It’s time to bring the receipts. We have allegations flying all over Twitter and social media that for whatever ignorant reason, peg Dawn Dorland as a needy attention-seeking altruistic white savior. Not the case at all, when you actually take the time to read the court documents. In fact, if you’ve been Team Sonya at all, you’re probably going to embarrass yourself.
Before we get too far, I’d love for you to follow me on Twitter! <Thank you!>
The court documents reveal lying on multiple occasions by both Celeste Ng and Sonya Larson, perjury by Sonya Larson, and utter deceit by Sonya Larson. But let’s not forget; she had help from them all.
Did you know that the common misconception that Sonya Larson made $425 has been debunked? Yeah. She was awarded a $25,000 fellowship largely due to “The Kindest”, which was awarded based on the 1st DRAFT, which included Dawn’s copyrighted letter and content. This isn’t just about that $425. It’s about so much more.
The nerve of all these people. This has gone on for well over five (5) years now.
So let’s drag out the receipts, copies of emails, court filings, responses, group chat texts, and more. Because here, we rely on the facts. Not how things are spun by some elitist popular author and her crew. For your convenience, I have embedded ALL of the documents available to me.
Note 1: I spent 2 years in law school before changing my career focus. I’m not an attorney; I’m simply a person who knows a lot about the law and publishing, and I had wanted to specialize in international copyright. Still a passion.
Seeing this come out, and reading the transcripts combined with court documents made my blood boil. I have zero respect or patience for people who gaslight their targets in order to elevate themselves in the world. Especially people who wield power and are gatekeepers.
Note 2: The “DFD” acronym reference you see in a lot of email correspondence between the Chunky Monkeys stands for “Dawn Fucking Dorland”, made up by the Chunky Monkeys of Boston. It was actually coined by none other than popular writer Celeste Ng, who appears to be the lead bully in this group.
Given the growing shock and anger within the dialysis groups, non-profit organizations and other organ donation-related centers being posted on Facebook of late, it would not surprise me if this case and media attention is a career-ender for Celeste, as well as the rest of her Chunky Monkeys mafia/clan. Simply because this is damaging to the overall effort of organ donation, and these moms and families of people waiting for kidneys or other organs will not stand for this. Their anger is brewing. I have seen this before; these people are on the verge of being cancelled. And rightfully so. Why elevate these kind of people who won’t even issue a public apology for their behavior? These emails, damn. They’re embarrassing not to mention damning. Who in their right mind mocks and bullies a kidney donor?
This document filed illustrates how Sonya Larson has lied – with proof in evidence – TWICE – regarding her actual income from Dawn Dorland’s copyrighted letter and the basis for her story. In addition, it proves (does not just suggest) that Sonya Larson went so far as to lie to her own Chunky Monkeys group about the BBF submission. It also communicates to the court the evident attempt of Sonya Larson to embarrass Dawn for her small number of published works, the intentional delays regarding compelled documents, and the refusal of Sonya Larson’s counsel to provide the requested documents by their respective due dates. Excuses after excuses. Hey, Sonya, you’re the one who brought the lawsuit, why aren’t you on top of this?
This document, filed March 15, 2021, shows that Sonya Larson has failed to provide documentation as requested by the compel request, bad faith conduct on both her part and her attorney’s, insufficient and incomplete documentation, and calls out the fact that the copyright issue has not adequately addressed the original versions of the story, which were plagiarized by Sonya Larson. Sonya is also cited as having hidden content from discovery process as part of the document requests.
Of note is Exhibit E, which contains an email correspondence to Chunky Monkey members such as co-founder Adam Stumacher and Calvin Hennick, where Sonya Larson references having used “Dawn” as her character’s name.
“Well, the character was named Dawn, in an earlier draft, but I don’t think anyone who’s not on this email thread knows that.”
This implies intentional infliction of pain and embarrassment on the part of Sonya. Sonya also mentions #AmFucked. Gee, I wonder why.
