This Was Never Just About Me.

The video had my name on it.

The story focused on me.

The performance was aimed at my life.

But this was never just about me.

What happened to me — the public smear, the quick deletion, the collective silence — is part of a cycle that plays out online every single day. Different names. Different headlines. Same harm.

They just chose Calvin Hardie this time.

They just aimed it at someone from Inverness this time.

But the tactic wasn’t new — it was familiar, repeatable, predictable.

And that’s exactly the problem.

Because what I went through isn’t rare.

It’s just rarely documented like this.

Most people don’t get the chance to answer.

Most people don’t have the tools, the platform, the stability, or the support to press pause and say, “No. Not this time.”

But I did. And now I am.

That’s what Playback is. It’s not a plea. It’s not a reaction. It’s a structure — a forensic, public record of how digital harm unfolds, and how fast it spreads when no one speaks up.

This isn’t just about what happened to Calvin-Lee Hardie.

It’s about how easy it was for it to happen.

And how quickly people accepted it.

People want to believe that harm is rare. That posts like the one taken down were isolated. That the shame storm I lived through was somehow earned.

But it wasn’t.

And this series proves it.

This is about what happens when performance replaces truth,

when platforms reward humiliation,

and when silence protects the ones who hurt others the most.

It’s about making sure that the next time someone tries this — to someone else, with a different name, in a different city — they have something to point to.

Something that says,

“This isn’t just happening to me. It happened before. And someone recorded it.”

This is Playback.

And it’s not over yet.

— Calvin-Lee Hardie

Inverness