Ask round about Lloyd Evans and his reputation. It is unfortunately a polarising question that will produce a myriad of responses. You will invariably get “the best activist ever” to the “most worthless piece of scum imaginable”. It’s absolutely insane to think of how many different responses one can get about a 43 year old British man living in Zagreb, Croatia. The content of your response also identifies which camp you are in.
One feature of his personality has been agreed upon by all parties from diehard supporters, neutral parties, people who don’t want to hear about him to detractors. Simply put: Lloyd has a prickly personality and will snap at people he feels have insulted him directly or indirectly. And he will snap at people who didn’t praise him enough or held to the 0.01% they did not agree with him about. Being active on social media, Lloyd has made liberal use of the blocking feature those platforms allow for.
In this excerpt of a FB PM, Lloyd has taken issue with the recipient’s like of a post Marc Latham had made about him which was critical of his Russian JW ban stance. Back up a second here. How exactly would Lloyd know that there was a post from Marc Latham (whom he had blocked) and that it was liked by this particular individual? One doesn’t need to put on a tinfoil hat to conclude that Lloyd has a burner account that is used for spying, and upon seeing this post, clicked on the names of people who liked it to get a full list. The example used here was actually a boilerplate defriend message he sent to everyone who was his friend who had liked that post. This was all for the crime of liking a post that was critical of him and not only that, but taking the initiate to notify them that they were now defriended and in most cases blocked altogether. The fact that he felt he had to inform them why he wasn’t their FB friend anymore was the cherry on top that illustrate the methods of control and complete obedience Lloyd employs in his social media presence.
Ex JW historian and writer Robert Crompton was interviewed by Lloyd in 2015 and was counted as being among his supporters. Crompton was even interviewed as one of Lloyd’s first “celebrity” guests. A Conversation with Robert Crompton (Author, 50 years an exJW!) - YouTube Even that was not enough to save him from being unceremoniously defriended for liking a post that Lloyd was not in agreement with. There was no explanation given, he just found himself on the outside looking in. There are a multitude of instances like this. It isn’t really just a matter or Lloyd being free to choose who is friends with. That of course is his exclusive right. But the manner with which he yields this power so as to make a powerful point. The point in the case being that Robert Crompton is NOT a friend of mine. I do not endorse him or his views. For someone with a large friend list as Lloyd does, he effectively weaponises it as a warning to detract potential dissidents.
Merely one day after the livestream, longtime Evans supporter and financial backer Vincent Deporter made the fatal mistake of speaking frankly with Lloyd and offering him advice he did not wish to accept. Deporter was a comic book illustrator for Sponge Bob and designed cartoonish drawings of Lloyd to place on his t-shirts free of charge. As seen here in the first tweet, Deporter started off in a kindly fashion by reiterating how much of a supporter he had been in the past and still was. However, he did note that he felt that the livestream was a mistake, “Trumpian” in his attempts to justify himself and confirmed all the criticism he had up to this point been refusing to consider regarding Lloyd.
Lloyd's response was true to form and utterly predictable. First, he corrects Vince regarding the true nature of the livestream. He was true in his assertion that the livestream was an “apology video”. It most certainly wasn’t, nor was any apology ever offered other than the blanket one offered to his wife. Lloyd’s gaslighting was practically on cue though. For offering an opinion that the livestream was a bad idea and his justification lacking, this longtime Evans supporter and donor was treated to the same dose of how Lloyd treats everyone else. With dismissal and barely disguised contempt, this longtime friendship was thus terminated. Again, the immediate clapback coming from Lloyd was that information gleaned from the livestream itself was indeed “defamation” and his friend fooled.
Much to Deporter’s credit and patience with a friend he was trying to gently counsel, he gently brushes Lloyd’s declaration they were not “true” friends again aside and continues with his affirmations of support and continued friendship. He then returns to his counsel that the video itself was damning in itself and should probably be removed if Lloyd wanted to move past this. A poignant point is then made, which was completely lost on its intended recipient. Deporter was not one to be swayed by others and this comment was not made off-the-cuff. For Vincent had always been one of Lloyd’s staunch defenders online, sticking close by him when he knew that violating the copyright of Crisis of Conscience was wrong. He came to the false conclusion many had often come to with Lloyd – The good he does outweighs anything bad. In this matter, a longtime friend was warning him that this new information regarding his infidelities and activities in Thailand was difficult, if not impossible to defend. This was particularly valid when considering the criticism received over the years, and he was genuinely concerned that Lloyd was validating it all by taking no responsibility at all and justifying his behaviour.
This of course was no big revelation for people who had been long critical of Lloyd’s behaviour and his refusal to admit he was wrong. Indeed it was people like Deporter who had been shouting down the few who dared to speak up to and hold him accountable for his actions. One would think that such advice offered as kindly as possible from a longtime friend and financial backer would have given him pause. What follows next is what can only be described as vintage Lloyd.
Refusing to acknowledge or engage with Deporter regarding the points already made, Lloyd shifts the focus in another direction entirely and insists that this was a matter between him and his wife. Who could watch that livestream and still insist that this was still a matter between husband and wife after all that was voluntarily revealed? The time for that came and went, especially when Lloyd invoked his wife by name to tell the public she did not sexually satisfy him. He then wants to have it both ways, using his wife’s name to somehow salvage his, and then retreat behind the veil of privacy soon afterwards. At length Deporter agreed with his request for privacy, but held to the notion that Lloyd owed an explanation to his supporters, particularly financial ones.
