23
Channel Awesome Implosion / #ChangeTheChannel

Channel Awesome Implosion / #ChangeTheChannel

Part of a series on Channel Awesome / That Guy With The Glasses. [View Related Entries]

Updated Oct 08, 2020 at 03:24AM EDT by shevyrolet.

Added Apr 03, 2018 at 01:46PM EDT by Adam.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

Overview

Channel Awesome Implosion refers to damaging stories spread about the business practices of Channel Awesome, a network of YouTube content creators whose most prominent member is The Nostalgia Critic. In March of 2018, previous contributors to the network began describing their experiences within the network, particularly with the management, namely Mike Michaud, Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic), and his brother, Rob Walker. Massive backlash to the channel ensued, as well as an apology from Channel Awesome that many dismissed as insufficient.

Background

On March 13th, 2018, content creator and former Channel Awesome member @Obscura_Lupa, real name Allison Pregler,[1] responded to a fan on Twitter asking about her reaction to a recent Nostalgia Critic review about IT. In her response, she listed some of her issues with Channel Awesome (shown below).


Allison Pregler @Obscurus Lupa Follow l'd ask him, but he was there when I was kicked off CA for speaking up and he did nothing, leeched $90k off of fans, and treated me like crap. Also his reviews are bad. RowanBuchanan-Brown @buchanan br Replying to@ BTW, the opening to the Nostalgia Critic's review of IT was pretty dark. Why did he eavtheshoog Even Stephen King never esth ar.

In a long ensuing thread, other former members of the network, including PushinUpRoses and marzgirl, contributed their own memories of the poor business practices of the company. The list of grievances and poor practices became very long and included claims that the company once fired an employee for trying to take time off for a surgery and withheld her severance package until she signed a contract that she wouldn't work for another media company for 2-4 years,[2] forcing two contributors to do a rape scene[3] (script shown below), general sexual harassment that was ignored until it became violent,[4] grifting $90,000 from fans for a failed game show,[5] contributors passing out during shooting because the sets did not provide water, and many more.


She tries running for the door but rushes with lightning speed and closes it. He approaches her as she backs up against the all. He holds up his hand which now has a Sharp device shooting out of his wrist. MECHAKARA Resistance. . .is comical. He approaches iith the device. Her eyes widen ln Fear. 107 INT. USS EXIT STRATEGY UPSTAIRS HALLWAY Film Brain approaches the door, mug still in hand FILM BRAIN Nostalgia Chick? Linkara? There's a meeting downstairs Loud, suggestive thuds beat through the walls. Power drill noises and squeaks ensue, punctuated by Chick's squeals and moanS. CHICK (OFF-SCREEN) No! Oh! Ungh! Ah! Oh! No! Don't put it there! Ungh! MECHAKARA (OFF-SCREEN) Do not resist! Submit! Submit! An embarrassed shock overcomes Film Brain's face. FILM BRAIN I'll just... give you two a moment. He valks away with a shocked face. CHICK (OFF-SCREEN) Oh my God you're hard as metal! INT. USS EXIT STRATEGY CRITICS OFFICE The crew is assembled. Film Brain returns, horrified SAD PANDA Film Brain, you look as if you heard two people having sex. FILM BRAIN How would you know that? SAD PANDA I'm French, we know CRITIC ell? Are they coming? FILM BRAIN Boy that's a loaded question. . . CRITIC What? FILM BRAIN I mean no, they're getting busy- KEEPING busywith heterosexual-- EXTRACURRICULAR- asstivities - ACTIVITIES!

The entire list of grievances lobbed at Channel Awesome was documented by Tumblr user wendynerdwrites[6] (the post with the full list is embedded below).


https://wendynerdwrites.tumblr.com/post/172243183723/things-that-channel-awesomes-management-has

A massive Google Document was compiled detailing the complaints from multiple previous contributors.[7] A condensed version was created to summarize the details in the original document.[8]

Developments

As the news spread, several threads were created which documented and featured commentary on the latest developments. Threads on NeoGAF,[9] Freakin Awesome Network,[10] and Bluegatr,[11] referred to the controversy as an "implosion" of Channel Awesome. The hashtag #ChangeTheChannel spread on Twitter as people discussed the various grievances lobbed at the network.[12] Contributor Linkara announced they would be leaving the network after the controversy spread.[15] On March 27th, 2018, YouTuber SwizzlyBubbles posted an 18-minute long video summarizing the controversy (shown below).



