Channel Awesome, Inc. is an American online media production company based in
Lombard,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. The company was created in 2008 by Mike Michaud, Mike Ellis, and Bhargav Dronamraju. Channel Awesome operated the ''That Guy with the Glasses'' website (often abbreviated ''TGWTG'') until late 2014, when it was phased into the ''Channel Awesome'' website. The site is best known for the comedic film review series ''
Nostalgia Critic
''Nostalgia Critic'' is an American review comedy web series created, directed by and starring web comedian Douglas "Doug" Walker. The series initially launched on YouTube on July 3, 2007, before moving to Walker's own site, That Guy with the G ...
'', starring
Doug Walker.
''That Guy with the Glasses'' previously hosted fellow channels by ''Bar Fiesta'', beginning in November 2009, and ''Blistered Thumbs'', beginning in November 2010. Channel Awesome currently hosts a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel of the same name with an emphasis on content produced by Doug Walker and his brother Rob. All of Channel Awesome's content was hosted by
Blip
Blip may refer to:
* Beta-lactamase inhibitor protein
* Blip (website), a defunct web video platform
* Blip.pl, a Polish social networking site
* Blip, a message in the Apache Wave (formerly Google Wave) collaboration platform
* Blip Festival, an ...
or
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
prior to the former's shutdown in August 2015. After a series of scandals, nearly all affiliated creators severed ties with Channel Awesome and departed in April 2018.
Origins
Mike Michaud, Mike Ellis and Bhargav Dronamraju created Channel Awesome after they were laid off from
Circuit City
Circuit City is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After m ...
in 2007. The three discussed the idea of such a company while still employed, but their dismissal was the impetus to put their plans into action. Michaud has stated that "if
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
didn't lose our jobs,
he business
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
wouldn't have happened anytime soon".
At around the same time, Doug Walker, an actor, comedian, writer, and film critic, began posting several satirical video reviews of films and other media on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
under the web name "Nostalgia Critic". Initially, Walker viewed making the videos as a side hobby, rarely interacting with his fans and not revealing his real name until a video responding to the
Northern Illinois University shooting
The Northern Illinois University shooting was a school shooting that took place on Thursday, February 14, 2008, at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Steven Kazmierczak opened fire with a shotgun and three pistols in a crowd of ...
. Walker's channel had its content withdrawn from YouTube following complaints from
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
and
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
over alleged copyright infringement. Walker attempted to re-upload his content by assigning each video a new, separate channel. However, due to continuing issues, Walker decided to leave YouTube altogether and create the website ''That Guy with the Glasses'', with Michaud acting as
webmaster
A webmaster is a person responsible for maintaining one or more websites. The title may refer to web architects, web developers, site authors, website administrators, website owners, website coordinators, or website publishers.
The duties of ...
.
''That Guy with the Glasses''
''That Guy with the Glasses'' was launched in April 2008. It showcased satirical reviews of
movies
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
,
television shows
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
,
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
and
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
. The website was built around the work of Walker, including ''Nostalgia Critic'' (comedic recaps of bad movies), ''5 Second Movies'' (hyper-edited feature films), ''Ask That Guy with the Glasses'' (a comedy question and answer show) and ''Bum Reviews'' (humorous plot summaries of theatrical releases). Other videos and written articles were hosted on the site, including some minor series and sketches starring Walker. Videos were primarily hosted by
Blip
Blip may refer to:
* Beta-lactamase inhibitor protein
* Blip (website), a defunct web video platform
* Blip.pl, a Polish social networking site
* Blip, a message in the Apache Wave (formerly Google Wave) collaboration platform
* Blip Festival, an ...
after problems with earlier provider
Revver
Revver (formerly ChangeTv) was an American video sharing website that hosted user-generated content. Until its shutdown in 2011, . The website featured videos from a number of other content creators who were steadily added as contributors over the course of several years.
In December 2008, Walker appeared in a commercial for the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary ''Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America'', performing a series of brief imitations of famous comedians, from
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
to
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
. In 2009, Doug and Rob Walker, along with Brian Heinz, produced an iRiff of ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...
'' for
RiffTrax
RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...
. In March 2009, the iRiff was chosen as the winner of the website's RiffTrax Presents contest. The performers received $1,000 and, with instruction from
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origi ...
,
Kevin Murphy and
Bill Corbett
William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced the r ...
, recorded a commentary for the film ''
Batman Forever
''Batman Forever'' (on-screen title is simply ''Forever'') is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The third installment of W ...
''.
''Nostalgia Critic'' averaged 100,000 to 300,000 viewers per week while on the site, and one million page views per month.
