After a tumultuous and embarrassing six weeks where she went from aspiring local political candidate to disgraced national punchline, Abby Broyles of local tween slumber party fame finally made things official and announced she is ending her campaign to lose the 5th Congressional District to Stephanie Bice.
She shared the news on Twitter, the same social media platform where she issued a terrifying suicide threat just weeks earlier...
When I saw Abby penned a Medium post, I assumed it would be the standard apology letter. You know, the type where she would admit to her mistakes, take ownership for her actions, and apologize to everyone she hurt and impacted.
Well, that's what I get for assuming!
At times powerful and honest, and at other times catty, superficial and self-centered, the entire post was vintage Abby Broyles.
Just check out the first two paragraphs. She begins by documenting her suicide attempt and ends by calling out the people who may have been upset that a drunk politician caused a shit show at a tween sleepover.
Everything was a blur. Physicians were talking amongst each other and occasionally to me, as an IV was stuck into my arm and a tube was shoved in my nose. That morning, March 2nd, after thirteen days of being the center of a hometown scandal that garnered national media attention, I drank heavily in my hotel room, more than 1,300 miles away in an effort to hide and took sleeping pills, anguishing in pain reading about myself on social media and in tabloid articles.
I’d received death threats, got obliterated by cyber cowards hiding behind their computer screens and furiously typing on their keyboards, and got bombarded with prank calls (from people who found my number online) telling me to drop out of politics and go kill myself. The public barrage was the result of a night I honestly can’t remember that took place while I assisted in chaperoning a preteen sleepover with a close friend (now former) from law school. I used poor judgment mixing wine with medication that helps you relax, that I’d never taken before. A mom who wasn’t there, and who never directly contacted me to express any issues, decided to use a ghost Twitter account and send a series of public tweets to me several days after the sleepover accusing me of saying awful things to her child and the other young ladies present while intoxicated. The alleged hurtful comments this woman claims I made under duress do not represent who I am, and to this day, I still have no recollection of what actually occurred that evening and have not spoken to my now former friend as she conveniently threw me under a bus to superficially avoid further interrogation from her ex-husband during their custody battle.
Overall, I kind of liked her post. She basically put on her old KFOR storyteller hat and treated us to a one-sided, defiant tale of a politician hitting rock bottom as the world fell apart around her like the Halls of Moria in Lord of the Rings. She talked about her suicide attempt, upbringing, and struggles with substance abuse and mental illness. It was honest enough and powerful.
Now, did she take responsibility for her actions? No, she kind of did the opposite and tried to brush them off with the same lame, kind of unbelievable excuses.
Could she maybe have been a bit more apologetic? Well, the words "sorry" and "apologize" don't appear in the post one time, so I would assume so.
But you know what, none of that fucking matters.
Just like everyone else, we want Abby to get the treatment and help she needs to get better. And I think writing an honest and open, albeit somewhat flawed, letter like this is a good step in that direction. Hopefully, she fully recovers, makes a comeback, and provides more clickbait fodder for us in the future.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