On April 2nd, Channel Awesome tweeted a statement regarding the controversy (shown below).[13] The original creators of the #ChangeTheChannel movement found the statement insufficient. Plegler called the statement a "non-apology" and highlighted a line where the statement said "we're sorry you felt that way."[14]


We wanted to take a moment to clear the air and acknowledge some of the recent public concerns raised by content creators previously associated with Channel Awesome. Channel Awesome is an organization that respects our producer partners and strives to create the best possible environment for everyone. We welcome a diverse community of people joining together to create great videos. For the people who have spoken out about past instances they deemed hurtful, or unprofessional, we sincerely regret you felt that way. Our priority has always been to help content partners succeed and provide people a vehicle to follow their dreams. When the need arose, we have distanced ourselves from people who were particularly callous, letting go of significant stakeholders in the interest of keeping our mission at the forefront. We appreciate and hear the frustrations of past producers. We're actively taking internal steps to better improve communication with our producers so they can be focused on putting out their great content. And we're open to constructive criticism-the kind that can help us become even better and serve the needs of our community. But criticism that isn't a means to a productive end does little for either the party criticizing or those in the line of fire. Our focus now is on moving forward with the wonderful team we have and all our dedicated followers. We want to make our collective future the best it possibly can be. We thank our content creators, team, and fans for truly making our Channel Awesome. Here's to creating something even better in the future.

Guru Larry Takeover

On April 12th, 2018, Channel Awesome contributor Larry Bundy Jr. (a.k.a. Guru Larry) tweeted that he was the only remaining member of Channel Awesome (shown below).[16] The following day, Redditor wandercamp submitted the tweet to /r/thespoonyexperiment,[17] claiming Bundy is "only on the site ironically."


Jarrett Ardell @NoahClue Apr 12 If anything good has come out of #ChangeTheChannel, its watching @LarryBundyJr completely revel in being the last of the old guard still featured on the site. That's just hilarious. Larry Bundy Jr @LarryBundyJr Replying to @NoahClue ITS JUST ME LEFT, F------ NOTICE ME NOW SENPAI!!!

Meanwhile, Bundy posted a photoshopped picture of the Channel Awesome page with the header updated with the tagline "Home of Guru Larry and… Guru Larry" to Facebook[18] (shown below, left). Meanwhile, Bundy updated his Twitter profile to describe himself as "Champion of the first annual Channel Awesome Hunger Games" (shown below, right).


HOME OF GURU LARRY AND... GURU LARRY HOME GURU LARRY SHOWSFORUMS LARRYS BLOG THE GURU STORE CONTACT LOGIN/REGISTER 5FAMOUS VDEOGAME TRILOGIES THAT WERE NEVER COMPLETED Your name or email address: Password: Forgot your password? Log in ty lgedn Sign up now! SUBSCRIBE TO LARRYS CHANNEL Tweets 16.1K480 Following Tweets Tweets Larry Bundy Jr @LarryBundyJr Pinned Tweet Larry Bundy Jr It's finally live!! Champion of the first annual Channel Awesome Hunger Games. Pity me with your dollars here: patreon.com/Larry London, UK θ YouTube.com/Larry Joined December 2009

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

[1] Twitter – @Obscurus_Lupa

[2] Twitter – @gookygox

[3] Twitter – @Obscurus_Lupa

[4] Twitter – PushinUpRoses

[5] Twitter – @Obscurus_Lupa

[6] Tumblr – wendynerdwrites

[7] Google Documents – Not So Awesome

[8] Google Documents – Not So Awesome

[9] NeoGAF – The implosion of Channel Awesome

[10] Freakin Awesome Network – The Channel Awesome Implosion

[11] Channel Awesome…. Implosion

[12] Twitter – #ChangeTheChannel

[13] Twitter – Channel Awesome

[14] Twitter – @Obscura_Lupa

[15] Atopthefourthwall – I Have Left Channel Awesome

[16] Twitter – LarryBundyJr

[17] Reddit – Larry Bundy whose only on the site ironically

[18] Facebook – Larry Bundy

Related Entries 3 total

Recent Videos 33 total

Recent Images 66 total


+ Add a Comment

Comments (636)


Display Comments

Add a Comment


Namaste! You must login or signup first!