NewNameNoah's TikTok harassment allegations

[Meadowchik]

If the allegations are true--and I would assume they are--then I am completely unsurprised. So the guy who has no boundaries in some areas also does not observe them in others.

Yup!

I hope the people he is harassing find a way to shut him down.

One of his accounst has been banned from TikTok. Unfortunately, he creates more and pops up in other places. I think that by and large, we need influential exmo voices and spaces to help repudiate the behavior and stop giving him platforms. He is an admin for the exmormon Facebook group. That would be a good place to de-platform him, but unfortunately it is already a very toxic space and in my opinion it's unlikely that it would even entertain the thought.

[Kishkumen]

One of his accounst has been banned from TikTok. Unfortunately, he creates more and pops up in other places. I think that by and large, we need influential exmo voices and spaces to help repudiate the behavior and stop giving him platforms. He is an admin for the exmormon Facebook group. That would be a good place to de-platform him, but unfortunately it is already a very toxic space and in my opinion it's unlikely that it would even entertain the thought.

I agree.

At the same time, I am saddened by the whole thing. First, I am saddened for the people he harasses. Then, I am saddened for him. Over all, I am saddened that we live in a world that tends to foster this kind of illness. The technology is an integral part of the problem. This is not to say that all people behave like Mike Norton as a result of technology. No, it is rather the case that technology provides an opportunity for Mike Norton to be a problem in this way, and is partly due to the way that it allows him to hide in much the same way it allows all of us to hide. We all curate ourselves and engage in this environment very selectively. It is a powerful tool allowing us to pretend to be this or that, and to present ourselves in this or that way, and then use these electronic tools to make money, gain attention, seek social satisfaction, etc.

Here is my speculation:

Mike Norton, like other such misfits, seems unable to control his urge to satisfy himself sexually by pushing himself on others. I would say that where he really gets his pleasure is by continuing to insist that an unwilling person should want to yield to his desire. It is a no-win situation for any poor person who is unlucky enough to fall into his sights. The more they say no, the bigger a challenge he views it, and he will not let go because the pursuit itself is stimulating to him. The online platform gives him endless opportunities for engaging in this masturbatory behavior.

In a real world situation, people would see him coming from a mile a way and simply go somewhere else.

What makes this even more disturbing, and even sadder for Mike, is that he is a victim of sexual predation.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

This is John Dehlin 's reddit post, I think, in question:

Mike - Normally I prefer to share this stuff privately. But since you’ve mentioned my name publicly a few times now, I want to share my statement on the matter, which I posted to the Mormon Stories Podcast Community on Facebook, then a few final thoughts at the end for you:

Hey everyone,

I just want to remind everyone here of a few things, and address something sensitive and timely:

1) I condemn harassment, abuse, and bullying of any kind. If evil exists, these things are evil. I also have ZERO desire to hide or protect abusive or predatory behavior. That impulse does not exist in me. Anyone who assumes that I am a protecter of abusers, or a defender of abusive behavior, doesn't know me. If you assume that about me because of this policy, you probably don't belong here.

2) I also condemn attempts to smear people with false allegations or baseless rumors (if and when that happens). This is also evil when it happens, and it does happen. It happens to me daily at this point. And I won't let this platform be a place for this practice either.

3) I continue to be interested in doing an episode and/or series on community and Internet etiquette/boundaries, and how ExMormon men in particular, and all of us in general, need to do/be better.

4) Regardless of how strongly I feel about #'s 1-3 above, I do not want this community to become a place where interpersonal scandals in our community are adjudicated. I'm sure there is a healthy way to process such things as a community, but I don't have the time, ability, or interest to host that here. I just don't. I have limited time and resources, and I have to pick my battles. If you don't get a sense from my interviews on Mormon Stories Podcast that I stand squarely against abuse, assault, etc., then nothing I do here is likely to convince you, and I'd rather you just leave the group.

