Chas Smith uses strangulation to silence Stab editor Ashton Goggans!
This morning, at approximately 10:40, I leapt over a reclaimed wood coffee table in the Surfrider Foundation’s well-appointed San Clemente headquarters and tried to wring Stab editor Ashton Goggans’ neck.
We were in the first third of recording our bi-monthly Grit! podcast. I didn’t get a good grab, maybe not even any grab, as Ashton is a robust man, and was soon pulled off by host David Lee Scales who was also half looking out the window to see if any Surfrider Foundation staff had heard the commotion.
What precipitated this violent outburst?
Well. Today’s episode has been in the works now for a week and I was very excited to debate Ashton on a variety of surf media topics. He arrived, late, in a transparent overcoat, the gooseberry fuzz of his skin peeking through, toenails showing remnants of cherry red polish, delicate long boned monkeyish feet, jabbering about some unrelated matter and then Mr. Scales pressed record.
Things were moving along until we came to the topic of Stab’s predominantly ex-BeachGrit staff and how we refused to pay a living wage while Stab, out of the goodness of its very heart, supports these bright young artists.
I contested and firmly believe that any writer, but especially the surf writer, shouldn’t really expect money out of the gate. That he should work another job while toying around with words because he can’t help but write. Because she loves to write. Because without writing everything else would be bland and monotone.
Eventually, I think, if the love remains strong the writer will find his true voice and might also find employment as “a writer” but the end goal of writing should never be to get paid. It should be about love and if money follows then fantastic.
Oh I know this sounds like a very poor excuse for not paying writers and in truth Derek and I have paid every cent of our paltry earnings to our exes (and in Rory’s case, five per cent of the company) but anyhow Ashton continued, claiming that I had never worked a day in my life and only did what I did because my wife has money.
Something inside me snapped and I was across the coffee table madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly reaching for Ashton’s windpipe; hopelessly, I should add, because that frenzy of mutual possession might have been assuaged only by our actually imbibing and assimilating every particle of each other’s soul and flesh; but there we were, unable even to mate as slum children would have so easily found an opportunity to do so.
But why? What in me broke? Let me try and explain. I purposefully don’t write much about my little family here because they didn’t ask for, nor deserve to be in, this crazy little spotlight. I am wildly proud of my wife, and daughters, what they do, who they are but they are not fodder for my BeachGrit work. Also, because she happens to be in our extreme sport universe, we keep a wall up. She never feeds me rumors and I never try to leverage her contacts.
Ashton’s charge was, furthermore, insulting to her. To think that she would suffer a fool doddering around the house posting cheap surf stories is ridiculous. I make my salary through book advances/royalties/film options etc. and even not married to her would still be doing exactly what I’m doing in some inland shack. Maybe Las Vegas. It frustrates me greatly to even have to mention any of this.
The fact that he brought up my family, anyhow, made me lose my mind and over the coffee table I went and almost again, 30 minutes later, when he said I should be spending more time with my daughter.
Was I wrong? Silly? Ludicrously out of control?
Certainly yes but I would do the same thing tomorrow and the day after that too. Making fun of Stab’s look, its content, it’s behind-the-scenes threats to advertisers, what it chooses to cover and not cover will remain good fun.
But families? They have always been, and will always be, out of bounds.
Or am I still wrong?
Am I drawing a completely arbitrary line in the sand?
Just so I can justify embarrassingly bad behavior?
At the end I watched Ashton Goggans leave after refusing to shake his ring adorned fingers. Rage still percolating.
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… what is this with surf journos? This simmering urge to violence presents whenever one scratches the surface (so to speak). I intentionally dropped-in on such an esteemed scribe many moons back – later, he chased me round n round n round n round n round n round n round n round n… the dining table in the apartment we shared – armed with a fucken huge kitchen knife and MURDER in his eyes!
Hi Derek.
@beachgrit:disqus
Who was this man? Me?
indeed …
caught my shin on a fin of my board, lying against a chair under the table, attempting escape!
Currumbin. U. SR. i
’93 – ’94 …?
‘wednesday’s with bob’ got nada on “that saturday with derek’
well done on that BTW. well done.
What a ride! It was close! In the end it seems like Ashton talks a intellectual, socially conscious game, yet it’s empty talk, while it seems Chas is really convicted and actually walks the talk, respect. Good job David Lee Scales!
Chas – you came across as a complete kook loosing your cool and resorting to physical violence. It was a pubescent school yard act. If you can’t win a fight with words then you have already lost. You as a “professor of English” should know this. Ego is the enemy and you should keep yours in check.
The greatest episode of any podcast I have listened to! Ashton crossed a line making it personal and from there on he was acting like a little toad, not sure what to say and how to say it – being a hypocrite and a pain in the arse.
The comment on he want a 17yr old girl/boy to enter his site and feel safe, then take down the soft porn section… oh no that’s advertising.
So legendary!
Anonymous troll strikes again! Ouch! So clever!
Anonymous Troll wins this round! You are right…I’m a sympathy sapping know-nothing!!
Am I the only one to notice that you can hear both combatant’s jewelry jangling (not a euphemism) as they leap across the table at each other?
