Fan tries to separate art from artist after scandal
Last year, I wrote an article about one of my favorite PokéTubers, TheKingNappy, being outed by the Pokémon community for grooming his friends and forcing them into relationships with him.
During that time, I was very distraught about the whole situation and thought that I never would be able to enjoy Pokémon gaming content again. I actually didn’t even watch any PokéTubers or their content because I felt it just wasn’t the same to me. The only way I kept up with Pokémon news was through Facebook groups.
After he was outed, Nappy took to Twitch to give his response to the allegations and didn’t seem like he was going to be making content or livestreaming ever again. I thought to myself, “What if he comes back?” or “Will he ever apologize for his actions, and if so, will the community forgive him?” I got my answer on Christmas Eve.
I looked down at my phone and saw the familiar purple logo from the Twitch app saying “TheKingNappy is live on Twitch: pokémon sticks and stones,” and instantly I thought this was an error on Nappy’s end or Twitch was having issues with its server.
Boy, was I wrong.
Nappy begun his comments a little over 24 minutes into his livestream after playing music, with audio clip of a guy saying, “I’m already convicted, my whole life has been turnt around. I lost every job. I lost everything. I lost every opportunity. I can’t get to buy cars, can’t get no rent, can’t get none of that. But I am still a survivor. I am still coming to court with a smile.”
Then the audio cut off and Nappy played “What You Won’t Do For Love” by Bobby Caldwell, and I say to myself, “Yes, Nappy I have wondered where you have been.” Then Nappy finally spoke and said, “Hello boys and girls. Hello everybody. What is poppin’?” I was definitely shocked because it was a voice, I had not heard for more than nine months.
Nappy explained that he was sorry he was gone so long, that he was sorry that his fans and supporters had to be subjected to the drama that followed him. Nappy promised that he would address the drama in a separate video later. Nappy also had apologized saying he had a lot of issues in his life otherwise he would have been back sooner.
Nappy then started playing the new Pokémon game and stayed on Twitch live for more than two hours before hopping off stream.
In my mind, I was thinking the same thing many others were probably thinking — “Why didn’t he bring up the allegations, or at least tell his side of the story?”
Almost a month later, Nappy returned to YouTube under his new alias of “Nappy,” only to post the Twitch livestream, which he had broken into parts that he uploaded for the majority of that week. Along with posting the livestream, he also posted a brand-new Pokémon series on his channel that first day. As of Monday, he is still posting videos and hasn’t mentioned the allegations.
This leaves me to ponder if it is even right to watch his content and be entertained by it? I had asked the editors of the University Press what they had thought. Claire said that she still enjoys “House of Cards” despite the allegations against Kevin Spacey.
I think it is OK to watch people’s content despite what has happened to them in the past. The determining factor for me watching Nappy is the fact that he has a personal life and a YouTube life, and the two should not intermingle.
We should separate the art from the artist.
There is no evidence Nappy had sexual relations with the individuals who outed him and accused him of forcing them into relationships. It seems as though they were virtual relationships.
However, I feel he has learned his lesson and will no longer engage with minors — but who knows except Nappy.
He is innocent until proven guilty, and I will continue to watch his content. However, if he is proven guilty by a court of law then I will go back to watching other content.