Assistant Principal Removed for Authoring Pepe the Frog Children's Book

An assistant principal was removed from his position at the Rodriguez Middle School in Denton, Texas after it was discovered he wrote a children's book starring the controversial internet meme character Pepe the Frog.

In Eric Hauser's 54-page illustrated story, titled The Adventures of Pepe and Pede, the anthropomorphic frog protagonist Pepe and his centipede friend Pede work together to rid their local swamp of the antagonist Alkah, a bearded alligator who has brought chaos to the entire Wishington Farm. To vanquish their deceitful foe, Pepe and Pede throw magical buds from their farm's Honesty Tree, apparently red-pilling the alligator to death.

Various internet memes associated with Trump supporters are also referenced in the book, including a cliff named “Kek” and a dedication to Hauser's "fellow centipedes," a nickname for users on the /r/The_Donald subreddit.

Following a backlash on social media from those who called his book's protagonist a symbol of white supremacy, the Denton school district issued a statement announcing that Hauser would be reassigned due to his work becoming a "distraction."

In an interview with Dallas Observer, Hauser denied having racist or white supremacist views, claiming he found Pepe to simply be a "lovable character" and that he had been labeled racist "in an attempt to silence conservatives."

While initially self-published, the book was purchased by Post Hill Press after it began trending online. In an interview with the Associated Press, Post Hill Press publisher Anthony Ziccardi expressed surprise about the backlash to the book, blaming online efforts to "turn these characters into something they're not."

In the fallout of this bizarre controversy, one question remains unanswered: What effect will this have on the Rare Pepe market?

• More Comments