booktubers got it wrong: the Naomi King & Daniel Greene situation and dangers of reactive culture

I just found you because of this video and I have to say I really enjoy your perspective and mindset for various topics!

I really enjoy your content and I think your take here was really thoughtful and brought some much-needed perspective to the discussion. I also want to add with all the respect in the world that the word "reactionary" doesn't mean "acting in response to some stimulus". The correct term for that is "reactive". Reactionary is an adjective that describes a way of thinking or a set of views that oppose political or social liberalization or reform, and instead seek to recapture a more traditional past. Looking forward to more of your videos!♥

You're so well spoken and 100% right

I completely agree, you make excellent points. I made a short video with similar points a couple days ago but you put it into much much better words. Thank you for not being one to react immediately like most else and for thinking critically :)

I love your response- nuanced without throwing daggers.

I didn’t know of either then before this drama, but from how Greene refers to King, I believe they use they series pronouns. This could be new or have changed but this is my current understanding

Just found your channel through this video. You explained reactionary culture and how damaging it can be in a very eloquent way.

Taking sexual assault allegations to the internet is almost always a bad idea. It does nothing for the victim, it won't get them justice, it won't heal them and, with our society heavily entrenched in victim blaming, it likely won't have a lasting effect on the person who did wrong, whether that's a real perpetrator or someone who's making an allegation up. All it does is give thousands of people a reason to send hate to two people they don't know about a situation they weren't present for. I'm willing to bet that a lot of them don't actually care about survivors, they're drama hounds who like feeling morally justified sending people death threats. Let me be clear, I am NOT saying that people who are sexually assaulted shouldn't talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, talk to a therapist, talk to people who actually care about you and have your best interests at heart. If you feel comfortable and only if you want to, talk to the police. Talking to strangers who have no interest in what happens to you will bring nothing but more pain. There is no amount of money you could pay me to stand on a busy street corner with a sign that says "I was raped by (insert name here)" so why would I put it on social media? It's my experience, no one gets to gawk at it.

An entire fantasy world of space exists between cringe behavior and SA.

NK’s claims of SA was in her words “she wanted a sexual relationship and DG didn’t yet they got intimate” so Naomi regrets it after the fact. That’s not SA and it does harm victims like Naomi said in her apology video.

From what i've seen on booktok/booktube, its apparent that more people need to be as level headed as you were. Hopefully more learn from your appraoch. It's human to feel emotions. But its not okay to act on them without proper information/investigation.

All I know…. When a woman puts out a video implying Daniel RPD her, then makes another video saying “I never said Daniel RPD me. I never said he assaulted me” I know exactly the kind of person she is. Point blank.

It's really sad that every time someone expresses hesitancy on taking sides in situations like this, people treat them like they're just stans who "don't wanna believe their faves are monsters". It's refreshing to see this type of video in 2025 w/ people who agree that we as outsiders CANNOT take sides in a situation outside of us w/o proof. 🚫 This becoming a controversial take is literally a result of extremist culture.

Naomi King needs to be arrested, sued, and sentenced to prison. This is why I don’t believe women, I only believe facts

It happened to me when I commented on Daniel's first proof video that dogpiling on Naomi and her supporters was not helpful, and asking people to stop harassing those who posted apology videos to Daniel, and just consider what Daniel said of not adding fuel to the fire. I was immediately swamped with negative comments like "Naomi should be in jail" or "believing survivors while also waiting for proof is dumb as fuck." Just goes to show that the people who were upset when they received pushback while asking for Daniel's sad of the story automatically became the dogpilers themselves. They found an opportunity to do the same thing that was done to them. Nuance and critical thinking is dead with these both sides. Like, what if those other allegations from other women are true? Does everyone else just switch back just as fast?

I’m not in the book tube community. But seeing Chud Logic cover it, and papa gut. It’s been very entertaining yet devastating to watch

I’m not on booktube regularly but found out about this situation earlier today. It’s such a tragic situation but I’m glad it brought me to this video. Seeing your pause and forethought pay off is glorious, especially since it affects your income by not tapping into a current topic. Subbed. Take your victory lap!

great summary, my respect

Just an FYI, Naomi King uses they/them pronouns

Good to see a fairly nuanced take on this mess. Just want to point out that NK goes by they/them

The only comment I left under Daniel Greene's video when it first came out (when the majority of people were taking Naomi's side) was a - in fairness, a bit harshly worded - criticism of the fact that he was shooting himself in the foot by giving the issue more visibility than it needed to (especially since I had never heard of Naomi King before seeing Daniel's video). And in hindsight, although I think I would be a lot less snarky about it if I could go back in time, I kinda still stand by what I said.

