Turbulent Times for YouTube Giant Linus Tech Tips and Linus Media Group
In recent days, one of YouTube’s prominent and most influential figures, Linus Gabriel Sebastian, and his video empire, Linus Media Group, have faced a series of upheavals. The Canadian company, boasting over 27 million subscribers, found itself in the midst of controversy following the release of a comprehensive video by Gamers Nexus. The video shed light on LTT’s workflows, often riddled with factual inaccuracies, much to the disappointment of its fervent fan base.
Linus’s typically cheerful and positive supporters were further dismayed when a situation involving a start-up and their then-preeminent prototype unfolded. LTT had drastically altered the prototype and subsequently attempted to auction it off, despite the company’s request for its return. In response, Linus chose to address the criticism through a forum post.
In the wake of these events, more serious allegations concerning sexual harassment have emerged from a former employee. She recounted her experiences, highlighting not only the unreasonable workload and pace expected of her but also underscoring incidents of harassment. To the surprise and gratification of many, Linus Media Group has taken the criticism seriously, releasing a 20-minute video in which key members of the company, including the newly appointed CEO, share their perspectives alongside Linus himself.
Consequently, Linus Tech Tips has decided to suspend all recording and production for a week, redirecting their efforts towards problem-solving and devising a sustainable and reasonable model for the future. Linus personally addressed the situation in the video, stating:
“We’ve heard the feedback from our community and from our team internally, and monetization has been turned off for this video. Update 1: It’s come to my attention that in Billet Labs’ Reddit post, they censored the quoted cost of their prototype water block. We were never asked to keep this information private.”
“And given that our sources for the matter were our own correspondence with them rather than Reddit, we didn’t know to include the censorship. At this point, there’s probably not much point Streisand Effecting it, but I’ll blur it anyway on YouTube and we’ll get it blurred on Floatplane as soon as one of our editors is awake -LS”
The controversy surrounding Linus Tech Tips and Linus Media Group has brought to light internal challenges and prompted a reevaluation of their practices. As the community awaits the company’s next steps, the incident underscores the broader issues of transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in the realm of influencer media.
Source: The Verge