Hammering home his overall point, Deporter correctly identified that what Lloyd considers as “defamation”, he actually admitted to in the livestream. It’s nearly impossible to identify what alleged defamation that persuaded his friend to take his viewpoint because Lloyd has steadfastly refused to identify what exactly was defamatory. Did Lloyd cheat on his with sex workers? Yes, this was admitted to in the livestream but does not mention where he saw them. Later he does admit to seeing sex workers there, but then backs off that comment to say he was dating one. He placed no judgment on him, but asked that he consider for a minute what he just admitted to and how that would look to his paying supporters. The trip to Thailand was confirmed, and this brings up the issue of funding. Though Thailand is a less expensive spot than similar tropical locations, it still costs a good deal of money when considering airline tickets, hotels, restaurants, excursions, and as admitted later, “dates” with sex workers. Since Lloyd is a full-time activist and works no other job, it is practically impossible to make the claim that donation money thought to have gone to cover his time and expenses were blown on an impulsive holiday to spite his wife and cheat on her. It was a very bad look and Lloyd could no longer hide behind the issue of privacy after telling everyone exactly what he was involved in. It’s textbook gaslighting to then insist that all what his audience then thought of him was pure defamation. Still, Deporter pledged his loyalty to his friend and ally.
This wasn’t good enough for Lloyd. He felt he had to set his friend straight on something he didn’t even say. Notice how Lloyd clumsily conflates the two issues – what he admitted on the livestream and what Kim Silvio alleged. Deporter was speaking about what he said on the livestream alone, which confirmed most of what Kim Silvio was saying as far as the basic facts of the matter go. This is how Lloyd gaslights people, by giving them a false perception that they are indeed wrong and thus guilty of defamation when all they were going by was what was admitted on the livestream. As if the gaslighting wasn’t bad enough, there was a stern reprimand at the end about “that’s not what friends do”. For listening to his own words and telling him that he really messed up and should clarify things to donors? This was an extremely odd exchange even by Lloyd’s standards, yet it perfectly encapsulates how detached from reality and deluded he really is.
Lloyd meant every word about Deporter and them not being true friends anymore. Immediately after that last exchange, Deporter was blocked by his longtime friend and collaborator. Deporter hits the nail on the head with his assessment that his kind advice was responded to with a strawman argument using something he never believed or said? For the record, he was only going by what was admitted to on the livestream and not anything Kim Silvio or others were saying about Lloyd. For listening to Lloyd’s own words and offering an opinion, this was viewed as an attack and thus a reason for a friendship which lasted about a decade to end. Per Deporter’s own account, he was only trying to help and by his calm reasoning and non-combative words, even declarations of friendship he was attacked, falsely accused of listening to gossip and then unceremoniously blocked.
Vincent Deporter and Lloyd Evans never renewed their friendship. Deporter passed away nearly eight months later on 27 September 2022. No apology or condolences were offered by Lloyd and it’s sad that all those years of friendship were discarded over his inability to take constructive advice and mild criticism.
In 2017, Lloyd embarked on his book promotion tour for The Reluctant Apostate. Hillary Jean was an online friend of his, exchanging FB PMs and was known well enough for him to come up and quickly identify her at a signing in San Francisco. Though the question itself was more out of curiosity than anything, Lloyd immediately dismissed it as rude. This was not an isolated incident. 
When he attended his first book signing at Reason Café in London, Lloyd had his own section of the cafe reserved for him to sign books at no cost. However, a cover charge was collected attendees despite being against company policy to collect money upon entry. This was also an incredibly presumptuous thing to do with a first time self-published author. Even famous writers like J.K. Rowling do not charge cover fees for signing. The only requirement is that you purchase a book at the site.
Organiser Lydia Finch was donating her time and efforts for free to help Lloyd get out his book and promote it. As seen on the flyer, she gave introductory remarks. Before the event began, she asked Lloyd if she could take a peek at his book since she was there to promote it. Lloyd brusquely informed her that she must purchase a copy like everyone else to read snippets. Despite her organizing the event and promoting it for free, he still couldn’t bear to have her look at his book before going up to promote it. Everything must be paid for and there would be no exceptions regardless of the level of their involvement with his project. Similar diva like behaviour has been reported all along Lloyd’s book tour, which was extensive and even involved a car being rented for his family of three to make the drive from Los Angeles to Seattle. At one point Lloyd openly wondered if he's run out of pens to sign with due to what he expected would be a celebrity style event. The book tour was a moderate success, with crowds of 25 to 50 people seeing him at cafes across the United States and Canada. But people were starting to see the real Lloyd Evans up close and in person and the vain and self-indulgent personality he possessed.
It’s difficult to say how Lloyd Evans came to be such a prickly person when challenged. His book was naturally written from his point of view, but there are a few clues. His family shuns him, but it appeared they had plenty of reasons to outside of his leaving the JW religion. His sister does not speak to him even though she is inactive and is not counted as among Jehovah’s Witnesses. It also appears that Lloyd had a lot of enemies when he was a JW, particularly an elder he called “Geoffrey” and two elders in the Sisak congregation who openly questions his business practices and treatment of his wife. Much more can be said about this, but we’ll leave the following screenshots of interactions that Lloyd has had with the exJW public for your own interpretation. Consider first Marc Latham’s own account when pondering what extent people can be pushed to by a rude and obnoxious bully.
