In August 2026, a rumor spread that progressive influencer Dean Withers, a college student in Colorado, faced sexual misconduct allegations.
Online posts accusing Withers made varying claims. One X post said he’d assaulted several men when they were minors. Another user shared a video in which a man claimed Withers was “talking to minors,” referring specifically to one person he described as a young girl. The post accused Withers of “engaging in child grooming behaviors” (archived):
Another post said Withers had “raped a dude.” Meanwhile, several Snopes readers searched the website seeking more information.
The unfounded allegations did not contain any demonstrable evidence to support them. For this reason, we left the claim unrated.
Withers responded publicly to one claim of sexual assault, saying he had received death threats and a visit from local police.
We have reached out to Withers and the Grand Junction Police Department in Colorado, where Withers lives, and will update this report should we receive a response.
On Aug. 17, Withers posted a video in which he denied he had talked to a young girl, saying a TikTok user had fabricated direct messages. In his video, he included a clip in which a young female voice said her photos had been used to impersonate a young girl and accuse Withers (archived):
The profile Withers said was an impersonation (@em.just.emily) contained one post (archived) sharing alleged DMs from a supposed exchange with the progressive influencer. The account’s bio said the user was 18 and the post said “I was 13,” indicating the exchange — if it were real — would have taken place roughly five years ago, when Withers was 16 or 17 (several biographies of the influencer said he was born on Sept. 1, 2004).
As Withers said in his video, there were signs the supposed screenshots were fabricated, including that one showed him to be an unverified TikTok user (he is verified on TikTok) and the fact that the first screenshot did not show the time the first message was sent and the second screenshot did.
Withers included a clip in which someone who sounds like a young woman or girl shares what she says are her photographs, saying they had been misappropriated by the account accusing him of assault, and that she had nothing to do with him. “I am not involved in any of this and I didn’t make any of these videos,” she says. Snopes was unable to identify this person.
In the video, Withers added he had received death threats and that local police had informed him of a bomb threat. We have emailed him asking for details on the story and to direct us to the young girl he cited in his video.
For further reading, Snopes has covered several stories of sexual assault allegations against prominent men, including former U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine.
