The Silence That Followed Was Louder Than the Video.

There was no apology. No clarification. No public statement.

After the video was taken down, there was simply nothing. No explanation for its disappearance. No acknowledgment that it ever existed. Just silence, deliberate and rehearsed.

But in cases like this, silence is not a neutral act. It is a strategy. It is a calculated decision to avoid accountability while hoping the attention fades. And often, it works — because we live in a digital world where moments are disposable, where content is consumed and forgotten faster than consequences can catch up.

Except this time, the moment wasn’t disposable. It was documented.

The silence that followed the removal of that video speaks louder than anything that was said in it. It’s not the silence of confusion or reflection. It’s the silence of people who thought they wouldn’t be seen and now don’t know what to say.

You don’t erase a video unless you know it could be used against you. You don’t stay quiet unless you fear that whatever you say next might confirm everything you’re trying to avoid.

And yet — they haven’t said a word.

No explanation for the timing.

No denial.

No attempt to justify it.

They removed the post, stepped back, and hoped the story would dissolve with it. But this isn’t a story they control anymore. They gave that up the moment they decided to speak my name and then vanish from the conversation they started.

That silence doesn’t protect them. It indicts them.

When someone commits harm publicly and then hides privately, they are not being careful. They are being cowardly.

And I am not afraid to say that.

Because I have stayed through every stage of this — the comments, the edits, the headlines, the rumours, the performance — and now the retreat. I’ve stayed through every silence that was meant to disorient me.

But silence does not erase impact. And in this series, I will not let it erase history.

What was posted is gone.

But what it did — and what it revealed — remains.

It remains in every screen record.

In every DM.

In every second someone watched and said nothing.

In every person who knew better and stayed quiet anyway.

You may not hear the noise anymore.

But I still hear the silence.

And I’m writing it down.

— Calvin-Lee Hardie

Inverness