There’s an audience for every subgenre of romance—romcoms, suspense, military, sports, bully, motorcycle clubs, and mafia (Don’t even get me started on those last three–that’s a whole ‘nother post!) Anyway, my point is whatever your preferred subgenre, there’s a sizeable group on social media that stands with you. Almost every romance subgenre references “book boyfriends,” as well. Readers dive into the fandom and enjoy these fictional characters with new content, fan art, book clubs, and discussions. The characters are perfect, swoony, and say and do all the right things (as long as they’re written and edited correctly!) 😉
There’s a segment of romance readers who love sports romance, including hockey. Many of them hang out on BookTok (i.e., bookish TikTok), where they talk about books and literature. I wasn’t aware “hockey is actually the biggest sports subgenre in romance outside of Canada.”1 According to romance author Farah Heron, “BookTok is super horny. TikTok goes through trends with what’s popular in the book environment there. For a while it was all about horny fantasy romance, and then it started going into extra, extra spicy contemporary romance…. Now, hockey is having a moment on BookTok.”
The Seattle Kraken ice hockey team took advantage of this. In the winter of last year, they leaned into the subgenre of hockey romance on BookTok. There’s just one problem with that. Apparently, no one told them BookTok, Instagram, and other social media are like the Wild West.
Nashville influencer Kierra Lewis shared enthusiastic (and sometimes explicit) BookTok posts about the Seattle Kraken and player Alex Wennberg. The Kraken flew her out to see Game 4 of the second–round playoff series against Dallas. She held up a sign during the game with “Krack My Back” emblazoned across it. (A riff on the saying “Break my back,” which references vigorous… well, I’m sure you can fill in the blank.) When the Kraken lost, they flew Lewis home and stopped posting BookTok content. It was just as well, since they had received complaints about the players being objectified.
But it didn’t stop for Alex Wennberg and his family. Although he and his wife had initially joked about some of the attention, it grew to be too much. Explicit posts, particularly from Lewis, became common, with one post describing in detail what she wanted Alex to do to her. His wife Felicia screenshot the post and concluded, “What doesn’t sit with me is when your desires come with sexual harassment, inappropriate comments, and the fact that with the internet, we can normalize behavior that would never be ok if we flipped the genders around.”
BookTok responded with mocking backlash, along with harsh comments about Alex’s play and his marriage (Really? Come on, people. Be better.) He followed up with his own post days later. “As someone who’s been media trained my whole career, I’ve been taught to bite my tongue and leave it instead of making a statement. But it has gone too far for me to stay quiet when people post vile comments on my wife’s Instagram and on photos of our child. … Enough of sexual harassment, and harassment of our character and our relationship.”
Amidst all the chaos, the Kraken unfollowed Lewis. She was upset. “The reason why BookTok even was aware of the Kraken, or h*ll, half these hockey teams, is when they started doing these slo-mos and, ‘Hey, BookTok, look at us, look at us,’ ” Lewis said in her video. (I think she’s missing the point here…)
When Alex let it be known he was uncomfortable because of the “aggressive language”, the Kraken team issued its own statement. “Social media provides us with a great opportunity to connect with new audiences and we originally engaged with the BookTok community in this spirit. However, this is a good reminder that unintended consequences may arise. It is disappointing that a small percentage of online commenters crossed a line.”
Is there anyone here who is at fault? Is it the Kraken team, who jumped at the chance to broaden their fan base? Is it the team members who should “suck it up” and expect this kind of attention? Or is it the influencers, who have blurred the lines beyond what’s considered acceptable? And what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?
I’d love to know your thoughts on this! Please respond in the comments.
All other quotes from https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/kraken/kraken-have-learning-moment-after-alex-wennberg-and-wife-condemn-social-media-promotion/
It is the fault of the so called influencers I think. They are so focussed upon themselves and their “glory” that they never see their own sinful behavior and how they are destroying the lifes of other people. But all this fits the time we are living in. Darkness is rising and Jesus is coming soon to take us home before the worst will happen.
People are lovers of themselves exactly as it is written in the bible and it is terrible to behold.
Yes, absolutely. I also think some influencers are hoping to make this their “day job,” if they aren’t making money off of their social media sites already. So they’re hoping for more exposure and more attention which often leads to endorsements and ads. I’m not excusing them, though. I know a lot of kids who want to be employed as “streamers.” I don’t know if that’s what Kierra Lewis is looking for, but it’s sad to see people get hurt like the Wennbergs.