Addressing False Allegations: The Truth Behind @BewareCreepyVAs

Summary: Peyton Waukau and Heather Vandagriff have made escalating false claims about me on anonymous social media accounts, ranging from impropriety to criminal misconduct. They’ve also harassed friends and conventions. This post provides context and avenues for the reader to explore further.

TL;DR: The allegations are untrue.
Hurt people hurt others.

To fans: While I have been dealing with this for some time and am immune to it, I understand that you, having just stumbled upon the fabricated rumors, may find it alarming or hurtful. This post exists to illuminate the facts as best as I can and put your mind at ease. But, in the end, it will require your own critical thinking skills to sift through the details, people and their intentions.

2018 » WHO: PEYTON WAUKAU, MY STALKER

Peyton Waukau (of Wisconsin), has been cyber-stalking D.C. Douglas and harassing conventions since 2018-2019 in an effort to defame and “cancel” him.

WHY: PEYTON WAUKAU’S MOTIVE

2018: Peyton Waukau and I had a consensual acquaintanceship that involved three one-night stands and about 20 text exchanges before her behavior changed radically.

To clarify, while we met at a convention, she was not a fan of mine and did not display any parasocial characteristics.

After Peyton’s change in behavior I discontinued all contact with her.

2019:  Peyton Waukau began harassing my female friends on social media, attempting to find “dirt” on me. When they all blocked her, she attempted an unsuccessful #metoo campaign against me on her anonymous Twitter account.

During this period, I was also targeted for online harassment by the #IStandWithVic group. My nuanced stance on that unrelated situation led to attacks from this group (Kiwi Farms, Gamergate, et al.) on twitter.

2020: Peyton rebranded her account as @BewareCreepyVAs and actively tried to harness the #IStandWithVic fans dislike of me, but it went nowhere. A few months later she switched strategies and, instead, sought the attention of the #KickVic crowd. This also failed as there were no actual “victims.”

Public reaction to her initial campaign can be read here.

Her ever-shifting false allegations against me began with calling me an alcoholic philanderer and “sex pest” and then escalated to labeling me a serial groper, date-r*pist and, in a desperate attempt to create outrage, pedophile.

As an example of her “kitchen sink” approach, she once posted that I sexually accosted unwilling audience members on stage at my popular Notorious Zombie-Related Erotic Fanfic Show – a ludicrous claim for anyone familiar with the show (you can now enjoy the full show here).

There are unpublished letters and texts that further illustrate her progression towards fabricating these accusations, but they are only for conventions who request them* (legal note).

While Peyton’s actions caused me significant distress initially, I acknowledge that her behavior may stem from personal difficulties or past experiences. This doesn’t excuse the false allegations, but it helps to contextualize the situation.

2021 » WHO: HEATHER VANDAGRIFF, AN EX-FAN

Heather Vandagriff (of New Mexico) is a disgruntled former fan whom D.C. Douglas commissioned in 2011-12 to write some first draft fanfics for the aforementioned Notorious Zombie-Related Erotic Fanfic Show. In 2021, Heather joined Peyton in her efforts and their actions crossed over into tortious interference territory.

WHY: HEATHER VANDAGRIFF’S MOTIVE

2019: Heather Vandagriff, a fan and online acquaintance for many years, publicly defended me from Peyton’s false allegations.

2020: During the pandemic I asked Heather to join several other long-time fans in a weekly zoom gathering that evolved into me streaming videogames on YouTube.

Spring 2021: Heather started a “fans of DC Douglas” discord server – unbeknownst to me. When a disagreement arose over how she was running the Discord server, Heather abruptly turned against me and several other friends. This marked the beginning of her efforts to hurt me personally and professionally.

It should be noted here that Heather had a history of falling out with several “fanfic groups” online and then harassing them. Her behavior is similar to “splitting black.”

Summer 2021: Peyton’s defamation activity had all but dissipated. Heather knew how hurt I was previously by Peyton’s lies so she reached out and reignited Peyton’s online efforts. Heather posted out-of-context conversation snippets, as well as fabricating “direct messages” from anonymous Twitter users to use on Peyton’s @BewarecreepyVAs account.

Fall 2021: She then branched out to Reddit and Facebook posing as a “concerned fan.”

2022: More recently, she has narrowed her harassment to lying on random convention posts that I drug and r*pe attendees at cons, likening me to “a Bill Cosby of conventions.” Occasionally she will brag about her efforts in online fan groups.