This was expected to increase following Blip's deal with YouTube in July 2009.
As of July 2009, the site earned more than $10,000 per month in advertising revenue and received more than $11,000 in online donations. In the third quarter of the 2009
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
, Walker's shows earned $53,000, including $32,000 from ''Nostalgia Critic'' alone. This revenue was generated by
run of network Run of Network advertising is a form of internet marketing where an online advertising campaign is applied to a wide collection of websites without the ability to choose specific sites.
An advertising network sells space for online ads to appear on ...
from Puma and
Starburst.
The success of his shows has allowed Walker to make a living performing and to quit his previous job as an illustrator, as well as pay the salary of Ellis, the site's co-founder and
COO
COO or coo may refer to:
Business
* Certificate of origin, used in international trade
* Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official
* Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process
...
. The site was featured in
''Entrepreneur'' magazine in December 2009
where the history of the site was discussed as well as the plans for the future.
During 2011, Michaud was looking for warehouse space in suburban
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
[ He told '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', "My company has a lot of growing up to do, but I believe that sometime in the next one to two years someone will create that one series that gets everyone talking... nd attract audiencesto the endless options of online video." As of June 2011, the company employed seven full-time staff. According to Walker, "these people are cheap to get because we are happy to see any amount of money". Channel Awesome's ability to attract a significant audience with a low expenditure was proclaimed to have an effect on video entertainment production.
The site gained a wealth of personalities and shows, quickly reaching twenty plus. The first time the producers made an initiative to put each other in the same fictional universe
A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...
(or "Reviewaverse", as was coined by one of its former producers) was with their first anniversary video, which was a twenty-minute fight between each other, with set up and dialogue only stating it was video game reviewers vs. movie reviewers, egged on by the Nostalgia Critic and Angry Video Game Nerd
''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (abbreviated as ''AVGN'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometim ...
rivalry that had been going at the time. A full-length site crossover movie was decided for the next year's anniversary. It ended up being a trilogy: ''Kickassia'', which had the plot of the Critic getting a number of the personalities together to take over a micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...
in Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
call Republic of Molossia
The Republic of Molossia, also known as Molossia (), is a micronation claiming sovereignty over of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the member states of the United Nations. It was founded by K ...
; ''Suburban Knights'', where the Critic got together much of the same personalities to find a mystical gauntlet via forced LARPing; and ''To Boldly Flee'', where the Critic and ''TGWTG''s cast travel to space to stop a cosmic anomaly and fight corporate villains.
On June 28, 2012, Channel Awesome content producers Walker, Lindsay Ellis
Lindsay Ellis (born 1984/1985) is an American author, film critic, video essayist, and former YouTuber. Her debut novel, '' Axiom's End'', published in July 2020, became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller.
Education and career
Ellis received he ...
(The Nostalgia Chick; no relation to Mike Ellis), Brad Jones (The Cinema Snob) and Todd Nathanson (Todd in the Shadows) signed exclusivity deals with Blip, which directly hosted most ''TGWTG'' and Channel Awesome programming until it was shut down in August 2015. The deal did not affect the appearance of the producers' videos on ''TGWTG'', and would assist the increase of budget of the four series, as well as provide technical improvements. An extension of this deal was a Blip-run YouTube channel called "League of Super Critics", which also uploaded the unedited videos of all four producers, with the exception of Jones, whose videos were edited down from the original version so that the only way one could see the full video was to go to Blip.
On December 3, 2014, the site shut down and rebranded itself as ChannelAwesome.com.
Subdivisions
Channel Awesome expressed plans to build on the success of ''That Guy with the Glasses'' with a network of subdivisions of the Channel Awesome website, including ''Bar Fiesta'' for covering Chicago entertainment and nightlife, and ''Inked Reality'' for anime and comic books. ''Blistered Thumbs'' began in 2009 as a subdivision of ''That Guy with the Glasses'' for housing its video game content. It gained popularity and ''Blistered Thumbs'' launched as its own website on November 4, 2010.
Joe Vargas (Angry Joe), already an established video game reviewer on ''That Guy with the Glasses'', was the initial editor-in-chief. Staff writers were drawn from various websites including ''That Guy with the Glasses'', ''TechRaptor'' and ''Normal Boots''. Austin Yorski eventually replaced Vargas as editor-in-chief.
In late November 2014, the ''Blistered Thumbs'' website was shut down.
ChannelAwesome.com
The new ''Channel Awesome'' website debuted in late 2014. All content from ''TGWTG'' was relocated to the newly established ChannelAwesome.com. Each week there is a Spotlight Section to promote a website producer, as well as a Featured Blogger.
