Reading: What the fuck are we doing with Jacob Geller
By: Lola Sebastian (2026) related tags: #YTAbusers
This is a response to Flora Merigold's trash apologia (my opinion). In all likelihood, I will prefer this way more.
In the days that followed, there was an outpouring of grief and rage on social media. A lot of it was directed not at Geller, but at women who “dared” to be upset that Geller had raped someone and hidden this fact, collaborating frequently with feminist creators and survivors of sexual violence. A lot of this outrage was under the guise of “rehabilitative” and “restorative justice” – terms I'd never seen used so often on social media before now. I saw very few posts advocating for Jacob Geller to be exiled and many speculative, open-ended quandaries like “when does punishment end?”
And... wow, this also further confirms precisely what I said about Jacob's behaviours. He knowingly collaborated with people on projects, including projects about sexual assault and abuse, without disclosing this fact. I don't know why people are doing apologia for him about this. (Or, I do know why, but I still think they shouldn't because they're, well... Wrong.)
Though, I envy Lola Sebastian here for not having seen “rehabilitative” or “restorative justice” used in this manner at this frequency. She should come hang out in anarchist anti-abuse spaces and watch it happen on the weekly. (Or not. No one deserves this.)
Those grappling with the news that their colleague had committed sexual assault were scolded, told that they shouldn't speak “for the victim” – as if conveying anger that they'd collaborated with a rapist was speaking for the victim. Vocal disgust or displeasure was labeled “punitive.” Geller's situation was compared to trans women being “pedojacketed.” Mantras appeared like “for every perfect victim there must be a perfect perpetrator.” Many of Geller's fans “weighed in” and “piped up” – they felt his apology was adequate, they'd forgiven him, and they were sure he'd changed as a person.
And this is precisely part of the issue because people keep weaponising the lack of knowledge about the victim (including Jacob, who included her in his statement to remind people that these records were shared without her permission (and “without knowledge of their wishes”)... while also saying he doesn't “want to provide any more potentially identifying details.”
Which, btw, is just fucking bizarre. Even under the most positive light of stating that she wasn't part of this release, it's absurd. He grew a public platform knowing that this could come to light one day, and he did so without ever making it clear that he had sexually assaulted someone. Even though this was released without her permission (he says—does he know? do they keep in touch? has she reached out to complain to him?), the fault lies primarily with him. The release of this information wouldn't have been so fraught if he'd actually held himself accountable.
Or just didn't have a public platform.
He's also weaponising the lack of knowledge about the victim as a means to distance himself in his own apology, even if he “means well” by saying it. His choices made this possible; he is to blame, and he thought this would never become public knowledge.
So I ask this with complete sincerity: who exactly is capitalizing on the news that Jacob Geller is an admitted rapist? Many if not most content creators I know right now are dealing with quite the opposite: we're losing subscribers and patrons because we associated with Geller, or even just because we shared an employer or make video essays, period.
Ah, so it's not just me asking who is capitalising on Geller admitting to raping someone. (I'm being snarky, but Flora Merigold honestly didn't answer than in any capacity.)
The rest of this paragraph is spot-on. Merigold's use of Primetime (the movie about To Catch a Predator) to compare Geller's actual admitted behaviour was appalling.
But again, I have to ask: where exactly in his statement did Geller describe any material efforts?
I had the exact same question! Again, the rest of this paragraph is spot-on, too. Especially:
Merigold pontificates about “what happens after” but the answer is clear: for the last decade since his Title IX investigation, Jacob Geller became a successful video game YouTuber. That is “what happened after.” Nor did Geller disclose what he'd done publicly until video game forum users found incontrovertible evidence. How is that “taking accountability?” What he posted is a merely response to the evidence. When did Geller realize that rape is wrong? When did the horror of having violated another human being's basic autonomy dawn on him? When did he realize that women are people too?
Sebastian does give rhetorical examples of things that Geller could've done, but I would've probably kept him away from those spaces. She's not wrong that he's provided nothing materially. He could've, like I said in my critique of Merigold's piece, responded in the way that Christian Picciolini did; he could go and do the hard work of working with men to change men, and he doesn't have to do that via a public platform like YouTube.
Restorative justice should focus on what happened, who was harmed, and what is needed to repair that harm. Geller's colleagues expressing that they feel betrayed for having been used to prop up one man's dishonest public image is not at all contrary to tenets of “restorative justice.” I don't know why Geller agreed to collaborate with me given who I am and what I write about, but there is something insidious about his fans insisting that they've been “hurt” or “betrayed” by Geller personally, whilst his former colleagues are merely being “carceral.”
Again, Sebastian's not wrong. And it was her work in particular that I was thinking of for collaborations because I remembered the James Franco videos. She's now burdened with having to deal with the problems that she didn't create, all because of Geller's refusal to let people know who he was and what he did.
Who is she shadow boxing here? Is it not shitty to call such non-punishment “carceral” when Geller admitted to rape – usually considered a felony, a severe criminal offense – and wasn't incarcerated?
All I can say to this is: YEP. I said the comparison was insulting, along with the fact that many people who are incarcerated are serving time for shit that shouldn't ever put them there. (Granted, ACAB and fire to the prisons.) I wonder if Merigold would have the same fire in her heart for the actual carcerality enacted upon the Prairieland Nine. Doubtful, honestly.
I'm just disturbed by the fact that every thinkpiece I've seen “about Geller's victim” has actually focused on the author's own “conflicted” feelings about consuming Geller's content post-cancellation. “I now have to reckon with my relationship with him and his work, despite its indissoluble influence on my own thinking,” Merigold writes, in the same article claiming to want to prioritize the feelings of the victim above all else.
Good, glad to see someone else noticed that shit. “Think about the victim” while completely writing her out is entirely bizarre and is nothing short of writing apologia.
... Overall, good piece that's worth reading in its entirety, and I don't say that because we agree. (There are some things I'm not super on board with, but the larger point is something I definitely agree with. I also agree with Sebastian that, if I found out someone I knew very closely had raped someone? They would not be very close to me for long.)