Here’s what’s going down with Channel Awesome, why the Google Doc was made, and a little bit about what’s happened since.
#ChangeTheChannel: What Happened with Channel Awesome?
Here’s what’s going down with Channel Awesome, why the Google Doc was made, and a little bit about what’s happened since.
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It all comes down to the cultivation of the individual or the lack thereof in a society that values money and power over people and decency. The type of personage you speak of only view people as objects, resources for use. They cannot recognize the basic humanity in another because they cannot recognize it in themselves.
“Power does not corrupt, power attracts the corruptible.”
I read the original documents that yourself and Phelous wrote once you had left that site. I had noticed a big decline in the quality of “those other guys” and their content around the time you made your escape. After all of that, I stopped watching anything they did. I went back and made a research project of seeing the overarching changes and how it was becoming much more “angry”, “abrasive”, and “mean-spirited”.
The first and most important thing in life is people and we live in a society that does everything it can to turn its citizens against each other. The easiest way to do this is corrupt them with a bit of power. I doubt you will ever get an apology from people who do not even conceptualize how they wronged you.
It is not hard to see behind the curtain or read behind the lines and see the real human-in-shape-only behind the mask of persona. The problem is objectivity. Something many in the modern day very much lack in.
I think you make good videos that do not skirt any lines of good taste or abrasiveness. You seem to state your views honestly and forthrightly. In the end, you know better than they do, because you conduct yourself better than they do.
I wish you all the best in your continued video production and in life generally.
– Freshstep
Interesting how the whole #Changethechannel movement was born out of just a few former contributors airing their frustrations and it just snowballing from there. I think this video helps shed a light on a few things. I know a number of people were wondering why this was happening now of all times and now they can know it just happened by chance. CA’s apology was certainly a spit in the face, but frankly I’m not surprised. With how that place is run, that seems pretty much expected. I mean, they cancelled the 10th anniversary movie instead of just explaining to the people still there what was going on. Also, interesting timing of the whole #Changethechannel thing, as CA turns 10 this very month.
This topic has certainly started a wildfire. When I go on YouTube now, half the suggestions seem to be people making videos about how awful Channel Awesome is. Not sure which ones are fans who finally saw the light, and which are those just trying to cash in on the newest internet controversy for those sweet views and ad revenue. Of course, there are some people who are people beating their own drums, saying they’ve been saying CA was shit for years and no one was listening, and now suddenly CA is the big villain of the internet after all these years. People were talking, but I guess it’s just now people are listening. And there are those who are just watching for the drama. Poor LordKat is trying to distance himself from all this, but people keep trying to drag him back, seeing as he was one of the first to point out how bad of a company Channel Awesome has been. It’s become quite the mess.
At this point, I think Channel Awesome has two choices, reform or crumble. The mass exodus has shown that many don’t want to be associated with a company that has suddenly acquired an awful image and the few left either don’t care or aren’t really contributing much anyway. I am hoping they reform, as I have still enjoyed the Nostalgia Critic and other shows there, despite not being a fan since you and Phelan revealed what the management was like behind the scenes. However, given the attitude of the higher ups, I think they might just let it crash and burn. Not sure what Doug will do if that happens. He might realize that perhaps that video he made of him quitting his job wasn’t so smart in hindsight.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt like airing my personal opinion on this matter. Not sure if I got everything, but those are my main thoughts.
13 days later and all that’s left listed on the site is Brad and Guru Larry. I’ve heard Doug left, but that’s just a rumor. The site is crumbling and I hope Michaud goes with it. At least with the 10th Anniversary thing being cancelled, they can’t leech money off of contributors in the name of “exposure.”
I’m hoping that if Doug wants to keep doing his thing, he’ll drop the Nostalgia Critic concept and create a brand new one Michaud has no hand in; something virtually identical but unique enough to avoid “copyright infringement.” A critic with a different outfit but same production technique or something. My beef isn’t entirely with Doug himself, really, but I’m reeeeeally unhappy with Rob and absolutely LIVID about Mike because Mike exhibits traits of an abuser. No bueno.