5) Much like ExMormon Reddit, this is NOT the place to launch personal attacks at anyone - even if they have acted in harmful ways. It's also not the place to adjudicate disputes between adults in our community, or to brigade/smear people with lies or rumors. People who do so risk being banned. Again, this is not to endorse, condone, or hide anyone's bad behavior. It's simply a desire to stay focused on the mission of this group, and an acknowledgement that we don't have the time/money/resources/interest to moderate such conversations. It is also worth mentioning that the overwhelming consensus I get from members of this community who ACTUALLY listen to Mormon Stories podcast, and who ACTUALLY support what I do (vs. the haters who just come here to stir up drama and more hate), is that podcast listeners and supporters hate it when this community gets hijacked and/or bogged down in personal attacks, drama, character assassination, politically partisan discussions, etc.

6) When I occasionally have a beef with and/or feedback for someone, my preference is to communicate with them directly. As mature adults. In a constructive manner. One of the things I hate most about this community is the tendency towards toxic public ambushes via brigades with an intent to shame and smear, before any direct, personal conversations have even been attempted. Again, this has happened to me a LOT over the years, and I detest this behavior.

Thanks for your understanding. If you have thoughtful, constructive feedback, I'm always willing to hear it.

And if you are a hater, please just leave the group.

I do want to add one final thing /u/newnamenoah - I do believe that these sorts of scandals/eruptions are bad for the ExMo community.

What we are all speaking out against is so wealthy and powerful, and we are all so collectively unresourced in comparison, that it deeply pains me to see ExMormons fighting with each other, and precious time and attention taken away from our collective cause. Your channel was so successful. A ton of TikTikkers really valued your work. Now it’s gone? For what?!?! In my view we should all be creating content and resources to help the cause, not tearing each other apart and rubber-necking on threads like this to gawk at the carnage. What a huge waste of time and energy.

I can tell you one thing. The church loves this. And apologists love this. When crap like this happens, we are giving them ammo to use against us later.

That was true when McKenna showed herself to be a grifter.

That was true in your reaction to McKenna. I understand your anger. I really do. I felt it too. But your response made you look unhinged, mean and hateful, which is not how I view you. At least not normally.

That was true when you talked about filming a porno in the temple. I just don’t think that was helpful for you or our cause. I do think you apologized for that, which I sincerely commend.

That is true now.

I do think the story between you and JessicaJustice is more complicated than your haters are communicating, and I deeply despise this new trend I’m seeing in the ExMo community towards ambushing people with organized brigades to smear, often with false or misleading or incomplete or exaggerated charges. It feels like mob justice and I hate it.

But I also really wish you hadn’t sent JessicaJustice anything.

Do I think the exchange is being fairly portrayed? No I do not. Not from the evidence I’ve seen. Have I seen all the evidence? I have not. I don’t have time. Do I think you are being smeared and brigaded by haters? Yes I do. Do I think some of these people are also harming our community with these smearing brigades? I sure do. Do I know if you’ve sent other women similar images in the past? I have no idea. I hope not.

But do I wish you had not sent JessicaJustice anything? Yes I do.

Mike - Many of us have huge respect for some of the things you’ve done over the years. Heck....you helped inspire Mormon Stories Podcast. Your temple videos were game changers. And your TikTok channel was becoming epic.

I am not going to pile on here. I believe you mean well. I believe you want to make a positive difference. And you have. And I know your personality is partly what has led to your efforts for our community. And I’m pretty sure you’re not going away any time soon.

My 2 cents — once any of us becomes more prominent, I do think we have a responsibility to be more careful. More thoughtful. More kind even. If for no other reason than that we don’t want to be responsible for helping the thing we’re all fighting. Again, it’s like giving ammo to the enemy.

This thread and this scandal right here is friendly fire. It’s a circular firing squad. And I really don’t believe that our community can support stuff like this and stay healthy. We can’t afford it. We have to do better. And since you are higher profile, I want to lovingly ask you to keep doing all the good, but work harder to keep stuff like this from erupting in ways that make us all look bad. And that ultimately hurts our cause.

