TechCrunch founder Arrington accused of abuse, rape by ex-girlfriend

TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has been accused of physical and emotional abuse by his ex-girlfriend.Jenn Allen posted a status update on 29 March about their relationship on Facebook stating,

Last post on someone i'm completely over. I've never been lonelier in my entire life. To all my friends who loved me for who I am - thank you. Power hungry people, I loved Michael Arrington for 8+ years starting when i implemented Eurekster search at the time on Techcrunch in 2006 and throughout the years i didn't know he cheated on me multiple times, then tells people it was me immediately after he did it. It hurts when you love someone borderline and they can't feel anything at all for you, and threaten to murder you if you told anyone about the physical abuse - all for keeping his reputation. The emotional abuse was equally bad. On a positive note, it can't get any worse than this and I can't get myself of this bed.

But the story isn't just stopping at this one accusation.Gawker later reported that Allen has commented on their story and said that Arrington had raped her as well as a friend of hers. The website then followed it up with a new story, which highlighted previous instances of sexual assault by Arrington.

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[caption id="attachment_690593" align="alignleft" width="380"] Michael Arrington in this fike photo. AFP[/caption]

The Gawker post reads,

Gawker has learned of two previous instances, a decade apart, in which Arrington was accused of violent, abusive behavior towards women. One-in which a coworker and ex-girlfriend accused him of assaulting her in a hotel room-resulted in an internal investigation by his then-employer. In the other incident, he allegedly threw a different girlfriend against a wall. Neither episode ended in any real fallout for Arrington.

Now Daily Beast has reported, that two former confidants of Arrington have added that they too believe these claims, along with an HR director from a former company where Arrington worked.

Arrington launched TechCrunch in 2005 which was a major success. In fact in 2008, Arianna Huffington called him one of the most has become one of the most influential figures on the Web, is the quintessential blogger: intense, passionate, consumed with his subject, opinionated, sleep-deprived, forward-thinking, easy to irritate and apt to air his grudges in public. Arrington sold TechCrunch to AOL in 2010.

There are also reports that Arrington assaulted one of his other girlfriends, Meghan Asha (Allen has alleged Arrington cheated on her with Meghan), when hethrew her against the wall in a hotel room. Meghan has denied these charges in a statement to TechCrunch.