Minecraft creator Dream accused of grooming by 2 former fans
Dream is arguably the biggest Minecraft creator on YouTube. With over 31 million subscribers on the platform, the gamer, who recently revealed himself as a man named Clay, has built up a diehard fan base since he started constantly posting content in 2019. Running his own private server with other top-tier content creators, pulling in millions of views with his “Manhunt” videos, and recently showing his face for the first time, the 23-year-old has been ascending quickly up the creator hierarchy.
Over the past week, two different women accused Clay of sending inappropriate images and messages to them while they were underage. Though all of these messages have not been confirmed as legitimate, Clay released a statement claiming that some were real but did not contain anything “inappropriate.”
The Accusations
On Oct. 13, Twitter user Anastasia posted a thread claiming Clay flirted with her when she was underage through both his personal Snapchat and text messages. According to screenshots of the messages she posted, Clay invited her over to his home during quarantine, and the pair flirted. One message from 2020 shows that she told Clay she would be “18 soon.” Since posting, Anastasia has made her Twitter account private, but other accounts have reposted her tweets.
“None of it is appropriate for a 'fan' and influencer to be this close, especially since I was still 17 and in school and he knew that,” Anastasia wrote in a tweet. Passionfruit was unable to reach Anastasia for comment.
The next day on Oct. 14, another woman came forward with her own story and screenshots of interactions between her and Clay. Amanda, a self-described “Dream stan” posted a series of now-deleted videos to TikTok, in which she claimed that Clay “groomed” her and took advantage of her parasocial relationship while she was 17.
She claims the pair started speaking in September 2020 on Instagram and then Snapchat, where the messages turned more personal, claiming Clay sent her inappropriate sexual images of his penis and of him “nutting.”
“I thought I was genuinely building a bond with my favorite YouTuber and boy was I wrong,” Amanda said in the now-deleted TikTok video. “The only reason I’m speaking up about this is because someone else did.”
On Twitter, Amanda claimed that she was “getting the law involved” and planned on contacting the police, though it's unclear if she did. Amanda did not return Passionfruit’s request for comment.
Dream’s Response
Once these stories came out, they immediately started to gain traction on social media. Soon, #dreamisafreak started trending on Twitter, and videos discussing these accusations have pulled in over 875 million views on TikTok.
On Oct. 13, Clay posted a now-deleted tweet on private Twitter account, @dreamsecretclub, saying “people (are) making up false allegations for the millionth time” and that these claims were “spreading negativity and lies.”
But the next day, following Amanda’s story, Clay posted a more detailed TwitLonger response to the allegations. He claimed the direct messages in the thread were “real” but that “there are no inappropriate comments whatsoever, it was just friendly conversation.” Clay claimed that “them being 18 was mentioned in their bio” and denied any accusations of grooming. Anastasia previously rebuked these claims in her own posts, writing on Twitter: “I also believe I clearly had '17' in my bio the same time I have 20 now.”
Referring to the “second” thread (most likely Amanda’s but unconfirmed), he claims the messages are real but “had nothing inappropriate” in them. He did not address any of the allegations he sent sexual images.
Clay ended his statement saying he’d "pursue legal action towards people using my name to spread disinformation or those that are misrepresenting facts, lying, faking things, or falsely abusing my name and image."
Clay did not respond to Passionfruit’s request for comment.
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