The Dubious Ethics of “Real-Person Fiction”
When fanfic writers start putting real celebrities in steamy situations, what’s the law to do?
Click around a bit on the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own, and you’ll notice that the name “Jonathan” pops up a lot. He’s always finding himself in steamy, compromising situations. For instance:
AJ stares at him, that look of awe and love in his eyes as he touches Jonathan like he’s something delicate, something to be treasured. So different from how anyone else touches him. He doesn’t dwell on that thought. He gets so little time with AJ to begin with, there was no need to ruin it with thoughts of other people. He watches AJ undress, admiring his strong and lean form as it’s revealed to him.
This passage might seem like a typical selection of steamy erotica (and trust me, it gets steamier) except for one thing: Jonathan and AJ are real people. This story is about an encounter between Jonathan Scott, co-host of HGTV’s real estate show Property Brothers, and AJ Styles, the WWE wrestler. The author is Chloe, a 19-year-old from Houston, and her piece is just one of hundreds on the site that puts Jonathan Scott — or his brother Drew, or sometimes both of them, together — in sexual, bizarre, or very clearly unrealistic situations.
