Former Harry Potter Podcast Host Harasses Female Writer Online

When Buzzfeed writer Grace Spelman was a 14-year-old Harry Potter fan, she added Ben Schoen, a host of a Harry Potter-themed podcast called Mugglecast, on Facebook. Though they had never spoken to each other during the nine years of being Facebook friends, Schoen first reached out to Spelman almost two weeks ago with a seemingly normal message. After later tweets he sent to Spelman went unanswered, he sent her a Facebook message, which she replied to saying she had a boyfriend.

This is when things took a disturbing turn. According to the Daily Dot, Schoen began to tweet angry messages at Spelman accusing her of “ghosting” and claimed he was about to offer her a “job at a company in NY that pays at least double” before she blocked him on Facebook.

Still not accepting the fact that Spelman wasn’t going to reply to his messages, Schoen sent her an email where he said he was “so angry and offended” he wrote a “1500 word diatribe” putting Spelman in her place. Great. In the same email, he asks for a second chance and for her to realize that he could be “an asset” to Spelman.

Surprisingly, Schoen was also a co-founder of a women’s website called Feminspire, but is no longer involved. Some of his former colleagues from both Feminspire and Mugglecast commented on the situation and said that they no longer have contact with Schoen due to various issues.

Schoen later defended himself in a statement to the Daily Dot.

“I have done more for the cause of advancing women’s rights than any of the people who are criticizing me. This so-called crisis is manufactured by Ms. Spelman as a way to increase her profile as a social justice warrior. I grew up without a father and I spent years protecting my mother from scummy men and dealing with all of the difficulties that come with not having a male role model. Am I rough around the edges? Sure. Am I a predator? Absolutely not. If you read the email I sent Ms. Spelman it was not threatening and was filled with apologies. I even offered to connect her with people who could help her career. I had no interest in continuing contact with her afterwards since I was offended by the manner in which she ended our interaction. I represent no threat to her and her painting me into a villain and sending all of her sycophants after me is incredibly disappointing and immature. My attorney tells me I have a case already but I’m not going to go that route unless Ms. Spelman continues to attempt to unjustly tarnish my image.”