Exhibit F: Sonya realizes she has fucked up, and attempts to have the audible version of the story re-recorded in some parts.
Exhibit G: Last line. “So her name was Dawn.”
Exhibit H: Completely messed up, decency-lacking email exchange with Chunky Monkeys members, justifying their actions of support, as well as the plagiarism.
Exhibit K: A vomit-inducing email by Becky Tuch, a member of the Chunky Monkeys. You hope Dawn gets the backlash she deserves, Becky? Really? For trying to protect her work after dealing with Sonya Larson’s lies? I think it’s your turn, Becky, for some well-deserved backlash for your awful emails and supporting a plagiarist. Take your DFD and shove it, Becky.
Exhibit L: Debbie from the BBF nails it to Sonya. Stop having your friends contact us. And PS, you owe us money for wrongly submitting your book with an active claim against it and costing us unnecessary printing fees as a result of having to cancel.
Exhibit M: Jennifer De Leon and Debbie email exchange, where Jennifer (Chunky Monkeys) obviously doesn’t “get it” that plagiarism charges are no joke, and tries to pass it off as a white savior complex. Debbie (thank God for people like her) shuts that shit down quick and emails her back. It’s an uncomfortable email, but an important one.
Exhibit Q: More chat transcript with Sonya, giggling with her group. Alison Murphy suggests she weaponize the race card.
I will be including additional court documents below in the days to come. All of this requires a lot of careful reading, reflection, and to ensure the motives and intents are aligned with the dated actions. So please bear with me on this; keep checking back for more details.
I will also have the cropped up screenshots of some pretty jaw-dropping group chats from the Chunky Monkeys I think you’ll agree, are pretty deplorable
This is a prime example that when you sue someone, you’re going to have to provide proof, and some of that proof is going to be tainted with morally-corrupt group text chats from Slack or other places. Like Facebook, included.
Sonya couldn’t even be civil at a writing conference that she herself invited Dawn Dorland to attend and teach at. They were both employed by GrubStreet, per my knowledge and understanding. Turns out, Alison Murphy, one of the GrubStreet / Chunky Monkeys members, was involved in “investigating” the HR claim. This was a blatant conflict of interest, and GrubStreet should be placed on notice for this with regards to handling of an official work-related employee complaint.
This illustrates the Boston Globe’s issue with the copying aspect of “The Letter”, and why it may have wanted to help the BBF avoid a copyright / intellectual property lawsuit if they proceeded with publication and distribution of “The Kindest”. But then, Sonya Larson decides to sue Dawn Dorland.
Here’s a point I want to make – any business or organization involved in publishing helps each other out when there’s danger lurking. It’s the appropriate and professional thing to do, and is quite commonplace.
Note here that this lawsuit filed by Sonya Larson compelled Dawn to file a counterclaim of copyright infringement. A classic, “fuck around, and find out” moment.
Time to take notes, friend. Sonya Larson received a $25,000 national Endowment of the Arts award won in part due to The Kindest. Sonya lied; claimed her only profits from The Kindest was $300 from ASF and $125 from Audible.
This is where things get interesting, because Sonya Larson’s team wants to start deposing Dawn Dorland prior to all documents being submitted for discovery. This is a shady attempt, and one often used to delay proceedings.
Sonya Larson’s team tries to pursue needless documentation of Dawn’s writing career, and material outside of the scope of the lawsuit. Again, another ridiculous, unnecessary and shady move by the Larson team.
Here’s a great example of a mean-girl chat being held by author/writer Alison Murphy and Sonya Larson, who proceed to mock Dawn and how she signs her emails. Lest we not forget the original version of the story used Dawn’s real name and portrayed her as a white savior kidney donor.
This is a screenshot of a Chunky Monkeys chat between Whitney Scharer and Sonya Larson.
Here’s a video of how Dawn inspired other donors to help others, and what the Chunky Monkeys where laughing at. Honestly.
Finally, here’s a video of Dawn, being a spokesperson and advocate for becoming a living donor.
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