(Click here for handles/sock-puppet accounts. These accounts are listed for context and/or to be reported/blocked. Do not engage with nor harass her.)

Our last, honest, discourse on DM will give more context as to her state of mind.

Link

(Pause the video for each pagination. Heather has acknowledged that her DMs are not private so I post this in that same spirit.)

Again, as with Peyton, I request that you do not engage with nor harass Heather. I no longer harbor any animosity towards her. I recognize that people sometimes lash out when they’re dealing with their own pain or disappointment. This understanding doesn’t validate her actions, but it helps me approach the situation with more compassion. Please do the same.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA FALLOUT

The erosion of critical thinking and nuance on social media has enabled the spread of these unverified/false allegations. Peyton and Heather’s anonymously authored tweets and Reddit posts are occasionally amplified by other anonymous accounts:

• #IStandWithVic accounts.
• Kiwi Farms accounts.
• #gamergate accounts.
• Peyton and Heather’s sock-puppet accounts.
• People who have little actual knowledge of who I am and are vulnerable to anonymously spread outrage.

ALLEGATIONS DEBUNKED

It’s tricky proving a negative. Especially when it’s a “he said – Anonymous Twitter/Reddit account said. In the court of public opinion, this requires critical thinking.

So let me offer these facts:

• There are no named victims.
• There are no police reports.
• It’s been since Peyton posted (and subsequently deleted) she was in touch with a group of “D.C.’s victims” who were waiting for the “right time to come forward.”
• By 2020 I had been a guest at over 100 conventions. Between convention organizers, verified handlers, and the numerous voice actors I’ve guested alongside, there are at least 300+ people who can attest to my professional conduct as a convention guest.

Of the cons that have booked me since 2019, most have dismissed the allegations out of hand as baseless while a couple investigated further and came to the same conclusion.

A Florida convention, overseen by their municipality, had the city attorney’s office examine the anonymous claims as part of vetting me for an appearance in 2021. They, too, found Peyton and Heather’s posts to be unsubstantiated* (legal note). The con received clearance to book me (and we had a lovely time ☺️).

@BewareCreepyVAs has also promoted false allegations against a few other VAs since 2019 (in an effort to mask her sole objective of defaming me). One claim was debunked the same day it was made, another was legally proven false, and a third was retracted by the accuser two months later. Despite this, @BewareCreepyVAs has neither corrected nor apologized for those tweets, as well, which remain on Peyton’s account.

THE CONVENTION EFFECT

The main effort of @BewareCreepyVAs is reputation assassination via conventions: When a videogame or anime con announces my attendance, Peyton &/or Heather will comment with shocking allegations on the con’s post in an effort to scare the convention into cancelling my appearance.

(2023 update: recent cons have informed me it’s only Heather Vandagriff now attacking their posts. They block her various accounts 3 or 4 times and she then gives up.)

Lawsuit

People ask why I don’t sue. The answer is simple: time and money. My family and cats, not my online reputation, are my priority.

Additionally, Peyton and Heather have no assets and are often unemployed. If I sued, I would win a judgment, but I’d still lose time and money, and they could continue their illegal behavior under new anonymous accounts. This would then force me to file another lawsuit, giving them the attention they crave, and costing me thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. Also, the most distasteful result would be the garnishing of their future wages which would have me linked to them for many years into the future.

Ultimately, I want nothing to do with them. Apart from bookings for conventions, my personal life and career are unaffected by their anonymous online fabrications.

So, I choose to focus my energy and resources on my work, my loved ones, and continuing to engage positively with fans at cons and the voice acting community at large.

CRITICAL THINKING

This post is not a plea for you to reject their anonymous posts simply because of what I’ve written. It’s a launching point for you to look deeper into these allegations and the people propagating them.

False allegations can hurt not just the targeted person but also the broader movement of supporting victims of real sexual misconduct. It’s important to differentiate facts from rumors to preserve the integrity of this movement.

A FINAL NOTE

If you’re upset about Peyton Waukau and Heather Vandagriff’s abusive online actions, please don’t vent at or attack them online. Instead, do this:

• Transform your anger into support for true victims:

• If you know someone who has fallen for their defamation campaign, please send them this post so that they, hopefully, will research further and use critical thinking.

• Report their accounts or comments on X, Reddit et al.

• Always question the veracity of anonymous accounts.

• On a personal note to my friends and fans who have had my back through all this “mishigas,” I can never thank you enough. 🤗

Remember: supporting true victims also means not allowing bad actors to undermine the movement. False accusations do tremendous damage to victims of actual assault.