Kraken’s Alex Wennberg And Wife Blasts ‘BookTok’ Users Over Widespread Harassment

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Professional athletes have always had to deal with unruly and outspoken fans, and the rise of social media has only exacerbated that particular issue thanks to people who don’t even need to leave their homes in an attempt to get their attention.

That’s led to some interesting situations in the NHL, like the time Bo Horvat offered to compensate a disgruntled bettor over a lost wager and Nikita Zaitsev challenged someone to fight him over some unflattering memes.

However, I can’t think of many scenarios that can match the strange saga we’ve been treated to courtesy of Kraken center Alex Wennberg and some denizens of what is known as “BookTok.”

For the uninitiated, “BookTok” refers to the unofficial TikTok realm where fans of (you guessed it) books can discuss that particular hobby, and that space has been credited with helping a number of largely unknown authors reach a larger audience.

BookTok covers basically every literary genre—including what most people politely refer to as “romance novels” but can frequently be categorized as “smut” thanks to the fairly racy content of many of the publications in that particular category.

A number of authors have found success with stories featuring fictional hockey players as a primary love interest, and that obsession has trickled over into reality thanks to a number of BookTok users with a sizeable following who have taken an interest in the NHL.

That includes Kierra Lewis, a woman best described as a “BookTok influencer” who was gifted a custom jersey by the Kraken when she was invited to a game last season. It’s safe to say she’s also a very big fan of center Alex Wennberg, although it seems to have less to do with his talent and much, much more to do with his looks.

Over the weekend, Wennberg’s wife Felicia decided to take a stand against her and the other users she’s accused of engaging in a widespread harassment campaign when she posted a lengthy message on Instagram calling out those BookTok users for repeatedly “crossing the line” and “exploiting others” by making explicit comments about her husband online.

Wennberg eventually chimed in as well to rip the people who’ve left “vile comments” on his wife’s posts while stating they’ve “had enough of [the] sexual harassment” in the hopes of bringing it to an end.

While neither of them called out Lewis by name, she didn’t waste much time reacting to (and largely dismissing) the accusations, and it appears there are a number of other BookTokers who have attempted to frame the Wennbergs as the villains as opposed to the victims.

I can only hope this will blow over fairly quickly, but it’s a shame it had to come to this in the first place.