Contemplating my small wave latent behavior for fucks sake. I’m a topper don’t you worry..
At least this person spoke their mind. Chas is a big boy he can stand up for himself. Porsche, “Gucci’esque slippers”, Jakson Hole trip.. a slight hint of privilege. By the way “Welcome to Paradise, Now Go To Hell.” was ok probably good read for a tween definitely no master piece. Will say this for both Derek and him to pound the keys day after day committing to this project says a lot.
Point out the part about me feeling sorry for myself, please. I just mentioned how it interrupts my thought process and postulated that you most likely don’t live with extreme pain–therefore you cannot relate. What’s wrong with you anyways? You are so negative. What’s wrong in your life VNR? I’d give you a hug, but that would reveal the man (?) behind VNR’s curtain. I don’t think you want that now, do you?
I highly doubt you feel anything close to the pain I have to deal with, day in and day out. You are a troll who quotes his previous comments…”VONR”. Ha! I responded politely to your comment, and you couldn’t help but try to have the final word with a cringey attempt of humor.
Thank you for the awesome advice my friend! I have difficulty concentrating because of my chronic pain and truly don’t give a fuck if I make some typos on a comment board. Namaste
41% by one individual? Freely, or under duress/instruction?
What follows are the rambling thoughts of someone who speaks with zero authority in the area of surf media.
Truthfully I do not consume all that much surf media, and what I do consume has come from listening to Surf Splendor which a friend of mine directed me towards. I had never heard of Beachgrit, Stab, or the Intertia. My initial reaction to hearing Chas wasn’t positive, I thought he came across as rude/loud, and a bit immature. I decided to withhold writing him off and picked up a copy of his book, Welcome to Paradise, Now Go To Hell.
The guy is a phenomenal story teller, yet the more I hear him talk the more I am convinced that he shares so many qualities with the prototypical ‘school yard bully’. Chas has had no hidden agenda in that his goal is to ‘destroy Stab’ or strike up controversy within surf media in the short time that I’ve heard him recorded on podcast, and have now seen several articles firing cheap shots over the bow. It is just so unnecessary. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” We teach this to children. How was this missed?
It seems clear that school yard bullying tactics are an established business strategy for Chas. Call out Stab for writing a stupid or racist article. Call out Stab for NOT writing an article. Call out Mick Fanning for having a dull haircut or lame board shorts, then go seek him out face to face have him call you a fucking jew go write a story about it and profit. Get the editor from Stab on a podcast, sling a bunch of mud then try to jump across the table and start a fight, go write another article. This is the same type of tactic used by the Westborough Baptist Church. Hold up loud signs begging for attention, get in the media for being outrageous or rude which yields more media attention. Write more articles.
Schoolyard bullies often start out by being popular, whether they’re tougher/stronger/more handsome or athletic. People respect schoolyard bullies, even if they’re miserable cunts and everyone knows it. Chas has legitimate writing talent, and he stands up high on his pedestal and talks shit to writers that lack his natural ability. When called out on it he sits back and says something along the lines of ‘yeah but its true their writing is fucking awful’. What purpose does making comments like that serve? I don’t see any reality except for trying to build up his own status, draw attention to himself and drive traffic to his own site/content by writing more articles about how others reacted to his trolling. I find it highly unlikely that anyone Chas is making fun of is motivated in a positive way to work towards self improvement by being belittled by him.
He stands on some self proclaimed higher ground because he speaks with ‘truth and sincerity.’ But there needs to be room for discernment. If his wife asked him, ’Does that dress make me look fat?’ and if it did, would Chas tell her that it did? Is he about to jump out of my computer screen and try to choke me out for mentioning his wife? Give me a fucking break.
Why do we keep hearing about how Stab is ‘stealing’ writers from BeachGrit? These people aren’t fucking slaves, they should be able to work wherever the fuck they want to work. Poking fun at Stab for providing a living wage for their employees, this is bullshit spewed from the top of privilege mountain. Punching the clock and busting your ass to put food on the table for your wife and kids is a noble fucking cause.
Truthfully, I will continue to listen to The Grit! on the Surf Splendor network because I enjoy the content, but Chas’ same routine is getting fucking old. Stop going out of your way to beg for controversy and put more of your energy into things that aren’t bullshit.
Spot on
You know how there are those Snapchat filters that make chicks look like cats and whatnot? If Snapchat makes a filter that makes me look like Ashton Goggans I’ll sign up for Snapchat and use it as my avatar for BG….
He also called you a kook at least once! Low blows for days! You poke at stab hard but ya don’t using the “K word” to someone’s face as well as insult their ability to be a parent…. as well as shit on the path one’s life has taken, especially when you do not know the path! Ha! Was this all contrived? Pretty sure he mentioned you as a friend at the start of the episode?
Haha you yanks…Ridiculous.
No way dude, you had every right to go for his neck. You should have knocked that fool out. He crossed the line bringing your wife and kids into the debate, especially the comment about doing a better job with your daughters. Them is fightin words!!!
You really looked petty Chas. Time to move on from from the low class boring surf world.