BookTok has been credited with launching many author’s careers. Colleen Hoover reached peak popularity when her best-selling novel It Ends With Us (recently adapted as a film surrounded by controversy, thanks to Blake Lively). The active niche TikTok platform has become a highly coveted promotional platform in the publishing industry, which has begun investing heavily in paid partnerships with BookTok’s biggest influencers.
Last week on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the singer brought on Kierra Lewis, the self-appointed “Queen of BookTok,” who boasts 1.6 million followers on TikTok.
Kierra Lewis’ most notable controversy started while promoting a romance novel set in the world of hockey, Pucking Around by Emily Rath. In 2023, Lewis actively platformed the book and her developing interest in the sport — particularly in the Seattle Kraken. It began relatively innocently, with the Kraken organization embracing her popularization of the team by reposting the prolific content she posted about her newfound fandom and flying her out to Seattle to attend games.@kellyclarksonshow #booktok just gained a new member! @Kierra Lewis #fourthwing #kellyclarkson ♬ original sound - Kelly Clarkson Show
Things started to get weird after what followers perceived as Lewis' habitual sexualization of the Seattle Kraken players, most specifically the team’s center, Alex Wennberg (currently playing for the San Jose Sharks). Lewis began showing up to games with signs reading “Krack My Back” and often posting about her crush on Wennberg, dubbing him “BookTok’s Wank Bank” and “BookTok’s Panty Dropper.”
Eventually, Wennberg’s wife took to Instagram to denounce Lewis for having “crossed the line of what it means to fancy someone” into a widespread “predatory and exploiting” online phenomenon. BookTok members accused Lewis of online sexual harassment and the Seattle Kraken erased her content from their social media and distanced the brand from their association with the influencer.
Felicia Wennberg denounces the widespread sexualization of her hockey player husband on BookTok.
Screenshot via Instagram
This year, Lewis was nominated for the annual African Americans on the Move Book Club Award for Literary Activist of the Year. This was a major upset to BookTokers, who have widely criticized Lewis (who is a Black woman) for years for not promoting BIPOC authors and for platforming of the Harry Potter series (due to J.K. Rowling’s stance on transgender issues). The backlash became so prevalent that the organization removed Lewis from their list of nominees.
BookTok is mad at Kelly Clarkson for putting Lewis on a mainstream platform as a representative of the online community. Threads user @iamcaseyrkelley posted: “I think most of booktok has her blocked. She isn’t thought of our discussed until things like this happen [...] Platforming her undermines all the good in the community.”
Post by @iamcaseyrkelleyView on Threads
Another Threads user, @thebookthief28, wrote: “I’m hoping the Kelly Clarkson show does do another segment on booktok and does highlight creators and (indie) authors who do deserve to be highlighted.”
Post by @thebookthief28View on Threads
Clarkson referred to herself as a new member of BookTok on social media, and as such, members of the community hope she has educated herself on the full scope of the community.
We reached out to Kelly Clarkson's representatives and will update this story if we hear back.
