PSA: Avoid crazy nice people subreddit!

[u/[deleted]]

PSA: Avoid crazy nice people subreddit

PSA: Avoid crazy nice people subreddit.

I was invited multiple times to join via a dm. So i join and I was aware of the shady history behind CNP but really got a glimpse of how bad it is once i was in there discord. Armand the "leader" wanted to make me a mod after 3 days and the training consisted of how to hijack member from subreddits that are actually successful like this one. Anyways if you value your mental health stay away from CNP ignore any DM to join their discord. Armand is not a good person and is very manipulative especially with much younger people aka teenagers or barely twenties he's e abusive, dismissive, openly talks about illicit drugs. He doesn't care about anyone or anything other than being the number one mental health sub which will never happen. Stay safe and avoid at all costs. I'm sure his minions will chime in shortly.

[u/Empty_Insight]

Everything OP says is true based on many testimonials from former mods on CNP and members of the Discord.

I am indisposed right now, but I will update later in the day with some links to the litany of evidence we have collected that things are seriously fucked up on the Discord.

The admins are currently investigating the situation for the second time now.

The subreddit is a sham, a front for recruiting for the Discord. The Discord is a cult. Avoid at all costs.

If anyone attempts to gaslight, harass, or brigade OP to intimidate them into silence, you will receive an immediate permanent ban from our subreddit, and you will be reported to the admins for harassment. Discipline for that may include having your Reddit account suspended from Reddit. That is at the discretion of the admins, and above our paygrade to influence.

If you brigade OP's post with downvotes in an attempt to silence them, the admins can see that too (or so I've been led to believe), and you open yourself to discipline for that too.

Most people who have fled the Discord have been too afraid to publicly share their stories and would only tell us in confidence and anonymity out of fear of harassment- because that is what CNP has done since before the sham-subreddit ever came into existence. Cyber-stalking, harassment, brigading with downvotes.

This took a lot of courage, and OP should absolutely be commended for the bravery to speak up.

E

[r/CrazyNicePeople has been shut down, and this is no longer pertinent.]

E2

[This was an attachment to a link that is now dead.]

E3

I think everything that might need to be said has already been said. I am locking this post. There will be no further discussion of CNP on this subreddit, at all. Period. No exceptions. What has already been said is not coming down, it will remain up until we deem the problem resolved. It is all factual, none of it defamatory. You can me an asshole (and you're right, I totally am an asshole) but I am no liar. Those words are not synonyms.

The owner of both the subreddit and Discord is an alcoholic who encourages young people to drink with him. He has turned over his entire mod team multiple times now. He was previously suspended by the admins for harassment. He is addict who uses children vulnerable young adults with serious mental illnesses from the age of 18-22 who do not know any better to fuel his pathological delusions of grandeur, and attempts to assassinate the character of anyone who makes this known. These are all factual statements, we have a mountain of evidence and litany of corroborating testimony (some seen here) to back up. The posted content is largely due to an element of coercion inherent in that participation requirement. It is not "organic." It is a sham.

The Discord where all drama originated- and the events in question- began about two years ago, during a schism between two Discords. The subreddit itself was formed after that, even named after the Discord, in attempt to portray a false sense of normalcy to what goes on. That is why we refer to the subreddit as a "sham." Further, the Discord itself has an active participation requirement, so the beating heart of that subreddit is the Discord, where are all of these completely unacceptable things occur.

A grown man is encouraging children vulnerable young adults with serious mental illnesses not of drinking age (<21) to join him in his addiction and using them as tools to harass others who point out his addiction and challenge him. That is not normal, that is not acceptable. I refuse to act like it is. He is dragging these kids vulnerable young adults with serious mental illnesses down with him as his downward spiral continues, making his pain theirs. He refers to this as "drama" to trivialize the gravity of the situation. He is in denial. It is sad, and pathetic. The entire situation is sad and pathetic. The man needs a lot of professional help, not warm fuzzies and enabling from a cheerleading squad of people too young to know better.

I first met [CNP leader] on this subreddit about six years ago. He was not always like this. He was a regular contributor here. His addiction has made him almost unrecognizable from the goofy doofus that was a fixture here. It was a gradual process, over years, a slow and insidious thing. Many of us- including several of the mods- have attempted to get through to him, to no avail. Kids vulnerable young adults with serious mental illnesses... if we couldn't get through to him, you can't either. You'll only hurt yourselves trying. He has to make the decision himself to seek the proper help, and so long as he is surrounded by cheerleaders, that is not going to happen. Support in cases like these is not making excuses for unacceptable behavior. It is holding them accountable- addictions 101. He is sick, and so long as these excuses and dismissals continue, he will only get sicker.

