Chidera Eggerue aka The Slumflower

I too am neutral about Aja; I wasn’t familiar with her prior to this whole mess. But she strikes me as someone who isn’t shy about speaking her mind and the fact that she waited this long to say something, and something so organic and off the cuff, says to me she legit was being harassed and finally had to cave for her own peace of mind. And I’m 100% confident that WW SF supporters harassed the sh*t out her, which is probably why she took it down. Not because she believes she’s wrong but because she’s said her piece and doesn’t want it malingering out there. And I’m also confident that she knows ALOT more than we do.
The BMM is troubling simply because they are rejecting donations that would specifically help vulnerable POC because they came from FG? I do not get that. But I do get that the bug in their ear had to come from SF’s camp. I’ve worked with several charities over the years and unless the money came from very nefarious donors, we’d take it.
And finally, why oh why isn’t SF harnessing all this energy and money into growing her own publishing/media empire (her go fund me would be big) as opposed to tearing down one white lady cog in the wheel of white capitalism? She is making herself a pariah in the media field and no one is going to touch her with a barge pole when this is over. The more she pushes it and the more FG rises above it with silence/innocuous memes the worse it gets for SF.
You know what’s really hard to prove in court? Plagiarism. You know what’s really easy to prove in court (especially in the UK)? Slander/Libel.

“I just wish she (Munroe) would have minded her business because now she’s made herself look hella funny”

Is this an absolute joke? SF wishing Munroe would have minded her business when she called her out relentlessly in her stories for her silence to the point Munroe had to say something?

And as though SF isn’t coddling whiteness by sharing majority fawning DMs and donations from white people.

bunnyblue said:

“I just wish she (Munroe) would have minded her business because now she’s made herself look hella funny”

Is this an absolute joke? SF wishing Munroe would have minded her business when she called her out relentlessly in her stories for her silence to the point Munroe had to say something?

And as though SF isn’t coddling whiteness by sharing majority fawning DMs and donations from white people.

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Who's actually reading chideras harry-potter-length-miscroscopic stories?

Totally shocking what she is saying about Munroe, what she says never fails to amaze me.

lisa-seketa said:

And finally, why oh why isn’t SF harnessing all this energy and money into growing her own publishing/media empire (her go fund me would be big) as opposed to tearing down one white lady cog in the wheel of white capitalism? She is making herself a pariah in the media field and no one is going to touch her with a barge pole when this is over. The more she pushes it and the more FG rises above it with silence/innocuous memes the worse it gets for SF.

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This gets me too, because her whole thing is that she's so creative and unique and so groundbreaking that she INVENTED this and no one else can touch it. Ok, cool, go build on that. Use that fantastic creativity and groundbreaking thinking and move on to your next project, leave us in no doubt that you're the amazing mind that you believe yourself to be.

But she won't, because she knows herself that it's all bluster and bullshit.

I could totally see, now that she's claiming this big feminist place, her saying there's space for her to do a new project and she could even pitch it as WATTBA 2: The next stage of feminist learnings, now you've read FG's book and her own. Where she could go into more depth and introduce more thinking rather than doing a colouring book. But I have to say, I had WATTBA because I was following her after a big break up and I never thought it was particularly feminist? I thought it was more what she was attacking FG for, a guide about not getting lost in romance and dating and defining yourself as an individual.

champagnemami99 said:

Who's actually reading chideras harry-potter-length-miscroscopic stories?

Totally shocking what she is saying about Munroe, what she says never fails to amaze me.

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It’s a LOT isn’t it, I wish she’d do Microsoft PowerPoint 101 on this biopic I just can’t get interested in the substance of it cos it’s so dense. I’m probs just thick. But 3 bullet points per slide in a lovely clear font, arrange thematically.

I too don’t see anything wrong with what aja or munroe have said, I had only heard of them through this situation so I have no background on either but from my point of view I feel they tried to not get involved and let it die down naturally but unfortunately have both been pushed to the point of needing to say something. If aja has been personally affected by CE then I don’t see why she should have to sugarcoat any response she gives.

Re BMM, I wonder if they rejected the donation from FG too hastily and without knowing all of the facts. I feel they may have thought this looked better for them to stand with CE and that people may look at them negatively for receiving a donation from FG given the claims against her. I wonder if they now regret that?