I don't know who is lying or who is saying the truth, and I'm not really interested in blaming either individual person when it comes to the allegations themselves - but I do want to ask: why is any of this being made public in the first place? How does anyone benefit from being made participant in this messed up reverse panopticon where faceless, parasocially attached strangers get to witness you litigate extremely sensitive and private conflicts and then act as if they have any authority to chime in? I'm not trying to excuse anyone who jumped to harrassment in the comments, DMs, tweets, whatever - but I do wish that content creators would be smarter about this and be mature enough not to cave to the pressure of prioritizing their public image (which is largely out of their control anyway) over keeping a healthy distance between their public/professional life and their personal lives

It's crazy that we need level headed people to pop up and say "nuance is important"

She did not make a video saying she lied, she stands by her accusations.

In my opinion, it is very rarely a mistake to wait for more information.
In politics, or life in general, people are always trying to manipulate you through emotional, knee jerk reactions.
Giving in to that pressure is almost always a huge mistake.
Props to you for being patient!
"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." -Lincoln

You are wise and mature 👏🏼

As an attorney, it was really crazy to see people condemn him simply for retaining an attorney. That was a smart move. The attorney is paid to protect your best interests as a client, so given the hot water he was in, I thought it made sense.

I mostly agree with what you’re saying, I also refrain from fully supporting someone before I at least heard both sides of the story. I can sympathise with the described situation and show empathy, but I will not immediately accuse someone when I am just an outsider who only has one side of the story.
But I disagree with the argument „innocent until proven guilty“ because most SA offenders will never be proven guilty, because it is usually word against word and charges won’t lead to anything. Hell, even r4pists often get away. I witnessed it when it happened to some friends of mine and the police officers twisted the story every way possible to make it my friends‘ fault. They accused them of cheating and all sorts of things just so they wouldn’t have to accept that the guy r4ped them.
So, while we shouldn’t easily jump to conclusions, we also don’t need to wait for a official court statement to decide whom we want to support further and whom not.

None of us should have known anything about this. It’s sad all around.

I followed Naomi for about 10 years, I fully understood her extremely sexist and hateful views towards men and how she always perceived herself as a victim. Then the videos of her talking about the assault happened. She said VERBATIM 'I didn't say no, I didn't stop him, I didn't leave him. I said everything was fine, I stayed the full weekend. I continued to be his friend until the money stopped.' That, that right there, that was never sexual assault, it was full regret. As someone who was trafficked as a child, as someone who had to kick their ex off of them to get away there is a difference between letting it happen and staying verses regret. She wasn't Sa'ed. She just regretted her decision and tried to ruin his life.

Sthuthering, sthucatash

Naomi never said they lied and has stuck by their story. They gave a concrete and vivid description of exactly what happened in LV.

If what Naomi says is true, Daniel Greene clearly violated multiple boundaries with a person who was not able to consent because they were incapacitated. While Naomi never directly accused Daniel Greene of assault, many people, including me, drew our own conclusions that Daniel's behavior was tantamount to sexual assault.

Because Naomi DID NOT and COULD NOT consent to the acts that Daniel (allegedly) performed.

"There are two sides to every story."

Daniel has never actually told a competing story. Daniel never explained how and when Naomi gave consent.

When it comes to the actual allegations, Daniel completely skips over it. He never says who said what or who did what. Instead, he goes into all the drama with Kayla, the drama with an unrelated SA accusation by Madison, irrelevant info like the difference between 50 mg and 40 mg of THC, etc. He does everything he can to throw mud at Naomi.

Honestly, it takes some balls to say, "I cheated on my gf, therefore Naomi King is a liar." It's really an amazing double standard, when you think about it. The only PROVEN liar in the situation is Daniel Greene, but it seems like people are looking for any excuse not to believe the victim.

"People are innocent until proven guilty."

Of course. When and if Daniel Greene offers an ACTUAL narrative of what happened, how and when Naomi gave consent, I'll re-evaluate.

So, yes. Booktube got this wrong. But not in the way that you mean.

I hate to break it to you, but many of us have already seen the response videos and the content directly from Naomi King, and she made light of a lot of the accusations she made, and even had some inappropriate comments regarding sexual assault in general and was later found at fault In her accusations against Danielle Greene. I am among the first to step back and disassociate once someone has been accused of sexual assault, but once the dust clears and evidence has been brought out that it did not happen you need to do your due diligence and research exactly what happened and not rely on a dated source, especially when you’re pandering to a large audience.