In January 2015, four of the site's long-time associates departed, including Andrew Dickman, Kyle Kallgren (Oancitizen), Allison Pregler (Obscurus Lupa) and Phelan Porteus (Phelous). Dickman, Porteus and Pregler went to being exclusively on Phelan's site, Phelous.com, while Kyle went to producing videos exclusively for Chez Apocalypse. Later that same month, Lindsay Ellis ended her long-running show ''The Nostalgia Chick'', which had premiered as a companion show to ''Nostalgia Critic'' in September 2008. She intended to continue producing videos for League of Super Critics on YouTube and her own website, Chez Apocalypse.
Noah Antwiler, and his reviewer persona "The Spoony One", went to being exclusively on his site, ''The Spoony Experiment'', a little before the fourth anniversary film, but still had a prominent role in it with his consent.
Long-running shows
''Nostalgia Critic''
''Nostalgia Critic'' is the most popular video series created by Doug Walker, in which he plays the titular reviewer. The show is written by him and his brother Rob Walker. The series was initially launched on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
before moving to Blip TV in 2008. It is the flagship show for Channel Awesome, which has since built on it with additional content, additional websites and the spin-off show ''Nostalgia Chick''.
''The Angry Joe Show''
Jose "Angry Joe" Antonio Vargas hosted the leading video game review show on the site. It generally consisted of reviews by Vargas stating his honest opinions of current releases of video games, mixed with sketch comedy. In April 2018, Vargas announced his departure from the Channel Awesome website.
''Todd in the Shadows''
''Todd in the Shadows'' is a music review show created and presented by Todd Nathanson. The show's primary focus is on its three main series: ''Todd's Pop Song Reviews'', in which Nathanson reviews songs that, at the time of review, were or had recently been high-charting; ''One Hit Wonderland'', in which he examines and chronicles the careers of one-hit wonders
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
; and ''Trainwreckords'', in which he analyzes albums considered to have "ended hethriving careers" of their respective artists. ''Cinemadonna'', in which Nathanson reviews Madonna's feature filmography, was one of the show's main series until its conclusion in 2016. In the show, Nathanson keeps his appearance anonymous, filming himself in silhouette
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
while sitting at an electronic keyboard in a dark room. When his face is not in silhouette, he covers its upper half with a black cloth.
Nathanson debuted the series in 2009 and joined ''That Guy with the Glasses'' the following year. In March 2018, he announced his departure from Channel Awesome on his Twitter account.
''The Cinema Snob''
''The Cinema Snob'' stars Brad Jones as a pretentious art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
who watches and comments on obscure exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
s and pornography
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, , the majority of which were released between the late 1960s through the early 1990s. His association with Channel Awesome began with "E.T. The Porno" (January 7, 2010). Like many other shows on Channel Awesome, Jones started his show on YouTube until he was confronted with a copyright claim from the filmmakers of ''Nail Gun Massacre
''Nail Gun Massacre'' is a 1986 American rape-and-revenge slasher film directed by Terry Lofton and Bill Leslie. A young doctor and a sheriff seek a killer in a motorcycle helmet who kills locals with a nail gun.
Plot
At a construction site i ...
''. Jones has also created additional shows for Channel Awesome, including ''Brad Tries'' and ''Midnight Screenings''.
Awards
On January 6, 2011, Doug Walker was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
at the 4th Annual Mashable
Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005.
History
Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were a ...
Awards.
Activism
On December 5, 2009, the company held a donation drive for the Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.
RMHC has a global network of c ...
. The donation drive lasted upwards of seven hours and raised $26,400. During the event, calls were taken, prizes were awarded to people who donated large sums of money and videos featuring the talent on the site were aired. The donation drive was extended a few more days making the grand total $32,200.
On December 15, 2011, Lindsay Ellis posted a video about Channel Awesome staff traveling to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to lobby members of Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
about the Stop Online Piracy Act
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a controversial proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on Oc ...
and the PROTECT IP Act. Ellis, Michaud, Rob Walker, and content producers Noah Antwiler (The Spoony One), Kyle Kallgren (Oancitizen and Brows Held High), Lewis Lovhaug (Linkara), Todd Nathanson (Todd in the Shadows), Paul Schuler (Paw Dugan) and Joe Vargas (Angry Joe) all traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent Channel Awesome and support freedom of speech on the internet.
