Please note, this article is not intended to be controversial, but to summarize the accusations against Colleen Hoover and why she is problematic. I’m telling you the full story, but I’m in no way taking sides from anyone.
Warning: the content is about sexual harassment.
Who is Colleen Hoover?
Colleen Hoover is an American author known for her books, It Ends With Us, Ugly Love and Verity. She has a strong presence on BookTok, with many of her novels becoming bestsellers. She is married to Heath, and has three children: Cale, Levi and Beckham.
Why is Colleen Hoover a problem?
Today the main problem concerns one of her sons, Levi. He’s been in the news because an accusation of sexual harassment on social networks has been published. Colleen Hoover then first responded to the allegations against her son in a private Facebook group to clear the air.
The sexual harassment story then continued to be relayed. This time, it caused quite a stir on Twitter.
In a first tweet on February 12, 2022, a Twitter user under the pseudonym @theonottlovebot threw a discussion directly at Colleen Hoover, writing, “Her son also sexually harassed me and she blocked me when I told her about it.”
In a second tweet, the girl elaborated, saying:
“Long story short, we were friends on Snapchat. Like every day we were messaging each other because we’re friends when I was 16 and he was fully aware of how old I was because I was always talking about how I was still in school.”
She then provided screenshots with proof that she had first messaged Colleen Hoover on Instagram to explain the situation and proof that she was friends with her son Levi. Quickly, the tweets went viral and were reposted on Reddit and TikTok.
At the time of the alleged harassment, Levi was an adult of 21, and the accuser claims she was 16, which would make her a minor. In 2021, Colleen celebrated Levi’s birthday with a post on Instagram, confirming that he was 21.
After the accusation circulated, many users on social networks called for a boycott of Colleen Hoover’s books.
Colleen Hoover’s apology
On November 18, 2022, Colleen Hoover issued a statement apologizing for her son’s behavior. In this statement, she clarifies:
“The things that are being said about my son are not accurate. People are saying that I blocked a girl who told me that my son had sexually assaulted her when she was 16. It was absolutely not like that.”
She goes on to explain:
“My son and a girl were online friends for several months. They never met in person. He said something to her in a message that made her uncomfortable (he asked her to send him a photo), so she sent me a message about it. I didn’t read that message, but she thought I had, and the fact that I didn’t reply naturally upset her. She then posted on Twitter that my son had asked her for a photo. As soon as I discovered this story several months ago, I contacted her”.
Colleen Hoover finally added:
“We discussed what happened, I apologized and thanked her for bringing this to my attention, and I offered to give her our address and attorney’s contact information if she wished. I held my son responsible for sending her an inappropriate message. I addressed it directly with her and with my son.”
Here is the full story of the accusations against Colleen Hoover and more specifically against her son. I hope I’ve enlightened you on the subject and that you better understand the statements and boycotts, particularly on Tik Tok, that may be made by some readers.
Discover Colleen Hoover’s complete bibliography
In the meantime, whether you like Colleen Hoover’s novels or not, I invite you to discover my selection of Young Adult novels to read to start reading in English.
Camille 🙂