Hey! Thanks for responding!

elttat said:

I'd have got legal advice and then followed up with legal action if advised that I had a case.

If told I didn't have a case, I'd release a statement saying what I thought - pinning it everywhere: ig, twitter etc, and then move on but remain bitter haha

As frustrating as it is - like you I've been vilified and gaslit by others but I've kept it moving and never made a scene on social media (I've made a few comments but in a very matter of fact way)

I saw a post the other day about someone who'd essentially been fucked over by her business partner. She made a long statement outlining what happened and left it at that. The business partner completely ignored it and carried on as if nothing was said and the OP hasn't said anything further.

RE SF's friends... from what I can see, one of them has publicly spoken out in support of her a couple of times. But she's not doing it all day everyday. They probably have told her to take a break (early on at least) but I can see that being ignored tbh

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I really like the idea of throwing some casual shade. I think that's a pretty good way to handle things

I saw that happened with bgf. I wonder if you're talking about the same thing. I saw the post on instagram and thought it was handled with grace but I really felt for her for not being able to get any sense of justice from the situation.

and you're probably right ab the friends. I was gonna say I can't imagine anyone pushing this far without being propped up with support, but ofc she has got what is essentially a cult following of 340k - which ofc is not at all the same as they don't know her intimately/can't provide real support so can't and are probably blind to her flaws

korma said:

Privately.

Seriously. First, message Florence to see if a settlement could be informally agreed.

If that doesn't work, put in formal complaints to Diving Bell and Octopus.

If that doesn't work, take the matter to a mediator or some other form of alternative dispute resolution.

If that doesn't work, consult a lawyer to assess the strength of a copyright case, and then issue a letter before action, and then, if a settlement STILL hasn't been agreed by that point, move to formal proceedings in court.

Or even if she did want to go the social media route (say if her case isn't strong enough for court but she still feels racism is at play), she could have spoken up on her platform without aggressively tagging every influencer under the sun, using slurs, demanding ridiculous sums of money, encouraging her fans to harass others, defaming Florence's character and comparing her to a racist, or demanding £££ from randomers online who have nothing to do with the situation.

She could have run this campaign in so much more of a positive way, trying to get people to share her book more widely to go against racist algorithms. She'd still make coin, but she wouldn't have burned all her bridges and made herself into such a (#saggy) tit.

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I agree with you both that it definitely should have been handled in the private realm. But, also gotta say I kind of get SF's apprehension ab going to institutions that are likely biased at their foundations. In my experience, with university or health care for example, being an individual with less economic power, without the knowledge and language of how to operate within these systems and/or going against many who are happy to support and uphold the institutional racism within these areas can be so daunting or just not worth it. <-- That's why I was mostly interested in keeping up with this, cz I wanted to see what could be learnt from it.

BUT that being said, she was rallying against an individual (and several other individuals now who had nothing to do with the situation). I guess if she'd directed it all at the publishers and the publishing industry in general it would have been a lot better. Also handling everything through mediators is a way to protect your own peace and your own mental health. And besides, she can afford lawyers and legal support so that was always an option for her.

I've def learnt a lot about what not to do.

Chidera's just contradicted herself here. She acknowledges it's an industry standard for authors to receive 12.5% of the royalties themselves. Yet she's demanding £1m from Florence (i.e. the face value sale price from most retailers (~£12.99) times the number of copies sold (100,000))? That doesn't even factor in manufacturing and distribution costs. Surely by her own logic using a percentage that she has acknowledged is commonly used throughout the industry, the sum demanded should be at most (12.99 × 100,000) x 0.125, which gives £162,375. You can't just make up random figures bc you feel like it

korma said:

Chidera's just contradicted herself here. She acknowledges it's an industry standard for authors to receive 12.5% of the royalties themselves. Yet she's demanding £1m from Florence (i.e. the face value sale price from most retailers (~£12.99) times the number of copies sold (100,000))? That doesn't even factor in manufacturing and distribution costs. Surely by her own logic using a percentage that she has acknowledged is commonly used throughout the industry, the sum demanded should be at most (12.99 × 100,000) x 0.125, which gives £162,375. You can't just make up random figures bc you feel like it

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Saw that and thought the exact same thing

Scrnshotsplz said:

I saw that happened with bgf. I wonder if you're talking about the same thing. I saw the post on instagram and thought it was handled with grace but I really felt for her for not being able to get any sense of justice from the situation.