Management controversies
Initial allegations
Between October 2014 and January 2015, several long-time content producers departed from Channel Awesome. In March 2018, several former producers alleged, via a series of Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
posts, mismanagement and mistreatment by members of Channel Awesome's upper management, including the Walker brothers and Michaud. The allegations included a history of sexist
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
behavior toward female producers as well as a history of unprofessional, aggressive and immature behavior towards other content creators by Michaud, incompetence by the Walker brothers during production of the company's anniversary films, and failure to communicate with producers about significant decisions affecting them. One such allegation from Lindsay Ellis stated that during production on the film ''To Boldly Flee'', she was repeatedly pressured into looping a scene in which her character was implied to be rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d off-screen by Lewis Lovhaug's character. She further alleged that due to her and Lovhaug's protests over the scene's content, Doug Walker rewrote it so the implication of assault was less implicit. Ellis said that she was forced to perform the scene under intimidation.[
In March and April 2018, several more producers—including Lovhaug (Linkara),] Todd Nathanson (Todd in the Shadows),[ Daren Jackson (Rap Critic) and Mike Jeavons (MikeJ)]—departed from Channel Awesome.
Further departures
On April 2, 2018, a group of former Channel Awesome contributors and employees publicly released a document, entitled "Not So Awesome", via Google Drive
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud (on Google's servers), synchronize files across devices, and share files. In addi ...
. The document compiled grievances against the company, both those that had been previously made and ones that had not yet been publicly known. Over twenty former producers and employees, along with two individuals whose identities were kept anonymous, provided various allegations in the document, including poor communication and management, verbal abuse and bullying, and sexual harassment and misconduct. The subsequent response from Channel Awesome was criticized by fans and the company's former producers, as they felt the company was not apologizing or taking responsibility for their wrongdoings.
On that and the following days, more producers, including Omar Ahmed (Yomarz), Nash Bozard, Mathew Buck (Film Brain), Tony Goldmark (Some Jerk with a Camera), Elisa Hansen (Maven), Brian Heinz (The Last Angry Geek), Leeman Kessler (Ask Lovecraft), Heather McDonald (Calluna), Dominic Smith (The Dom), Luke Spencer (Rocked) and Chris Stuckmann
Christopher Michael Stuckmann (born April 15, 1988) is an American filmmaker, YouTuber, author, and film critic.
As one of the most popular film critics on YouTube, Stuckmann has over 2 million subscribers and over 706 million views on the platf ...
left Channel Awesome, with some citing their dissatisfaction with the company's response to the controversy as their reason for doing so, lowering the number of producers for the website from forty to about ten by April 5. Channel Awesome's planned tenth anniversary was cancelled as a result of the controversy.
Second response and fallout
On April 11, 2018, Channel Awesome released a second response to the allegations as a blog post on its website. Titled "Our Response", the post was intended to refute the "most egregious" of the allegations made by former producers, Holly Brown and Jane Doe, who are described within it as "disgruntled individuals with vindictive intentions".
Within 48 hours of the response's posting, nearly all of Channel Awesome's remaining producers, including long-time veterans Joe Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas (born June 18, 1984) is an American media commentator and YouTuber. He is notable for his portrayal of the character AngryJoe and for his production of the ''AngryJoeShow'', a video game and movie review channel.
YouTube
Var ...
(Angry Joe), Bennett White (Bennett the Sage) and Lawrence Simpson (MasakoX), as well as Gaming Wildlife, Bargain Boy, Ryan Molina (Battle Geek Plus), Timid Jester, DToons Productions (maker of the series Toons These Days) and Eric Rodriguez (Blockbuster Buster) also left the website.
Since April 14, 2018, the website listed two remaining producers apart from the Walkers: Brad Jones (Cinema Snob) and Larry Bundy Jr. (Guru Larry); the latter stated that among his reasons for remaining were that "no one ever actually believed ewas ever on TGWTG".
On August 2, 2021, Doug Walker acknowledged the controversy in an interview with Korey Coleman
Korey Coleman (born September 9, 1971) is an American film critic, animator, filmmaker, voice actor, and comedian. He is best known for his now defunct film review site, Spill.com and its current spiritual successor Double Toasted.
Biography
...
on ''Double Toasted
Double Toasted is an entertainment website based in Austin, Texas. The site hosts weekly podcasts covering current events, pop culture, movie reviews and video games.
History
After the closure of Spill.com in 2013, Korey Coleman was encoura ...
''. He admitted that Channel Awesome had gotten "too big" and thus resulted in poor communication among the staff and producers. Since then, they had been consciously trying to keep everything closer and more personal.
References
External links
* {{Official website
Streaming television
Companies based in Chicago
Mass media in Chicago
American companies established in 2008
Entertainment-related YouTube channels
Internet properties established in 2008
Mass media companies established in 2008
Internet-related controversies
YouTube controversies
YouTube channels launched in 2014
YouTube channels
Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois