What is the Naomi King and Daniel Greene drama? BookTuber allegations explained as scandal leaves fantasy book community shellshock
BookTuber and internet personality Daniel Greene and YouTuber Naomi King have been making the headlines after King's allegations of misconduct and s*xual assault against the former. On February 11, King shared a tearful 34-minute video, now private, on her channel, accusing Greene of s*xual assault.
"Two years ago, YouTuber Daniel Greene threatened to wipe me off social media. So if I disappear, you'll know who did it," Naomi began.
Trigger warning: This article has references to sexual assault. Discretion is advised.
She explained that in June 2023, she made a video titled ‘A Conversation about Manipulation, Consent, and Assault,’ in which she claimed that a "friend that turned out not to be a friend" had s*xually harassed her.
Naomi King stated that although she never identified the “friend” in any way, she received threats from Daniel Greene. She also alleged that Greene’s legal team sent her a cease and desist letter eight days later, demanding that she take down the video within 24 hours or face a lawsuit for "slander and defamation" and risking being blocked from social media.
In her February 11 video, she claimed to have refused to comply with their legal notice and that she never heard back from them. Naomi also provided a detailed account of her alleged s*xual assault from May 2023. In response to the claims, Daniel Greene claimed to have “consensual s*x” with Naomi King and denied the accusations leveled against him.
The now-viral scandal has left the fantasy book community in shellshock. Daniel Greene faced backlash from his fans, the Discord community, and other podcasts and fantasy sites, including 'The One Piece' podcast and 'Dragonmount.' Fellow influencer Brandon Sanderson even unfollowed him on social media.
In the wake of this, Naomi released another video on February 17, claiming she was lying in the previous one. She alleged that Daniel paid her for their s*xual encounters and that she was a "sugar baby."
Notably, Naomi's YouTube videos about her alleged assault experience and clarifications are private, meaning they can only be viewed if Naomi invites someone via their email address.
Tracing back Naomi King's claims and Daniel Greene's counter
In her February 11 video, Naomi King shared that two years ago, she and Daniel had planned to meet in Las Vegas. Since she arrived before him, she "spent the day getting baked by the pool." Meanwhile, he flew in, and she expected they would hang out as friends.
However, upon his arrival, Greene allegedly coerced her into s*xual relations even though it was past midnight and she was allegedly "half asleep and on drugs." As per Naomi’s accusations, despite resisting several times, he m*sturbated on her.
King claimed that the following morning at breakfast, they decided that the alleged incident should have never occurred and agreed to remain friends, saying it would "never happen again." However, she claimed that Daniel walked back on his promise and assaulted her “as soon as” they were alone.
"We just talked about this. We're just friends. It shouldn't have happened," Naomi allegedly repeated at the time.
Yet, Greene purportedly m*sturbated over her, which was seemingly “worse” than before. King further claimed, “After what happened to me in Vegas, I reached out to his partner,” aka Daniel’s fiancé.
“I needed her to know that I didn’t want it. I needed her to know that he was sober and wide awake and I was half-asleep and on drugs. Which he knew,” she added.
In the video, Naomi King could be seen crying and breathing loudly while recounting the alleged assault and calling her alleged assaulter “a lying, cheating piece of sh*t.” She also alleged that Greene has similar accusations against him.
Naomi King shared a censored screenshot where she claimed Daniel Greene was accused of r*pe by a woman in the summer of 2016. She also compared him to author and accused molester Neil Gaiman, who used “social justice issues for his own gain.” King mentioned being in contact with the other alleged victim of Greene.
On February 13, Daniel Greene addressed the allegations in a minute-long video in which he said:
"Hello. My name is Daniel Greene. This is an important message in response to various false allegations made against me by Naomi King of alleged s*xual assault in a campaign launched on YouTube and more. Let me be clear. I had consensual s*x with Naomi King. Yes, it was an affair."