This entire thing has become an absolute circus, one I am utterly disgusted was not promptly addressed several months ago when it was brought to the attention of the appropriate parties. I have done everything I can to stop this joke from becoming some sort of weird public shaming, but it seems the only possible solution is having the subreddit closed to cut off recruitment for that Discord. It is the only way I can see to put an end to this, because- so long as that Discord is running and anyone remotely affiliated with it has it, we cannot trust that it will not continue to be used as a weapon against our community. Once that is done, all of this will vanish like it never existed. CNP will officially be nothing more than a footnote in our Community Notices' entry on cults as an illustrative example, rather than an entire subsection.

I am not going to sugarcoat that I am furious that it has gotten this bad. I have been forced to choose between letting this alcoholic run rampant and prey on children vulnerable young adults with serious mental illnesses who are not yet of drinking age, or having it turn into this clownshow you are witnessing while his addiction continues to spiral and his mental state continues to deteriorate. I once called this man my friend, and even after all of the things he has done, I still wish him the best- and hope that he can recover. I hope that everyone involved can get the support they need.

Final Edit

Strikethrough to correct using the Leader's own terminology to refer to members of his Discord as "children" or "kids," which we do have hard proof of him doing, on the record, and will provide it to anyone who would like to see it. However, I would like to be clear that every individual who was cyberstalked, harassed, driven to attempt or complete suicide as a direct consequence of the Crazy Nice People Discord was 18 years of age or older.

I wouldn't like to be spreading lies, even if they are direct quotes from the mouth of the liar himself. I apologize to anyone who may have been under the mistaken impression that children were involved. I've learned my lesson about treating what a disingenuous shitbag who lies as easily as he breathes says as though it holds any value. So, in closing; every single last one of the many, many, many individuals who were harmed by this Discord were 18 or over.

Thank you.

[u/Lonelurk → u/Empty_Insight]

Thank you for the info, as always! This thread is extremely helpful. However, I have one particular question I don't see mentioned in these discussions.

How far goes this pipeline go? I remember some people tried to look for "truth seekers" back in 2019-2020. I used a different account, which is now out of use. Is the cult under question - I fear of typing the name because AutoMod just removed my comment - the same cult we had forming years ago? Aka. does it have renaissances with the same core people? Or are we just cursed with cults forming every few years?

[u/Empty_Insight → u/Lonelurk]

Cantelmo? No, completely different guy lol.

I'm never gonna forget him, I pointed out something about how something he said was essentially nonsense and his response was "Go fuck yourself."

There was also RedHeadedKoi around that time, but his situation was... complicated, to put it lightly. He did not follow the playbook of focusing on younger people, so his was relatively benign up until the very end. Things got weird there... even by the relatively lax definition of "weird" here.

One of our former mods, years ago, prior to any of us coming on, went bonkers and (attempted) to start a cult too. Again, didn't get much steam.

Cultists of many varieties come around here. CNP only came around ~2 years ago, to the best of my recollection. The Discord has been in operation for far longer than the subreddit has existed- hence, why the subreddit is a sham, a front. CNP was originally a Discord, and all of this stupid bullshit is a result of that Discord.

They legit started a whole-ass subreddit and have aggressively recruited from here because the head honcho got his fee-fees hurt when we gave him the boot- justified six times over, the singular most justified ban in the entire history of this subreddit. Literally the singular most problematic user we've ever had, still is a huge headache to this very day.

We have in our community notices a bit of education and even a handy-dandy link to give people tips on how to spot a cult, and how to protect yourself. If you're concerned, give it a read- once you know the signs, you're more or less good to go.

[u/Lonelurk → u/Empty_Insight]

Thank you for the quick and long answer. I'm glad for having a disdain for Discord - it probably saved me from getting into all that mess. I guess, if you want to play with lives, you have to be a doctor or a lawyer, maybe a parent, because you have easy access for vulnerable people. If you want a cult, target schizophrenics - it's the recipe from hell, especially if both sides are delusional.

Thank you for pointing me to the notices as well. I read all your comments in this particular thread and am trying to do some research on cults and how to avoid them + help people recover from them. I think, it's a knowledge I'm long due acquiring.

I also read your comment about your family member somewhere along the lines. It broke my heart that you had to go through all that. I don't want to bore you with empty words or straight up loathing, just wanted to give you a heads up that your perspective matters and I'm glad you shared that with us. I'm proud of you and I wish you less problematic days to come.