I grew up watching Channel Awesome and used to fantasize about being a contributor someday. It’s hard to admit that the company and some of those people I looked up to were just not who I thought they were. I haven’t watched Channel Awesome in a few years, and I’m with you and Phelous ‘till the end. Currently, I’m studying at NYU TISCH for screenwriting and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be here without watching you two and learning how not to make a movie through your shows and what you cover. Thanks for doing what you do!
It seems like in 2012 I came across a wiki about everything horrible with TGWTG anonymously set up by people who claimed to work with that site when it existed. I think this was during the Spoony “departure”. I asked a friend about the wiki and he replied, “It’s mostly people trolling.” I believed my friend because the problem then was Spoony, not Channel Awesome. Until watching this video, I did not know the real circumstances why Allison and Phelan left Channel Awesome in 2015. Seeing Allison and Doug appearing in both Disco and Jesus Bro, I thought everything had been patched up between them. It’s disappointing that Channel Awesome is not a friendly and cool place like it wants to appear, but vitriolic and parasitic. This is not huge surprise. Since the inception of the 2014 Channel Awesome website, I’ve noticed a trend where I’d find new producers, bookmark their channel on the CA site, only to have them gone within 6 months to a year. After watching this video, I’ve changed any remaining Channel Awesome bookmarks (which only consisted of Sage and Brad Jones as of writing this) directly to the producers Youtube channel.
What was that wiki’s name, if you don’t mind? Does it still exist?
I think I found what I was looking at and it’s basically a trolling wiki. I’m not going to post the link because I feel like burning my computer just for looking at it again.
I’ve always trusted the producers. There’s no way in hell so many people would purposefully get kicked out from somewhere so influential if they were getting compensated and/or treated fairly.
I honestly just hope everyone backs off the producers and just focus all eyes on the people in charge of the site.
But after their most recent response to the situation, I really hope many people unsubscribe immediately.
Looks like they made a new response, and it’s even worse than the last.
I’ve already elaborated my feelings on Channel Awesome on my blog (twinsanity.co – shameless plug), so I’ll keep things brief:
It’s truly a shame how toxic the atmosphere at Channel Awesome has become, and Mike Michaud just comes off as an irredeemable asshole. I used to fantasize about being part of CA, but not anymore. I usually try not to take sides on these kinds of issues and just watch the content I enjoy watching, but this has gotten too big to ignore; in this case I’m with you and Phelan all the way. Most of the current and former CA producers I follow, like Brad, Linkara, Tony Goldmark, Mike J and Angry Joe, are on YouTube, so I don’t have to give CA any real traffic.
Side bar: Has Phelan ever considered adding another producer to the site? Not that aggregate sites are as needed as they once were, but maybe it could lighten the load for you guys and increase traffic if there were at least one other regular contributor here besides just you and Phelan. (BTW, I do respect that Andrew, Julien and Mat are all doing their own things right now.) Perhaps Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop could start embedding their Isle of Rangoon videos here; they could use the exposure and having some more regular contributors here would increase traffic, plus you guys seem to be on good terms.
I’ve found that the Google Doc doesn’t seem to display properly on mobile, and any web browser that has font scaling. Could you consider mirroring it somewhere else, even if the other version isn’t kept as up-to-date?
Now It’s just Brad and Larry left. Larry seems to intend to stay to keep the site for himself. Gotta love that guy!
There is something about the phrase “to address the lies that have been alleged by multiple disgruntled individuals with vindictive intentions,” that screams unprofessional. When they have have lost 90% of their employees and are trying to blame them and other past employees for lying — it is a little more than a red flag. It’s the little kid with crumbs on his face that says he didn’t eat the jar of cookies.
And now it’s official. I see a bright future for Channel Larry!
Maybe Larry’s glorious new era has already begun – they actually put up a farewell video for someone! (Which he had to make himself, but it’s still one of the few times they’ve ever acknowledged a departure.) We’ll know for sure, once the site banner changes to “But hello you.”
What’s truly unfortunate is that all (or most) of this could have been avoided if Mike Muchaud or one of the Walker brothers had more openly communicated with some of the other producers. Acting like nothing’s going on for all this time was just about the worst decision that any of them could have made.
