Who is Joe Arden? Booktok drama explored as concerning allegations against audiobook narrator surface

Voice actor Joe Arden has gotten himself into hot waters amongst the TikTok Book community, which is best known as BookTok. The celebrated author is now facing accusations of predatory behavior and aggression towards fans. As the allegations continued to make their rounds across social media platforms, he took to his official Instagram account to address them.

For those uninitiated, Joe Arden is not only a voice actor but also the CEO of Blue Nose Audio, a publishing company that helps authors create audiobooks. He is also the author of The Chameleon Effect.

Recently, a Tailgram post started making its rounds online. In the same, many discussed Joe Arden’s predatory behavior, his “fake, forward-facing feminism,” manipulation, and more.

It is worth noting that the Tailgram post had been deleted at the time of writing this article. Nonetheless, TikTok user @alexintheabstract took to the video-sharing platform to share screenshots of the same.

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Allegations against Joe Arden explored as Tailgram screenshots go viral

Tailgram user ‘No longer protecting him’ revealed that Joe Arden was following her Instagram activities and also proceeded to build an online relationship with her following a meeting. Their interactions led to her opening up about her divorce to him, which subsequently led to them having “spicy” conversations.

During one of their conversations, he reportedly “threw a fit” after she found something he said during “s*xting” hilarious. He also reportedly acted “hostile” around her when she did not respond in the way he wished she would. She described the experience as “a master class in gaslighting.”

Tailgram user ‘FakeFeminist’ revealed that Joe Arden once fought against equal pay in an audio recording project. It was revealed that Arden pushed back on equal pay and believed that the female voice actor did not deserve the same pay as he did since “he was the person who would be selling the book.” The Tailgram user also revealed that the female voice actor was putting in more hours for the project in reality, so she deserved equal pay.

Tailgram user ‘No more BS’ revealed that they had a similar experience as ‘No longer protecting him.’ It was revealed that Joe Arden had allegedly “manipulated” and “guilt tripped” the Tailgram user into sending him photos and videos.

Another Tailgram user ‘Tired’ shared that Arden allegedly sent them “threatening business emails” after they refused to work with them. He also allegedly attempted to sabotage their business opportunities with other male narrators. Arden also allegedly lied to them about deadlines and would cancel them if they got hold of better people to work with.

Tailgram user ‘Beyond disappointed’ revealed that Joe Arden had turned extremely aggressive and spoke in an “angry tone” after those in charge of an event he attended did not let him do as he pleased. They revealed, “His holier than thou behavior left a sour taste in my mouth.”

Tailgram user ‘Women supporting women’ also shared their experience of how Joe Arden acted boastfully when they approached him with a project. They revealed that Arden said during a phone conversation:

“Do you know who I am? I’m Joe Arden. Doesn’t that name sound familiar?”

They also revealed that Arden demanded $10,000 more than industry standards when they expressed that they wanted to work with his Blue Nose Audio company for a project.

Tailgram user ‘Tired of this BS’ revealed in a post that they once saw Joe Arden:

“yell at someone (an event assistant) to the point where she left crying… In my opinion, he likes to present a “feminist” front to seem like an ally, but in actuality, he is using that as a ruse to draw people in, particularly women, in.”

Tailgram user ‘MyClientsHaveBeenUsed’ also alleged that the contracts created by Arden’s Blue Nose Studio “were predatory at best. Unethical at worst.”

Tailgram user ‘GotTheick’ claimed that during one of their meeting with Arden, he allegedly whispered s*x scenes in her ear while speaking about a project he was working on. Speaking about the same, the platform user said:

“I was visibly uncomfortable and he visible did not care. He is gross and his wife deserved so much better.”

Many continued to share their allegations against Arden on TikTok and the r/RomanceBooks subreddit at the time of writing this article.

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Joe Arden takes to Instagram to address the allegations

Arden took to his official Instagram account to tell his 26.8K followers that he denies the accusations that many have anonymously made online. He also added:

“I’ve never engaged in non-consensual, coercive exchanges with anyone. To those who criticized aspects of my character, I am a flawed person, and am always trying to learn and grow. I appreciate your grace and I continue to listen and work to improve.”

Arden also claimed that he was “working through the ramifications privately.”