It's perhaps the biggest scandal in geek culture since it turned out that Harry Knowles the founder of Ain't It Cool didn't just look like the kind of guy you wouldn't want any of your female loved ones around for their own safety. Amidst a series of allegations coming out more and more members of the long-time staple of the YouTube content creation stable, are announcing they must part ways with the channel. In many ways, it's very similar to the case of Ain't It Cool's implosion in light of the discovery that Harry Knowles was evidently a creepy perv with some really rapey tendencies. Channel Awesome has had its ups and downs over the years (mostly downs for most of the last decade) but in the shadow of this sordid affair, the online network seems likely to go the way of the Space Shuttle Columbia and burn up on re-entry.
https://thegoldwater.com/news/8721-Harry-Knowles-Hit-Hard
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Me: I don't care about e-drama<br><br>"There's a giant document of everyone talking about how fucked up Doug Walker and channel awesome is"<br><br>Me: <a href="https://t.co/SRThDKUMWw">pic.twitter.com/SRThDKUMWw</a></p>— Falcom Brand Ambassador (@mrfeelswildride) <a href="https://twitter.com/mrfeelswildride/status/980897369901252609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Now, I wasn't even really a fan of Nostalgia Critic/Channel Awesome. The entirety of their whole routine was basically based on making fun of terrible movies and other bad media, but not in the clever and humorous way that, say Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or their current incarnation of Rifftrax) but in such a floundering artless style that you really had to wonder how he and the rest of the crew from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, the peanut gallery that would become the "powerhouse" behind Channel Awesome, ever ended up making literal millions off of their clueless, rambling "commentary" and embarrassing attempts at humor. I have a feeling it is actually in part because of the low production value and lack of any astounding (or even appreciable for that matter) levels of talent. It was the kind of crap that the viewers back home could watch and think, "Hey, I could do this too, and this guy is making not only a living but a comfortable living at it."
Doug/TGWTG/Nostalgia Critic has been around on YouTube for about as long as there's been such a thing as YouTube. In the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2009 alone Doug Walker $53,000 for his online shows. $32,000 of that just for Nostalgia Critic. Wow, speaking of rambling and clueless commentary, back to the topic at hand. Point is, Doug Walker was and is a part of internet history. At his height, he was being interviewed and featured in the likes of the New York Times, Chicago Sun, Entrepreneur magazine, and others. As of July of 2009, the That Guy With The Glasses site (the brainchild of Mike Michaud, the CEO of Channel Awesome) garnered over $10K in ad revenue and over $11K in online donations. Doug Walker, BKA Nostalgia Critic AKA That Guy With The Glasses/TGWTG seemed to have an even brighter future ahead of him, baffling inexplicable as it all was.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DarksydePhil is suspended.<br>Chris Chan was arrested.<br>Channel Awesome is crumbling. <br>Spoony is at large.<br>Wings is flying to Mexico soon.<br>Blockbuster Buster is he messiah.<br><br>Oh, and the Irate Gamer is coming back.<br><br>And it's only March! <a href="https://t.co/jyXTXnzJ5m">pic.twitter.com/jyXTXnzJ5m</a></p>— The Plague (@ThePlagueTND) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePlagueTND/status/979914985764786177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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But, things would begin to slide downhill long before the troubling allegations became too widely known to ignore anymore. The Channel Awesome saga is like some ultra-nerdy version of Behind the Music. As of today, multiple members of the staff are stepping down as the allegations of "ineptitude" of management and star talent alike (namely Mike, Doug and Doug's brother Rob) being the least troubling.
Monday the bombshell dropped, a publicly viewable Google doc shared at Twitter that featured just under a half a dozen former staff whose complaints ran the gamut. Some ex-employees had issues with the team's "management" prowess and communication skills (or lack, thereof). Turns out Channel Awesome were just as talented at administrating a business as they were at coming up with creative, original content. (Read: Not at all). In addition to that though were the claims of verbal abuse, bullying, sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. Apart from becoming played out (happens with one trick ponies, go fig) Mike, Doug, and Rob had a lack of "soft skills" that just doesn't go well with running a business and administrating staff. Evidently, this behavior even extended to the fan base at times though, too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Announcement: I have left Channel Awesome. <a href="https://t.co/iBHKVP3uP4">https://t.co/iBHKVP3uP4</a></p>— Mathew Buck (@FB_BMB) <a href="https://twitter.com/FB_BMB/status/981173620734091264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Linkara fleeing the sinking ship that is Channel Awesome <a href="https://t.co/n7Y4ZQtgH9">pic.twitter.com/n7Y4ZQtgH9</a></p>— ヽ༼ຈຈ༽_•︻┻═━一 一━═┻︻•_༼ຈຈ༽ ﾉ (@IAmASockpuppet) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmASockpuppet/status/977856827642826752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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On Monday, an extensive Google doc was published on Twitter that contains more than 20 accounts from former contributors, with accusations ranging from poor communication and management skills to verbal abuse and bullying to sexual misconduct and harassment. The document also includes anonymous accounts of misconduct against a former producer who was not named. A document of fan interactions was published as well. Despite the site raking in money hand over fist at its height and even resorting to using Indie-Go-Go to crowdfund around $90k for a show with the same production values as your below average cable access show, producer Allison Pregler explains the way she was reimbursed for the hours she put in:
<quote>“Our payment was exposure."</quote>
You know how much "respect of your peers and appreciation from fans" it takes to buy a loaf of bread at the grocery store? Try paying your rent with left-over accolades and you might end up with an <i>actual</i> case of exposure.
Now being the class act that they are, of course "the hacks formerly known as The Guy With The Glasses" have owned up to their mistakes and want to make it right. Ha, just kidding. The only reason they even acknowledged it at all was to "clear the air" as the rumblings from the fan base have become too great to ignore.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have longer thoughts but basically, Channel Awesome's non-apology is hilariously off the mark and backfired on them spectacularly. I'm watching their subscribers fall in real time. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChangeTheChannel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChangeTheChannel</a> <a href="https://t.co/yon7f4Kdin">pic.twitter.com/yon7f4Kdin</a></p>— Allison Pregler 📼 (@Obscurus_Lupa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Obscurus_Lupa/status/981056155853230085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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This story is still in development, considering the slow but steady decline the guys have been on since the early 2010's it's likely to be as ugly as it is protracted. I for one will be grabbing my popcorn…
Source:
https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/channel-awesome-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
Twitter: #ChangeTheChannel #ChannelAwesome #SocialBlade
(I for one will be grabbing my popcorn.)
You type like a fag and your shits all fucked up.