Can this problem be fixed? I’m not sure. The first thing that Doug and Rob need to do to get rid of Mike Michaud. He sounds like the worst manager in the world. Arrogant, aloof and full of himself. Michaud is the Donald Trump of the internet, and like Trump, he needs to resign his position for the good of the world. As long as Michaud is attached to the site, up-and-coming producers are going to avoid CA like the plague.
The site will likely remain, but it will just be a home page for Doug and the people on his team (Tamera Chambers, Malcolm Ray and the Awesome Comics team), which is fine, but without anyone offering a sincere apology, the place will be forever tainted and some people will deliberately avoid CA as an act of protest. CA could conceivably restore itself, but changes would need to be made and it’s going to take some work and I’m not sure if Doug wants to take on the responsibility.
I’ve read the document, that Michaud guy is apparently a sack of shit on a power trip. Allison seems like a very nice and emotionally open person and that’s probably what made Michaud so happy to bully her. Rather than being misogynist, he’s most probably simply a slimy little coward who liked to go after women because he felt safe intimidating them and it made him feel powerful to make them miserable. But it’s a disgusting situation all around. Content creators were providing Chanel Awesome with traffic and add revenue while getting nothing but abuse and “exposure” in return. It’s unbelievable that Michaud and the Walker brothers weren’t only happy to exploit everyone’s work without reimbursement and treat them like shit, but actually demanded to be compensated for the “privilege” of being their surf.
The reason Larry and Brad still feel comfortable there is probably because Michaud is too much of a coward to fuck with them like he did with all the other creators, them being big names in their own right. That is also probably why TJ Kirk (The Amazing Atheist AKA The Distressed Watcher) was treated ever so softly when he was let go way back when as well and has barely anything negative to say about the site — Michaud only bullied people when he was sure he could get away with it.
I wish Allison all the best, it’s sad to see her barely holding back tears just remembering the stress of that negative experience.
Brad is apparently off the site, as he has been removing links to CA, but nobody has bothered to update the list. Larry was never treated well and was ignored since the beginning but is staying as a gag and I gotta say, the memes that has gotten out of that are quite glorious.
TJ was heavily bullied behind the scenes, much without his knowledge (even to this day) LordKat has stated that Michaud told him to stay away from TJ as he was a weirdo who would ruin everyone’s reputation if they collaborated (Brad seems to still think TJ has said things he never did). He was also ignored from joining the anniversaries because Michaud thought “he didn’t seem to want that”. Bullshit. TJ, despite his edgy persona, was a big softy when it came to his view of Doug, who he wanted to be like back in those days, and being in an anniversary was his biggest dream. It was Mike Ellis who wanted him on the site, but as soon as he was fired Michaud did everything to ruin it for TJ. I have my own issues with TJ, sure, but the way he was treated was unacceptable, and he was not alone, obviously.
It’s all a giant mess. While I think Mike Michaud is getting just desserts, the whole late producer-was-a-monster thing is what hurts the most.
Well, that just cements Michaud as a cowardly sack of crap who slithered behind men’s backs and talked shit about them like a backstabbing little sleazeball, but had the “courage” to yell and physically intimidate when it came to women.
You and Phelan leaving Channel Awesome is what made me start visiting actual producers’ websites instead of Channel Awesome. Now this website is my go-to site for entertaining videos. First I go here, then I go to YouTube. Whatever looks good on YouTube is good, but I don’t want to miss anything from you two.
Michaud is an absolute prick. He screams insecure narcissist on a power trip with no sense of responsibility or maturity. Responding to emails and concerns and dealing with problems is actual work, and psht, he doesn’t wanna do that! That takes time away from his busy X-Box-ing schedule! *eyeroll*. To be honest, his mentality is the exact same of my abusive ex-boyfriend, so the man is automatically on my shitlist.
I wasn’t expecting things to get this out of control either, but I’m glad it’s all come to light. If it means other producers can avoid being exploited and abused, it’s worth it (as long as it’s worth it to the producers who came forward with their stories.)
Thanks for sharing your input, Allison. It’s helpful to those of us who’ve followed CA for years and have been rattled and unsure of how to handle the accusations. Of course most of us believe the stories, but sometimes it’s a rough adjustment going from idolizing something to being absolutely revolted by it.