I understand, it was a long time ago and I dont really expect you to remember given we were much smaller then and you have a lot on your plate.
But in the end you did take an official stance against QOTO over something that was completely unjustified (in my view) and the impact from that has been significant and long lasting.
With that said I do agree it isnt all your fault. You have been much more reasonable as time goes on. The community needs to bear some blame for perpetuating unfounded claims for sure. But they do, all the same, have a root in how you handled that situation very early on in QOTOs career and its something that once that damage was done, cant be undone even with a mountain of evidence to the contrary.