The Fappening’s Creator Does AMA, Responds To Washington Post Hit Piece
It’s been more than a week since we first got hit with the wave of naked celebrity photos that will forever go down in history as “The Fappening.” The title has become so commonplace that even high-quality news sources started running it in their headlines. After all, the point came where we couldn’t really call The Fappening anything else without people getting confused. Perhaps the biggest driver of The Fappening’s title came from the subreddit created by user johnsmcjohn — where photos kept showing up until Sunday when the axe finally came down on the short-lived trove of nude female celebrity photos.
Johnsmcjohn was, of course, not happy about the removal of The Fappening, especially because of the graphic content that is shared elsewhere on Reddit. In order to get out his side of the story, he performed an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on a separate portion of the site to set the record straight.
“I did not start the sub to be the prime place on the internet for celeb leaks… I created it because I liked the name and I thought it would get a decent sized community modded by myself and a few other mods I’d selected. I never thought it’d be the fastest growing sub in history, but when it was, I rolled with it and tried to ensure any content was in line with Reddit’s rules.”
One of the most controversial responses to The Fappening was brought up almost immediately. A Washington Post article by Caitlin Dewey appeared on Friday where the author searched through johnsmcjohn’s Reddit history and exposed his personal life to the world, including an expansive history of posting on a cocaine-related subreddit and confessing that he believes himself to have undiagnosed Asperger’s — oh, and seeking out someone to help him pay his utilities. Johnsmcjohn responded to a question about the article with seeming indifference.
“I don’t like it, but so be it. The Nixon Administration couldn’t stop the WP, so I didn’t try to stop them. Also, I paid my gas bill in case anyone cares.”
One of the most confusing revelations from Dewey’s article were indications that johnsmcjohn is asexual and got nothing from the erotic photos posted in The Fappening other than personal satisfaction from posting them.
“I created the sub because I thought ‘/r/TheFappening’ was an awesome subreddit name. When it exploded, I just did what I can to ensure the community stayed in line with Reddit’s rules. BTW, I don’t get anything from these pics.”
Why do you think jonhsmcjohn started The Fappening? Do you think The Washington Post‘s piece was fair?
[Images via Reddit, Getty Images]
