Rising comedian Josh Black has set his sights on Scoop: Nashville, the local outlet most notorious for posting mugshots of recent and embarrassing arrests. Black also takes aim at the site’s founder, Jason Steen, for recent disparaging comments made about Black women activists — and in response, Steen posted a since-deleted tweet that he would "restart" the practice of publishing victims' names and addresses.
“For some reason, Scoop: Nashville likes to attack poor and working class people,” says Black in the opening of a new video, citing the mugshot-shaming that grew the website’s brand. He adds that the website especially targets Black people, people experiencing homelessness and those struggling with substance abuse. “He’s consciously assisting in the mass incarceration of Black people.”
Black also points to the shockingly high incarceration rate in North Nashville, saying, “Scoop: Nashville is handing out a hotline number … so you can get more of them locked up.” The comedian also mentions that Steen has a criminal record as well — a felony theft charge against Steen came up during his bid for circuit court clerk in Montgomery County.
The mugshot-posting has also been a source of profit — as Black notes, the site and others owned by Steen charged money for the removal of such posts. (The options no longer appear to be on Scoop sites, though Steen’s defense of the practice out of state remains online.) Steen is also pleased with the advertising he gets from bail bond companies.
Black also mentions that Steen didn’t pay the employees of his Scoop: Clarksville operation — a story first reported in the Leaf-Chronicle. In the story, a former employee describes a toxic workplace, in addition to workers going unpaid and underpaid. Steen said advertising revenue dried up due to the pandemic, and other issues like an out-of-state lawsuit also hurt the bottom line.
Black’s video also included a clip from Steen’s talk show, wherein he calls local activist Jeneisha Harris a "bitch," and calls activists Theeda Murphy and Gicola Lane stupid. An online spat between Steen and the three women began after the recent death of Markquett Martin. Martin died while fleeing police at J.C. Napier Homes — according to police, evidence suggests he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot while running.
Harris and Lane tweeted that there were witnesses claiming officers shot Martin, and Harris also mentioned footage that shows Martin's death. Steen tweeted at her to share the footage, and Harris refused. Steen later insulted her, Lane and Murphy on his podcast.
Steen took issue with Black’s video, particularly one section in which a Confederate flag was placed on a picture of Steen cuddling a cat.
This morning, Steen tagged Black on Twitter for a ghoulish announcement:
Hey @SirJoshuaBlack - if it's a beef you want - you just earned it by placing a fake confederate flag overlay on my photo.#ScoopNashville stopped publishing victim names and addresses earlier this year, as of this morning, we have restarted. That's on you & BLM Nashville.
Steen later deleted the tweet. He has butted heads with Montgomery County officials over his practice of publishing information of
domestic abuse victims.
Black has yet to respond to Steen’s tweets, though the two interacted online earlier this week. The comedian's video has gotten more 14,000 views on Twitter, plus more on Instagram. Given the responses to the clip — many of which include unflattering opinions about Steen and his site — it sounds like the comedian may find more ammunition for a sequel.
