Controversy
While many authors have taken pen names for various reasons (anonymity, protection of privacy), the persona that Albert and her friends created raised criticism from those who took her novels to be autobiographical, though the works were published as fiction.
Knoop's personal appearances presented LeRoy's public with a glimpse of the object of their interest. Albert has been criticized for allegedly calling for attention to JT LeRoy by associating the character with HIV, but there is no evidence that HIV was significant in LeRoy's public persona. As Knoop explained, the ongoing HIV-positive storyline was deleted at the time that she entered the picture as a physical LeRoy-impersonator. In a September, 2008 interview, Knoop recalled the change in storyline to Gavin Gavin Browning of the Village Voice:
Browning: "There were inconsistencies. In the late '90s, HIV was part of JT's story. But that got dropped. Were you ever challenged about that?" Knoop: "No. I think that HIV was dropped right around the time I started impersonating him. HIV wasn't part of the story that I was playing, but there were little details. I would wear long sleeves, and there were scars. HIV was part of the trajectory, and then it was just dropped."Read more about this topic: JT LeRoy
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