Dylan Hafertepen: Allegations, Lawsuits, and Arrest

Dylan Hafertepen is a Seattle blogger who built a large online following as “Noodles and Beef” within the gay Dom/sub and pup play community, and whose public life unraveled after his partner Jack Chapman, who had legally changed his name to Tank Hafertepen, died in October 2018 from silicone embolism syndrome caused by liquid silicone injections into his genitals. Chapman’s death produced a wrongful death lawsuit in King County, Washington, a defamation lawsuit Hafertepen filed in Australia against Network Ten, and reporting that described a household governed by a written contract of total submission. No criminal charges were ever brought against Hafertepen.

Who Dylan Hafertepen Is

Hafertepen ran the blog NoodlesAndBeef.com, which drew roughly 2.2 million readers, a weekly newsletter with more than 200,000 subscribers, and an Instagram account with over 60,000 followers.¹ He documented his own physical transformation and his relationships with a group of submissive partners he called “pups,” including the body modification practices the household engaged in.

He maintained a polyamorous home in Seattle with multiple submissive partners. They wore padlocked chains meant to signify his ownership and shared matching “Property of Master Dylan” tattoos. Members identified in reporting and later court filings included Chuck Osborn, known as Pup Alpha, along with individuals called Pup Biff and Pup Angus.¹

How Jack Chapman Died

Jack Chapman, a 28-year-old Australian, died on October 15, 2018, in Seattle. He had been admitted with breathing difficulties initially thought to be a routine infection. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was silicone embolism syndrome from a subcutaneous injection of silicone, which triggered pneumonitis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. The manner of death was ruled accidental.¹²

Chapman had once described the person who injected him on Tumblr as “a guy in Sacramento who is a champ,” but he declined to name that person publicly.¹ Liquid silicone injections for cosmetic use are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and carry risks that include infection, tissue death, and systemic embolism.³

In the days after Chapman died, Chuck Osborn, who served as executor of the estate, posted on Facebook that Chapman had died of a “previously undiagnosed lung ailment.” The official death certificate contradicted that account.¹

The Contract and Allegations of Coercive Control

A contract Hafertepen authored for his submissives, which Chapman publicly shared in December 2012, went well beyond typical Dom/sub negotiation. It stated that a pup has “no sense of value or identity outside of that which is given to him by his Master” and that “Master’s word should overwrite a pup’s internal reality.” It required pups to hand over their salary, and it forbade masturbation, television, deodorant, and speaking without permission. Pups were to grovel and kiss Hafertepen’s feet on meeting him.³

The contract also called for pups to cut outside social ties “until the pup is completely socially and emotionally dependent” on the master, and it set out “explicit body goals” for weight, muscle mass, and physical proportions.¹ Former associate Christopher Cragg called the contract “abusive.”³

In early March 2017, Chapman moved out of Hafertepen’s home while Hafertepen was in Japan. He stayed briefly with a friend, Arman Ellis, in Renton, Washington, and had his ownership chain removed. Chapman told friend Tanner Gittens that Hafertepen was “emotionally abusive,” restricted his independent friendships and interests, and had threatened to sue him in small claims court if he spoke about their relationship.³ Hafertepen did file a small claims suit against Chapman in King County District Court on July 21, 2017, seeking $4,787 in alleged unpaid rent. The case was dismissed after Hafertepen failed to appear and could not prove the summons had been personally served.¹

Chapman returned to the household shortly after. He then sent messages to friends apologizing for his earlier criticisms of Hafertepen and calling them “malicious lies.”¹ Friends described Hafertepen’s use of his newsletter to publicly rate his submissives’ trustworthiness, and to frame Chapman’s attempts to leave as lying and spite, as a method of humiliation and control.³

The Earlier Death of Peter Dovak

Chapman’s was not the first silicone-related death tied to Hafertepen’s circle. Peter Dovak, a 30-year-old living in Arlington, Virginia, died on November 15, 2017, from a pulmonary embolism after silicone entered his bloodstream during a fourth injection session. The injections were performed by Joe Quader, a facilities manager for the Orange County, California, Municipal Services Department who had no medical credentials and ran a black-market injection practice.¹

Dovak’s partner, Robert Waltman, told reporters that Dovak sought out Quader based on a recommendation from Hafertepen.³ Dovak paid Quader a total of $3,600 for roughly 1,250 ccs of liquid silicone across several sessions. During the fatal session, Quader allegedly nicked a vein.¹

The Orange City Police Department investigated Quader, with detective Dave Pasino handling the case. Five other men reportedly told police they had been hospitalized after receiving injections from Quader. On September 27, 2018, one day before he was scheduled to be arrested for manslaughter, Quader died by suicide.³

On the day Dovak died, Hafertepen wrote in his newsletter that “free silicone is a very dangerous thing to have in your body” and that “a misplaced injection almost always results in death.” He said he would no longer share information about silicone providers.³ Chapman died less than a year later of the same complication.

