A British journalist has reported he was assaulted by Canadian trans activist and artist Sophie Labelle after attempting to confront him on his history of using children as reference models for fetish art.
On Sunday, February 26, transgender artist Sophie Labelle held an event at the Cockatoo Club, a cocktails and cabaret venue catering to Manchester’s gay community. Labelle was set to speak about trans activism as well as his comic book franchise, Assigned Male.
Labelle’s visit was announced by the club through their Twitter, with the comment section rapidly being closed as dozens of concerned netizens replied to the post and tried to alert the venue to Labelle’s disturbing history with “diaper kink.”
Labelle first came under widespread controversy in February of 2021 after it was discovered that he had quietly been producing and distributing diaper fetish art on secret social media accounts, as well as on furry fetish site “FurAffinity.”
WafflesArt, Labelle’s now-deleted alternate online persona, was dedicated to the “adult baby/diaper lifestyle” and “diaper fur” fetish which published Labelle’s drawings of anthropomorphic baby animal characters modeling in diapers, onesies, and behaving like toddlers.
Labelle was also found to have been following many pornographic models who role-played as babies for sexual arousal. One such account followed by Labelle was of a model who called himself “Little Boy” and posted sexually suggestive photos and videos of himself in diapers and surrounded by children’s toys. The model would mimic masturbation while wearing a diaper, utilizing baby oil and lotion to lubricate himself.
But possibly the most disturbing revelation was the discovery that Labelle had been using photos of real babies as reference models for his fetish art.
After backlash grew on social media, Labelle admitted to the art but asserted that he “refused to be shamed” for it, and also proclaimed himself a member of the “little” community — a person who role-plays as a child during sexual encounters. Labelle connected his fetish to his transgender identity.
Despite his history, Labelle has been regularly invited to speak amongst children, including at Canadian elementary schools. He’s also been visiting different venues internationally as part of his comic book tour, with the United Kingdom having been his latest destination.
Attending the February 26 event in Manchester on behalf of independent media outlet Valiant News, reporter Jack Hadfield says his intention was to question Labelle on his history, but, seeing that there were children present, delayed his line of questioning until the end of the event.
Hadfield reported that Labelle made a number of inappropriate jokes during the event, despite the presence of children.
At one point, the artist laughed about “invading” single-sex spaces. “They usually say like it’s a full-time thing but for most of us it’s a hobby. After a hard day of grooming children… I like to relax by going to the mall and waiting in line for the women’s restroom.”
Labelle also called Member of Parliament Miriam Cates the MP for “penis-town,” after the politician had criticized the Sheffield City Council for organizing a child-friendly event with Labelle at the central library. Cates had expressed concern over Labelle’s child-adjacent fetishes.
Following the talk, Hadfield entered the line to speak with Labelle one-on-one. He obliged Labelle’s request to stand aside and let him finish his book sales first, and waited until he and Labelle were virtually the only ones left in the room. In his report for Valiant News, Hadfield reports that Labelle became increasingly hostile as he attempted to ask his questions, but ultimately admitted to using photos of real children to draw his kink art.
Sensing tension, Hadfield attempted to leave the venue but Labelle pursued him, snatching his arm and demanding to see his photo identification. Hadfield managed to break free and darted down the street, but reports that Labelle was soon “on top” of him, grabbing at him and attempting to take direct photos of his face.
Hadfield explained that Labelle, who is physically larger than he is, tried to steal his notebook and made an effort to wrangle it away from him. Hadfield shouted for help during the altercation, and a female bystander near a bus stop witnessing the incident threatened to call the police for help, recognizing that Labelle was attacking Hadfield.
Facing the possibility of police presence, Labelle released Hadfield’s notebook but continued to film him closely, yelling at Hadfield and accusing him of “harassment.” The female bystander once again came to Hadfield’s defense, at which point Labelle turned his attention towards her and called her “transphobic.”
The female witness provided Hadfield with a statement confirming what had happened, the audio of which was uploaded to Twitter.
Labelle eventually left the scene after the witness threatened to call the police. I interviewed her just after the controversial French-Canadian walked away, and she recounted the incident in her own words
— Jack Hadfield 🇬🇧 (@JackHadders) March 2, 2023
(3/4) pic.twitter.com/1O5gQYg8qg
“I was just waiting at the bus stop. This man, blatantly a man as well, because all of that strength was just physically attacking you, and trying to take your work off you, grabbing you, pushing you about, dragging you down the street, and I’m not standing for that,” the witness says. “Anyone that uses things like that as an excuse. We’ve all been through shit, we’ve all got mental health issues in this day and age. There’s no excuse to use that to inflict violence on people. I don’t care if I’m called transphobic. I’m not going to stand there, I don’t even know which gender they see themselves as. I saw you being attacked, and I was going to step in.”
Speaking to Reduxx, Hadfield praises the bystander who stepped in to both defend him and offer her testimony to confirm the events as she had seen them, noting that the woman had been entirely unaware of the circumstances surrounding the attack.
“I was extremely thankful to the witness who was brave enough to stand up for me during the incident. She didn’t know any of the background, but just saw one human being attacking another,” Hadfield says. “After I explained the whole story, she was disgusted by Labelle’s behavior.”
Hadfield tells Reduxx he is currently weighing filing a police report, but has some concerns that police will instead make him a target due to his politics.
“I am probably going to seek expert advice before I come down one way or the other, but obviously that combined with the fact that I have seen a lot of support adds to the equation on reporting it.”
Hadfield explained he had not been anticipating a physical altercation to break out when he chose to cover the event, and that he had been surprised at the sudden escalation of events.
“I was extremely surprised that I was attacked for simply asking tough questions. I now worry for the safety of anyone else, be they journalist or otherwise, who dares challenge someone like Labelle publicly.”
Following the incident, Labelle posted to his Facebook that he had been “harassed” by someone on the “far-right” who was “pretending to be a journalist” at his event. He also suggested he was planning on reporting Hadfield for harassment to police, though it is unclear if he has done so.
Labelle will be completing his UK tour with two final stops on March 4, one at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, and another at the Catherine Wheel Pub in Norwich. Following the end of the tour, Labelle will be going on to visit Australia for similar events, and has stated he is planning on returning to the UK in June.
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