For more than a decade now I've been documenting every bit of Kenny's fuckery over at Not Another Dime! (for Ken Whitman). Now my name was overtly attached to that blog, but the only people, until today, that didn't know I was over there either didn't care, hadn't read my 2015 guests posts here at the Tavern, or were Ken "Whit" Whitman.
Seriously, it wasn't too effing hard to figure out:
- I literally mentioned a "not another dime" campaign in an early post, just before forming the blog.
- I reserved his D20 Entertainment LLC domain from the state of Kentucky AFTER looking for his company from all 50 Secretary of State offices.
- I followed up with the hotel, in person, where Ken had allegedly reserved a room for his Kickstarter movies premieres at GenCon. Why? Because my wife had given him an extra $300 specifically for the after-party.
- Getting information direct from LinkeIn lets a user know who's looked at their profile.
I'll be 110% honest that I was beyond pissed with Ken's bullshit during the KoDT:LAS Kickstarter era. He had fucked over so, so many of my friends. The lies upon lies upon lies....it got old quick. NAD was really intended to be as neutral as possible and simply document everything possible. I feel like my neutrality was, at best, questionable at the onset, but after a decade of uncovering all this....for lack of a better term...shit, I/we (I do have help.....) have difficulty even pretending to be neutral on this singular blog topic.
I think I've been quite clear that 1) NAD is for educational purposes, 2) We're no longer neutral, 3) NAD is a "jumping off" point to enable the reader to make their own informed decision about Mr. Whitman's history and business character, and 4) Don't believe us, follow the links you can and make your own decision.
Thing is, getting information is part of the problem....
You can still find some information regarding Ken's Rapid POD days, and if you talk to some of the old TSR folks you might get some details of Ken's actions. It is difficult to do and really, not many people are going to spend a lot of time doing a "deep dive" for information that you could use as a primary source. Ken has spent a LOT of effort to cover up his tracks. Delete, delete, attack, diminish, seek pity (remember the CTE excuses).....but the biggest single enabling factor for Ken, now Whit, to be able to begin his scams (my personal, legally protected opinion) anew: Time.
People have moved out of the hobby and new people have moved in. There are more gamers now than there have been in the past, and Kickstarter is still a thing.
Not Another Dime! (for Ken Whitman) exists to document as much as possible what Ken "Whit" Whitman has tried to get away with. Is it an attempt to "hound him" so he cannot make a living, of course not, but so he cannot scam people again, most definitely. The "people" I/we initially cared about was specifically the gaming community.
There is a LOT of history with this man and so far it looks like instead of working on his shortcomings and making good on past promises to the gaming community he's just rebranded himself with a new name and found himself a new community. Now it looks like maybe he's trying yet another community, but time will tell.
I'll admit that after 10 years of all this I'm not even upset at Kenny any more, well not really. Not Another Dime! (for Ken Whitman) is more of a pain these days, but it's a necessary pain, so I post when I get a tip (part of the whole "we" on NAD) and I make it a point to periodically poke about to see what's new.
Why out myself now?
Last night I poked around a bit and the deets I really wanted were on LinkedIn. I didn't want to create a fake account or ask someone else to log in on my behalf, so I'm pretty sure that's how Kenny figured it out. This afternoon I got an email from NAD's blog contact form:
I have to assume this came from Ken. I cannot prove it easily and I don't care enough to even try. Many times in the past Ken has threatened people with lawsuits and calls to the "FBI". Kind of comical actually, but I also have to assume that this message was intended to be a chilling effect on NAD.
THIS is why I'm saying "Thank You" to Mr. Whitman. By trying to intimidate me by letting me know that you know who I am you're actually freeing me. I don't have to try and discreetly hunt for crumbs of information to investigate. I don't have to take extra steps to insulate myself from my work. I just don't have to care about a whole extra level of bullshit anymore. Anyone who wants to share can now do so more readily....
It isn't hard to find me, never was, but since you've started this route of discovery, feel free to send the FBI my way......at least I know that everything I've ever posted is within my 1st Amendment rights and not libel or slander......since the truth is the best defense against either and I've been keeping receipts.
