn't presume that theater critics should be Calvinists, who cares?" (The Internets, 2015), 34.

2. It should be noted that said individual has not tweeted since May 19th. It's hard to believe that he doesn't tweet every 6 hours. That's what adults do nowadays. What is the man's problem? Further public ridicule should cure him of this, no?

3. Public, op. cit., 38.

4. See Lustlab; compare and contrast. http://personals.thestranger.com/gyrobas… (Accessed November 3, 2015).
10
Not sure how theater promoters work, but if concert promoters catch you selling your plus one your relationship with them is over. That seems so obvious (as do all the ridiculous details here), I might have held off on posting this without verification he even placed that person himself.
11
I imagine that selling his comps will get him banned from several local theater's and concert venues. No one wants to fell like they've been played for a sucker.
12
@10 - Seattle theater doesn't have the luxury of spurning media outlets that might give them some publicity. Reviews put butts in seats, so they have to bend over backwards to get free seats to the small handful of media outlets that write about Seattle theater, even if it's one dude's shitty blog or the local alt-weekly that lost their only good arts reporter to the Seattle Times and now chooses clickbaity troll pieces over legitimate coverage.
13
Yeah! Fuck this guy! Let's embarrass the shit out of him because he had the GALL to try and fill empty seats while meeting new people.

Was it tacky / borderline unethical for him to try and sell the extra ticket? Yes. But where is the harm? So a wasted seat gets filled, another person gets to enjoy the play for less than half price, and old Stevo gets to introduce himself. He was completely up front and forthright with his (poorly thought-out) proposition.

Is your decision to publicly name and shame the guy for a stupid decision that hurt no one (except his love life) much, much worse? Oh, God yes!

Seriously, this is fucked up.
14
@7,10,11: Definitely a grubby affair, and your points about this guy is leveraging his access and taking advantage of the relationship between critic and institution are well taken. Somehow I missed the ask for currency (apologies, a tad bit reactionary for sure). This form of public shaming isn't particularly remarkable these days. Still, why? Is he throwing shade?
15
This looks like a prank on the guy to me. I want to think nobody would be stupid enough to post this for real.
16
@12 - Ah, I understand. I really don't know that scene. Kind of makes the whole thing that much more sad.
17
Stranger newspaper. I Love you, I read you every day. But don't shame people for their internet dating ads, that's just really shitty. You need to apologize, and all will be forgiven. Love you!
18
"I tried to contact Sieden, but he has yet to respond. Maybe you'll have better luck."

So you have no proof at all that he put the ad up? You shamed this person without any proof at all.

#Journalism
19
This is so fucking cruel. I lose so much respect for the integrity of The Stranger when I read articles like this one. Grow up, Rich Smith--or get a better editor that will burn this shit.
20
If Sieden was really concerned about filling an empty seat, he wouldn't be charging his date for a ticket that the theatre gave to him for free. Props to the Stranger for calling this shit out. A lot of these companies are nonprofits operating on razor thin margins with public outreach programs, and they're lucky if Sieden even bothers to write a review after seeing a show on their dime. A lot of the time he's simply too lazy to.

It's theft and he deserves all the attention this gets.
21
Hey Stranger, you've obviously lost some good writers, who pay attention to import national and global issues while keeping it focused locally.

You obviously can't get that same sort of stuff, but can you at least shy away from the public humiliation angle? The issues brought up in the comments are far more interesting than sweaty click-bait approach.

Or, just toss in the towel, and dedicate yourselves to cruising CL & Twitter in search of people to point and laugh at.
22
There are far more serious crimes against humanity going down, people. So let's all talk about that fat woman caught taking more than one piece of Halloween candy, instead!
23
@10 & @15 - my first thought was that this was a hoax. Guy would have to be a complete idiot to do this and expect it wouldn't be noticed. Which is, of course, possible, but without confirmation that it's him, it seems sketchy to repost.
24
What a completely useless and petty post. This lowers the Stranger.
25
I'm very comfortable having a laugh at his expense for doing a thirsty tactic that basically steals a ticket from a hungry arts scene.
He won't die I don't think.
Also? i've been enjoying unserious mockery from the stranger since 2005. Ain't shit changed.
26
This guy was trying to make money for himself that otherwise would have gone to the arts org. Not to mention the fact that he discounted their value. Poor judgement. Lesson learned. Moving on.
27
I felt weirdly defensive on this schmuck’s behalf reading this. First, I just think it’s mean, I think the piece is angry at a stranger and falls just short of calling him stupid in every sentence. Two, if we’re going to start beating up on people for being bad at online dating, seriously, that’s a long list of people to be mean to… Also, the only actually wrong thing he did was try to sell something that was given to him for free, but I know that The Stranger’s film, music, and book critics regularly sell tall stacks of books, dvd’s, and cd’s at second-hand stores for cash (or used to, in the day).

I have no idea why this piece rubs me so hard the wrong way. I have a soft spot for single middle-aged schmucks, and I don’t like bullies.
28
I often like to read unethical articles about unethical journalists. Get me off this merry-go-round, please.
29
@27 Given the Stranger's past history with shaming people and how it has spectacularly backfired, due diligence should be done before posting items like this.

See: Amanda Shephard, Victoria Liss debacle.

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/a…

(EDITOR'S NOTE, OCT 12: Because we haven't been able to talk to the person who left the receipt to get his side of the story, we've deleted certain details and identifying information from this post).
30
Now *I'm* commenting! Woooo
31
I'm actually surprised at how many people seem to think it's not unethical for a supposedly impartial journalist, who receives free tickets to venues, to then turn around and sell those same tickets for personal profit. And hell yes, he should be exposed and shamed for it. It's unethical, and it discourages other journalists from doing the same thing. His career is likely going to take a hit, because he let his personal interests crowd out his professional obligation and the implied agreement that he would *do his fucking job* using the tickets provided.

He's a reviewer because his job is to review plays/events/concerts. It is NOT to try to go out on dates with women to plays/events/concerts.
32
As a parallel to expose how unethical this is, imaging if a bartender was selling discounted beers at the bar, and pocketing the cash. Yeah, every bar understands that the help can have a drink or two during the night and no one cares - that's professional courtesy. But for a bartender to take their drinks, sell 'em to patrons at a discount, and pocket the cash? I don't think anyone here would think that that is in any way ethical.
33
Don't care if he's creepy as fuck -- women, buyer beware. But selling comps is scums-ville. Dude should be pilloried.
34
Looks like this hasn't affected his standing with the Seattle theater community. I'm seeing a couple more of his inane reviews for Seattle Rep and ArtsWest since this story broke.
35
I'm shocked by how many comments are sympathetic to this person who clearly does not deserve to the comps he's been receiving or the platform on which to air his opinions. He should find a new line of work where profiteering is less damaging. And to anyone who would consider dating him. eww. just eww.

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