Greene claimed to have "clear and convincing" evidence to support his innocence and prove that the encounters were "consensual." He promised to clarify the issue further by saying "more soon." In his video, Greene also mentioned that he would take legal action and "sue" for "libel."
Naomi King walks back on her allegations against Daniel Greene
Naomi King's follow-up video on February 17 began with her mocking Daniel Greene for his scripted statement. She then went on to reveal their alleged DMs alongside a couple of song lyrics titled "Cause I Can't Be With You," "Your Girlfriend," and "Maybe One Day."
At this point, Naomi explained that she is a "sugar baby," meaning she provides the girlfriend experience to men—reportedly Daniel Greene in this case—in exchange for money without the commitment.
"We discussed hanging out. He wanted to f*cking pay for the entire trip and give me money. I wanted to get f*cking tattooed, it was kind of a win-win," she shared alluding to the May 2023 Las Vegas trip she took with Greene where she accused him of s*xual assault.
King mentioned that contrary to her earlier claims, the Las Vegas trip was not the first they took together. Before that, she and Greene seemingly spent three days in Vancouver.
Elsewhere, Naomi claimed that she lied about Daniel assaulting her. Instead, they reportedly took drugs together during the Vegas trip, and they went to bed together. She also admitted undressing herself in front of him and telling him how she "always sleep naked."
"Looking back on it, dumb*ss, I know that," she added.
King mentioned how Daniel was allegedly "coming on really f*cking strong" and "started talking money," to which she responded with, "I could do that," seemingly agreeing to be his "sugar baby."
"I will acknowledge that I did not fight him off," she shared.
King also apologized to victims/survivors of s*xual assault for previously trivializing the issue with her recent video—
"I hurt so many people, it was not my intent. I genuinely thought I was doing something good. I am not okay with my behavior. It's really gross. I agree with your comments and I am going to take a step back and reflect. I don't like this version of me. So, I'm going to put an end to this and I'm going to acknowledge my faults. I stand by trauma, but I don't stand by my behavior. I'm sorry," she concluded.
Notably, she didn't directly apologize to Greene for the alleged "false" accusations.
Daniel Greene provides "proof" against Naomi King's claims
Amid Naomi King's clarification, Daniel Greene released another video on the same day (February 17), attempting to vindicate himself. He began by stating,
"Naomi King explicitly states the relationship was consensual."
He further provided evidence of how Naomi seemingly spoke out of context, backed off from her accusations, and focused on the part where Naomi specifically admits:
"I wish I could take it all back, it was not worth losing what we had. I wish I'd never gone to Vegas."
Additionally, Daniel Greene stated that he did not keep tabs on Naomi after their encounters, adding that he had no idea what she was up to or how "crazy" she was. Greene mentioned blocking her on social media but reportedly still received messages from her and her friends.
"When Naomi had contacted my stalker, Madison, that is when I decided to seek legal counsel," he clarified.
In his video, Daniel also included an explanation by his fiancé, who said she was aware of the "consensual affair" between her partner and King, adding that she herself is a s*xual assault victim.
Although Greene accused King of using old videos to allegedly fabricate evidence against him—which she has since retracted—he admitted to taking drugs with Naomi in Vegas. Moreover, he acknowledged having consensual s*x with King and cheating on his then-girlfriend but remained adamant that he did not assault King under any circumstances.
The BookTuber wrapped up by sharing he's "bisexual" and that he felt "bad" after his encounters with Naomi King. He added that he felt "disgusted" by how it was misconstrued and portrayed in front of the world.
Daniel Greene is among the most popular BookTubers, known primarily as the creator of the Fantasy News channel, where he promotes fantasy books and shares his own content in the genre.
According to Times Now, he has over 500,000 subscribers on YouTube (having joined in 2016) and is also active on BookTok. In 2023, around the time when the alleged incident occurred, Greene reportedly announced a break from the channel and social media due to mental health concerns. Earlier this year, Daniel publicly called out Neil Gaiman regarding multiple allegations of s*xual misconduct against him.