The most shocking for me is that Merphy Napier came at him. I have been watching these two for years they're long time friends they have videos on each other's pages, they hang out in real life. And she really came at him like he was a stranger. I know that had to be heartbreaking when you find out that the business is just business and no amount of friendship can change that

I immediately unfollowed everyone who condemned him without hearing his side of the story bc they either did it for attention/money, they don't care about facts, and/or they wanted an excuse to do violence. In this day and age, I cannot support ppl who don't care about ethics or principles. They probably don't realize it, but they are on the same boat as the maga hogs who believe whatever trump says. so .... bye 🤷🏼‍♀️

Did you see how Wraithmarked responded?

It's Freydis Moon/Rainbow Crate all over again.

I'm talking about this in the sense that she accused another author that was working with Rainbow Crate, and they didn't even do a good job investigating and just dropped the author. And even when the whole internet found out that Freydis Moon was a manipulator and a snake, they beat around the bush, shifting blame, and didn't even apologize for their actions (or better yet, inaction to protect their other authors). The author lost their reputation and their livelihood for a long time. And that's why you should always listen to both sides before taking out the pitchforks and torches.

As a Chris Rock fan, it strikes me that a better title for this video would be, "Yes i want a cookie." It's about 90% virtue signaling. You want credit both for feeling sorry for her when you watched her original video and for not believing her and not speaking up right away. Zero logic here.

I'm not a large creator but I've interacted with and have become associated with Daniel. The week before all of this happened we meet up for an interview about him and his career. Then all of this dropped. I thought about saying something but held back because it all just happened so fast. So many things came all at once that I didn't feel qualified to speak on anything. I'm glad I waited because like you've said there's so much we don't know and so much information that is still coming out. I appreciate the first 10 minutes of your video a lot because of your critical thinking response.

This isnt just about this situation but anything in general, its absolutely okay to not instantly respond and react to things right way. Its actually really good to wait a bit, absorb the information and wait to see if anything else comes out.

This is fantastic and so spot on. Thank you. Another thing I notice is when these things happen, there’s also a lot of pressure from “the community” on certain people who knew someone or who collabed with someone who is being accused of something to make a statement and that feels so weird to me. Anyway, thank you for this video, I think it’s a great spotlight on reactionary culture and why it needs to be reassessed.

I agree, both that serious allegations need to be taken carefully and that saying there are two sides to every story shouldn't be taken as, "I am supporting the side that hasn't come out yet." My stance is always that humans are humans and there's a good chance that both sides did something bad. I think that making false allegations of SA as a weapon is evil, though, given how it can destroy the reputation and career and even life of the accused, as well as how it damages victims long-term. I agree with another commenter who said, talk with your friends, family, therapist, the police if you're comfortable with that, but don't take it to the internet. Taking it to the internet just multiplies the pain - dog-piling the accused, triggering other survivors, backlash against you (whether or not it's true) - without resulting in any healing for you or the person accused or the relationship between you two.

I tend to just watch what happens because I can name a bunch of situations from a bunch of other communities where allegations start off pretty damning and the other person responses and we realize "oh, it was not as it seems!" and then you have to figure out how to take your foot out of your mouth. I can't comment on it because you're the only person I am somewhat familiar with.... but I've learned that it pays to step back and just be patient.

Great video, thanks.

bEliEve ALl WoMEn

I just found your channel. If anything at least this debacle brought me here. You sound like my kind of person. I will add that besides waiting for evidence before presenting an opinion, many times it's simply not our place to present any opinion at all.

After hearing both sides & multiple apology videos from those who spoke in an emotional reaction,
I feel bad for Daniel who was falsely accused but at the same time cheated on his wife so I don't.
The real victim was Daniel's wife.
It's a personal matter. The fact that dirty laundry needed publicized to save someone from an even more horrifying accusation is sad. The fact his wife had to relieve that pain to defend a cheater because someone thinks that shouting SA falsely isn't a big enough deal...
It's simply a mess.
Collection of all details is important.

It appears this person has taken advantage of a person with mental illness. I feel for Kayla, her friends she’s lost in response to this situation all leads back to what we know as a narcissist. Kayla is in for a world of hurt as this is not a good guy. While I do not believe he SA’D her the tone and motion of the video he put out showing Naomi to be a liar gives so much of his true character away. What a move to propose to someone after cheating on them. How long had they been dating and there was never a proposal? When a person shows you who they are believe them.

Hi everyone. To avoid assumptions from anyone, just in case someone doesn't make it through the video, I'm not taking EITHER side at this point.

This video is just addressing the dangers of the internet's reactive culture, as we've seen from this situation.

Until all information is out, we really should wait for verdicts or full due process to be doing anything.

But also, please remember, you can support someone who's been through a trauma like assault (especially if they believe the event was nonconsensual as Naomi does/did) without attacking the other party, especially when all the information is not out.

And of course, as always, although this topic is heavy and can bring on lots of powerful emotions, please remain respectful in the comments and throughout the entire discourse (I'm serious, be respectful or I will report you xx).