Why No Criminal Charges Were Filed

No criminal charges were brought against Hafertepen in connection with Chapman’s death. The Seattle Police Department reviewed the medical file, agreed with the medical examiner’s finding that the death was accidental, and concluded it did not have jurisdiction to open a criminal investigation.² An SPD officer compared the situation to an illegal drug overdose in which an associate encourages the use of a substance that leads to death, saying the department did not view that as a crime.⁴

Robert Waltman, Dovak’s partner, told the Portland Mercury, “If there were any justice in the world, Dylan would be headed for prison.”³

The Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In September 2019, Linda Chapman and Ben Hafertepen, Jack Chapman’s brother, filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in King County, Washington. The named defendants were Dylan Hafertepen and four other members of the household: Daniel Balderas Hafertepen, Charles Osborn, Matthew Scott, and Philip Myers.⁵ The complaint pleaded wrongful death, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. It alleged that Hafertepen “forced” Chapman to inject silicone into his genitals and that the defendants failed to notify Chapman’s family of his hospitalization or death.⁶

Linda Chapman also said that three weeks before his death, her son had signed a will leaving all his assets to Hafertepen, including an inheritance of roughly $200,000 that she said was intended for the medical care of Chapman’s autistic brother.⁷ She retained Seattle attorney Catherine Clark to contest the will and pursue claims against Hafertepen.⁴

The Australian Defamation Lawsuit Against Network Ten

After Chapman’s death, Hafertepen traveled to Australia to return Chapman’s ashes to his family. Linda Chapman had not been told her son was hospitalized or in an induced coma, and she learned of his death only a day after he died.⁸

When Hafertepen arrived at Linda Chapman’s home, a crew from the Australian program The Project was there to film the encounter. Hafertepen later said he believed the cameras were there to cover the wake. On camera, Linda Chapman told him, “I believe with all my heart that you are wholly and solely responsible for my son’s death. I wish you were dead,” and told him to leave.⁹ Hafertepen denied ever injecting silicone into Chapman during the exchange and said he had “forbid him from doing so.” He also said Chapman had asked him not to tell his mother about the hospitalization unless “absolutely necessary.”⁸

The segment, titled Justice for Jack and reported by Hamish Macdonald, aired on November 6, 2018. In November 2019, Hafertepen sued Network Ten for defamation in the Australian Federal Court, arguing the broadcast was “over-sensationalised,” falsely suggested he was responsible for Chapman’s death, and that the network had drawn him onto camera under false pretenses.⁹

The case settled in 2020. Network Ten agreed to publish a clarification stating it “did not mean to suggest Mr Hafertepen had anything to do with that death” and that if anyone took the broadcast to mean that, “Network 10 unreservedly retracts any such suggestion.” The network was also required to write to other outlets that had covered the story, asking them to remove their coverage or add a clarification.¹⁰

Network Ten posted the required clarification at the bottom of its Terms of Use page. On October 12, 2020, Federal Court Justice Anna Katzmann called the placement “cynical” and done in “bad faith,” describing it as an “obscure location” where the statement was “unlikely to be seen by anyone.” She ordered the network to repost the clarification on a main landing page for The Project and to pay legal costs.¹¹¹⁰

Arrest of a BuzzFeed Reporter

The coverage itself became a legal matter. BuzzFeed News reporter Blake Montgomery was arrested on November 4, 2018, while trying to contact Hafertepen at his residence in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Dylan Hafertepen and his husband, Daniel Hafertepen, alleged Montgomery had harassed and stalked them, saying he had sent unsolicited messages by phone, email, and social media over the course of a week and then tried to enter their building and open a side window. Montgomery was held overnight in the King County jail and released on $1,000 bail, facing a potential criminal trespass charge.¹²

The Hafertepens petitioned for restraining orders against Montgomery in King County District Court. Temporary orders were granted, then dismissed on November 19, 2018, after the Hafertepens failed to appear at the hearing.¹³ BuzzFeed’s director of communications called the arrest “outrageous and disproportionate” and the harassment allegations “completely baseless.” The Seattle Police Department referred the arrest to the Office of Police Accountability.¹² The Seattle district attorney’s office declined to prosecute, and the trespass charge was dropped on October 2, 2019.¹⁴

What Happened Afterward

Hafertepen deactivated his Instagram, shut down his newsletter, and replaced the content of NoodlesAndBeef.com with a farewell to Chapman. He wrote, “Tank left a very detailed will I’m determined to fulfill. Then I’m gone.”¹ In a statement published by BuzzFeed, he offered an apology “to those I misled.”¹²

1
The Stranger. Death of a Kinkster
2
Patch. No Inquiry Into Death of Seattle Man in Silicone Injection Scene
3
Portland Mercury. Death of a Kinkster
4
BuzzFeed News. Silicone Genital Injection Death
5
PinkNews. Tank Hafertepen: Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed
6
The Daily Beast. Mom of Tank Hafertepen Files Wrongful Death Claim Against Boyfriends
7
New York Post. Man Dies After Injecting Silicone in Genitals, Mom Blames Sex Cult Master
8
News.com.au. Project Defends Graphic Story on Jack Chapman’s Death
9
BuzzFeed. A Blogger Whose Boyfriend Died From Silicone Genital Injections Is Suing for Defamation
10
News.com.au. Ten Slammed by Judge for Hiding Defamation Statement on Terms of Use Page
11
Sydney Morning Herald. Cynical Network Ten Blasted for Hard-to-Find Defamation Clarification
12
The Stranger. BuzzFeed Slapped With Outrageous Restraining Order and a Night in Jail for Reporting on Noodles and Beef
13
The Stranger. Judge Dismisses Noodles and Beef’s Restraining Order Against BuzzFeed Reporter
14
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. BuzzFeed News Journalist Arrested in Seattle While Asking for Comment