Scott Cawthon Republican Candidates Donations Controversy
Part of a series on Five Nights at Freddy's. [View Related Entries]
Overview
Scott Cawthon Republican Candidates Donations Controversy refers to a controversy that followed the Five Nights at Freddy's fanbase discovering that the game's creator Scott Cawthon made donations to Republican candidates and political action committees during the 2020 U.S. elections. While Cawthon never hid his political and religious views, the discovery led to wider awareness of Cawthon's personal views within the FNaF player base, with many criticizing and attempting to cancel Cawthon over his views and actions. As a part of the controversy, a fictional narrative that YouTuber Markiplier created Five Nights at Freddy's (a reference to the Hatsune Miku Created Minecraft meme) trended on Twitter. In mid-June 2021, Scott Cawthon announced his retirement from making Five Nights at Freddy's games.
Background
On June 10th, 2021, Twitter[12][13] user @beesmygod_ posted screenshots of political donations to Republican candidates and political action committees made by indie game developer and creator of the Five Night's at Freddy's franchise Scott Cawthon in 2020 (tweets no longer available). On the same day, Twitter[1][2] user @IAmGryphooner reposted the screenshots (tweets shown below, left and right). The list included donations to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, Republican senate candidate Mitch McConnel and several other Republican candidates. The posts by @IAmGryphonner received over 4,000 retweets and 8,700 likes and 300 retweets and 2,000 likes in one week.
On the same day, Scott Cawthon trended on Twitter,[3] achieving the number four rank in the early hours on June 11th. On June 10th, multiple Twitter users made posts critical of Cawthon and highlighted the perceived contradiction between the policies supported by the politicians that he donated to and the mean political alignment of Five Nights at Freddy's player base, generally considered inclusive and LGBTQ-friendly, with Five Night's at Freddy's sometimes cited as a furry game.[4]
For example, two hours after the @IAmGryphoneer's tweets, Twitter[5] user @H0RR0RCITY made a tweet that received over 380 retweets and 5,200 likes in one week (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter[6] user @Piemations made a post in which they highlighted the amount of Google search results for "fnaf gay porn" that gained over 3,400 retweets and 20,700 likes (shown below, center). Also on June 10th, Twitter[7] user @CursedModernism wrote that the rapidly spreading knowledge of Cawthon's donations was akin to "9/11 for zoomers," with the tweet gaining over 140 retweets and 1,700 likes (shown below, right).
Developments
"Markiplier Created Five Night's at Freddy's"
On June 11th, 2021, Twitter[8] user @ghoulbur made a tweet in which they stated that YouTuber Markiplier, an avid Five Night's at Freddy's content creator, was the real creator of Five Nights at Freddy's video games. The tweet (shown below, left) referenced the Hatsune Miku Created Minecraft meme and received over 1,100 retweets and 8,400 likes in five days.
Later on the same day, more viral posts that stated that Markiplier and YouTuber MatPat, known for his Five Night's at Freddy's theory videos, created the video game series were posted[9][10] (example shown below, right).
Cawthon's First Response
On June 12th, 2021, Scott Cawthon published a response in which he addressed the claims made against him on Twitter (full response shown below). In the response, Cawthon reaffirmed his full personal support for the LGBTQ+ community and stated that he had no intention of apologizing for "exercising his right, and his duty, as an American citizen, to vote for and support the candidates who he felt could best run the country." Additionally, Cawthon stated that he was doxxed and received threats. The post received over 16,300 upvotes (60 percent upvoted) in the /r/fivenightsatfreddys subreddit[11] in four days.
I'm a republican. I'm a Christian. I'm pro-life. I believe in God. I also believe in equality, and in science, and in common sense. Despite what some may say, all of those things can go together. That's not an apology or promise to change, it's the way it's always been.
If I get cancelled, then I get cancelled. I don't do this for the money anymore; I do it because I enjoy it. If people think I'm doing more harm than good now, then maybe it's better that I get cancelled and retire. […]
I have always loved, and will continue to love, this community and this fanbase, even if someday it doesn't include me anymore.
Cawthon's Retirement
On June 16th, 2021, Scott Cawthon posted a letter on his website[14] in which he announced his retirement from making Five Nights at Freddy's games, writing that the franchise will continue but that he will no longer take part in the process. Cawthon wrote that he will instead focus on making video games for his children and for fun.
Online Reactions
Cawthon's response received mixed reactions on social media, with some users continuing to criticize the game designer over his support of Republican candidates and others praising Cawthon for standing by his personal beliefs (example posts shown below).
Following the news of Cawthon's retirement, hashtag #ThankYouScott trended on Twitter,[15] with fans expressing gratitude to the designer for his work on the franchise.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Twitter – @IAmGryphoneer
[2] Twitter – @IAmGryphoneer
[3] Get Day Trends – Scott Cawthon in United States
[4] Wikifur – Five Nights at Freddy's
[5] Twitter – @H0RR0RCITY
[6] Twitter – @Piemations
[7] Twitter – @Piemations
[9] Twitter – @CR4Sh_K1D
[10] Twitter – @goldenadores_
[11] Reddit – My response, and maybe last post.
[12] Twitter – @beesmygod_
[13] Twitter – @beesmygod_
[14] Scottgames – Scott Cawthon's Retirement Announcement
[15] Twitter – ThankYouScott
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