With the Kwaku stuff - Just apologize for mispronouncing his name and move on. No one benefited from that thing. Not you. Not us. I’m not perfect, but when it comes to racial stuff, and LGBTQ stuff, and stuff with women/feminism, I try to be extra careful. These groups of people have been harmed and marginalized for way too long. We should be extra respectful and careful in those situations.

But I am NOT a model of perfection here.

I make mistakes every day. I get mad. I speak in mean spirited ways. I lose my temper. I say and do things I shouldn’t. I can be insensitive. I still have a million blind spots with race, gender, sexuality, feminism, etc.

I need to do better. So I’m speaking to myself here too. And I’d say the same to JessicaJustice, and the rest of the ExMo community. We all need to up our game to not hurt our collective cause, and to not fulfill the stereotypes that the Mormon church and its apologists want us to fulfill.

So Mike - If you do plan on continuing in the ExMo world for another 20 years, I would ask you to incorporate one value into your approach:

“I will do no harm to the ExMo community.” Or at least try your best not to. And if you “F” up, which we all will, just apologize and make it better. Don’t make it worse. Don’t burn our community down in situations like this. We can’t afford it.

I will work to do better myself. It starts with me.

Mike - Will you try too? I understand your desire to defend yourself against what you feel are false allegations. But can you also show a desire to not harm our community, and to instead make it healthier and stronger?

Love you brother. Love to JessicaJustice as well.

[Meadowchik]

I think Dehlin glossed over what is in my opinion the worse thing about Norton's behaviour. He attacks critics, goes after them, doxxes them, and threatens his way around.

THAT is the issue here. It is not simply interpersonal matters, it is NNN using his social influence to magnify his very problematic reactions to criticism. Instead of one bitter and vindictive Mike there are several to many versions of him going after his perceived enemies. He encourages and accepts people spying on private groups and then forwarding him the information.

Norton joked about the witchhunt for him, but that's WHAT HE DOES to others, with his fans helping. And he is often doing it to people he knows are already victims. Norton got famous for punching up at the church. But for many years he's been punching down.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Well, NNN was pulling this crap in the early 2000s. A lot of exmos are stunted emotionally, so they're basically teenagers with money having to learn how to be. I can see how NNN was basically fumbling around with his behavior, and how the women he was coming on to simply thought being nice and accommodating was their default setting, which is pure Mormonism, and that would smooth over the uncomfortable interaction. The problem with NNN is he applies his attitude that he has with the church (the whole Screw you I'm going to do what I want without your consent and put it on the Internet) and does the same with anyone who interacts with him. He has no discretion, no filter, and will throw a friend under the bus as quickly as he'll throw a perceived enemy under the bus. Further, he'll do it just because he's bored, which is the way he's always been. What makes him a perp is that when he burns one group out, he'll move to another set of victims who don't understand this and repeat the same behavior. He's been at this for 20 odd years.

- Doc

[cinepro]

With the Kwaku stuff - Just apologize for mispronouncing his name and move on.

I just realized I have no idea how to pronounce Kwaku. Is it "Kway-koo" or "Kwah-koo"?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I don't know if this is true, but this was just posted on Reddit:

"Update : Mike has now created an entire website about one of the women he is harassing. This is just getting more and more disturbing."

Man, if this is true this is straight up mental illness.

Edit: Or narcissism. Or perp behavior. Or disgusting perv behavior. Dude needs to go down for this if true.

Edit2: Welp. Looks like it's true -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CNPkGSFhoP1 ... _copy_link

- Doc

[Fence Sitter]

With the Kwaku stuff - Just apologize for mispronouncing his name and move on.

I just realized I have no idea how to pronounce Kwaku. Is it "Kway-koo" or "Kwah-koo"?

It is my understanding that the 'Washington' combination is pronounced like a long u.

[Fence Sitter]

delete

[Fence Sitter]

delete

Jesus, I need to pay attention.