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that's exactly what I was talking about!!

NC looks so bad for not addressing it at all - peak WM power move. I was super disappointed when I got the latest newsletter and it didn't even acknowledge the work PA had put in or wish her well in the future. totally tasteless.

Will be interesting to see how bgf pans out because loadssss of people from the black community rallied around PA and expressed solidarity... inc some pretty big names.

I don’t know if anyone has considered this as well but a lot of CE’s behaviour shows strong narcissistic tendencies.

Like if you consider it, it ticks all the boxes.
This is not about diagnosing anybody, since that’s the job of professionals. It’s rather about noting that the behaviour is strongly moving in a toxic direction.

- via emedicinehealth.com:

How Is Narcissism Diagnosed?


Narcissistic personality disorder (narcissism) is diagnosed using The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria. A person must meet five of nine of the following traits for a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder.

1. A grandiose sense of self-importance
2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. Belief that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions
4. Requires excessive admiration
5. Has a sense of entitlement
6. Is interpersonally exploitative – takes advantage of others
7. Lacks empathy
8. Envies others or believes others are envious of him or her
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors and attitudes

I just didn’t think there even is such a thing as an original thought, idea, emotion, concept. Everything we think, someone in the past has done so before. I don’t think Florence copied. For those who do think Florence copied CE, CE getting so angry that no one is believing her would be understandable. Publishing houses commission similar books all the time!

Aja doesn’t need to share ALL the DMs to prove she was getting them? If you read her comments people have even said “sorry for sending you that, thanks for enlightening me”, or something to that affect.

Let’s not forget CE originally called for FG to donate to a black charity. BMM said they couldn’t take FG donation. They made 21 year old out to be a monster who steals from black minds and is so misaligned with their charities beliefs that her money is not welcome. Instead they redirected the money to an already rich individual and fuelled her fire/anger.

4K people unfollowed last night ... that’s a shit tonne of people

Lalisa_mb said:

4K people unfollowed last night ... that’s a shit tonne of people

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This is why she’s changing tact and now dropping Florence and going for publishing issues as she should have done from the beginning. She’s just lashing out and completely in denial about her down involvement in baiting these people especially munroe to speak up

elttat said:

NC looks so bad for not addressing it at all - peak WM power move. I was super disappointed when I got the latest newsletter and it didn't even acknowledge the work PA had put in or wish her well in the future. totally tasteless.

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Help a girl out who are these people. this is becoming a game of Cluedo with all these initials.
This drama is such a saga now I can’t keep up.

elttat said:

that's exactly what I was talking about!!

NC looks so bad for not addressing it at all - peak WM power move. I was super disappointed when I got the latest newsletter and it didn't even acknowledge the work PA had put in or wish her well in the future. totally tasteless.

Will be interesting to see how bgf pans out because loadssss of people from the black community rallied around PA and expressed solidarity... inc some pretty big names.

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Sorry if this is a daft question but who is BGF/ NC & PA?

elttat said:

that's exactly what I was talking about!!

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I thought so! I guess it was a much more personal situation and that's probably the most mature way to handle things. Still super crappy though.

Tbh, because I've been following this whole thing with SF and FG for so long, I'm maybe a little desensitised - but it is actually super weird (and really not good for your own mental health and ego) to send an army of attack dogs after someone you used to be friends with. The comparison has really made me realise how crazy this whole thing is! Life lessons all over the place

Crumpet41 said:

Sorry if this is a daft question but who is BGF/ NC & PA?

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Sorry lol not relevant to this whole thing at all! Major digression!

As for white women, do you feel like all they are to her and can ever be is the enemy? Acknowledging white privilege is one thing, but making all ww out to be underhand thieving c*nts is something else entirely. She's alienating her supporters, particularly the very ones she was attempting to "teach" and "enlighten".

I see the attention has been turned onto Aja & Munroe for being black women not supporting another black woman .

All the stories that have been posted in the last 48 hours seem to shifted focus onto her being let down by other black women in her community so they can carry on making £££ through BLM campaigns.

As for working with other publishers in the future? Well good luck with that endeavour Chidera because I’d say you will have some trouble in finding a publisher to work with you after this shit show.

Can someone clarify what Aja said in her video about Chidera that was personal?
I watched it at the time and I don't remember anything