‘Fault In Our Stars’ Novelist John Green Hits Out At Paedophilia Allegations, Sorry For Using ‘R’ Word In ‘Paper Towns’

“The Fault In Our Stars” author John Green has lashed out at suggestions he is a paedophile. The 37-year-old bestselling novelist also apologised for using the “r” word in “Paper Towns.”

In a lengthy post on his Tumblr account on Thursday, Green responded to a user’s post that alleged he is a “creep who panders to teenage girls so that he can amass some weird cult-like following.” The post went on to claim Green goes out of his way to make girls feel important and desirable, which the user thought was “weird.”

Green, who has been an active Tumblr user, denied the allegation, berating his accusers of trivialising paedophilia abuse just because they did not like his work. “Throwing that kind of accusation around is sick and libellous and most importantly damages the discourse around the actual sexual abuse of children,” he wrote.

He acknowledged, though, that he cannot use Tumblr as he had been using it since 2011. As he observed, not only is his life as a famous author different now, the social media site’s community and the world are different as well.

He later on added that it is counter-productive to send hate to the people who implied he is a paedophile. He asked his followers not to abuse anyone.

The next day, Green addressed another important issue on his Twitter account. When a fan expressed her disappointment with the author’s use of the word “retarded” in his book “Paper Towns,” he owned up to his mistake.

The word appears during after scene in which the main character, Quentin Jacobsen, and his neighbour Margo go on an all-night adventure together. One character says, “Sometimes he’s so retarded that he becomes kind of brilliant.” The book was published in 2008.

The fan said that while she was offended with the word, she is still a fan of the book. Green promised he will never use that word in his work again. The offensive term is also not used in the film adaptation of the book.

“Paper Towns” film stars Nat Wolf as Q and Cara Delevingne as Margo. It will be released in the U.S. on July 24.

Contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au