He Pretended to Be a Furry, and Then It Got Worse...

GNOLLPLAYING GAMES: / @gnollplayinggames
MERCH: keith-ballard-...
PATREON: / sebastiansb
TWITTER: / sebastiansb
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VOICES
Furry Weekly Quote: / @uplatewithtoaster
Apology reading: / thesadgames
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Video Sources:
Anthony Po: I Spent 200 Days Undercover as a Furry
• I Spent 200 Days Under...
Sigma Paws TikTok
/ sigma.paws
(BetaEtaDelota) Bottles: Anthpo Screwed Up…
• Anthpo Screwed Up...
Barton Fox: Anthro New England 2024 - Dance Competition - Ozone
• Anthro New England 202...
Anthro New England 2024 - Dance Comp (Official Stream)
• Video
Midwest Furfest 2022 (B-roll of fursuiters)
• Midwest Furfest 2022 |...
Sources
FurScience:
furscience.com...
Furry of the Week: www.furryweekl...

[@sphinxwidget]

I think my favorite repeating comment under his video was, 'Adult finds out that other Adults have consensual sex'

[@_SUPERN0VA_]

45 years olds with "19" years old, furrys are truly gruesome

[@sphinxwidget]

@@_SUPERN0VA_ Is the bridge a rental or bought?

[@ilikespaghetti4458]

​@@_SUPERN0VA_consenting adults? also dragon pfp welcome to the community friend

[@drunkcat545]

​@@_SUPERN0VA_Dude thinks we are Drake fr 💀

[@PotentialSuicidal]

@@ilikespaghetti4458it’s just a dragon but ok

[@George_vv]

He really acted like this was a "Vice news investigating North Korea" or a "Channel 5 investigating how immigrants cross the Rio Grande" when it's more like a "I filmed myself buying a ticket to a nightclub and pestered people until they told me where to buy c*ke and then stole the microphone from the dj for two seconds to say nothing"

[@Bumbaclaatt]

Channel 5 the youtuber?

[@thenewgamer64]

dude, even Channel 5 when they were All Gas, No Brakes went to MFF and had a better time with furries than he did faking being one

[@raulinhentchel1237]

Soooo ironic that "normies" point and laugh at furries for being cringe and then they really blow our cringe out of the water. All this did is going to make me more cautious and selective about what room parties I attend and who is at them. Glad he could corrupt community of trust to add to his millions. Literally a microcosm of the greater capitalist hellscape.

[@NWolfsson]

The host at the dance competition stating that someone crashing a competition is a first, truly hit the nail on the head. Literally the only time they had a problem person (in the context of the dance competition) and it's demonstratively a normie "under cover"... Congrats Anthony Poe, you are the problem. On another (and more important) note, I hope you and the other members of the community'll get plenty of good experiences in the future that'll heal the mistrust he injected with his behaviour 💚

[@hexacult_beast]

Next time on Boring Keith - Interrogating leather daddies about their mental health

[@BoringKeith]

they seem nice

[@pinkpupbutt9299]

Would watch that

[@TheAgamemnon911]

I would like your comment, but that would put it at 70, so I'll put a reply instead.

[@Danger__Floof]

Can't wait for this one XD

[@copper29cu9]

i would like your comment except its at 621 and i can't break that

[@JDsanch]

Well, that was... Sickening. As in, I literally felt sick to my stomach hearing about the perpetration of the LGBT stereotypes as groomers and freaks by that youtuber.

[@concreteelk]

😮😮😢3r

[@Urmapleleaf]

"thank" libsoftiktok for that and Matt Walsh. How come you guys in the US not have anti-hate speech laws? Had Matt Walsh been biased like that in the EU, he would've been arrested and his voting rights would've been stripped off. Not that we are punnitive, we believe in rehabilitation (which that distinquishes the EU from the US; we're focusing on human rights, our laws/constitutions are human rights focused), so he'd have been free to choose either to press an upgrade on his outdated tongue, or go to jail till he turned around As for that bunny dressed person, I blame entirely their parents and bad social media influencers. He may be legally adult, but until his 25s-35s, his brain is still developing, so he's still vulnerable to disinformation and to...making dumb things

[@celisewillis]

@@Urmapleleaf the US is so brainwashed into individualism. Half the population interprets "freedom" as "i can do whatever i want anytime i want, no matter who it hurts".

[@SpoopySquid]

​@@Urmapleleafthe US understanding of "free speech" is wild. I'm South African and if Walsh/LoTT tried that shit here, they'd be hauled before the Human Rights Commission within a week

[@Woynich]

@@Urmapleleaf We do have anti-hate-speech laws in the US, it's just that the barrier for what defines "hate speech" is set by people whom I would not describe as unbiased.

[@HerrWozzeck]

As somebody who played at the variety show at Anthro New England, and as somebody who functions as a musician in this space, I also have another thought about Anthpo's video that I don't think you touched on, and IMO I think it's worth thinking about considering a thought my normie parents had when they dragged themselves to MFF with me as non-furries: While neither of my parents are queer, the thing they loved most about their con experience was seeing the level and the amount of creativity on display. When I got my dad a badge with him as a sloth, he was amazed both by how fast it was done, and by how much the artist had managed to capture his likeness in sloth form. They also loved that I had my trio there, and they got to see that part of the creativity first hand. My dad especially isn't always fond of how trans folks express themselves, but they get that it is a community event full of extremely creative people, and even not being queer they all really resonated with the creativity, and they also did this without gawking at or calling attention to the fact there's NSFW content within con spaces. Anthpo's entire video shows absolutely no care about any of that, from the discussion of May The Best Man Win to the fact he was intentionally trying to get into the room party. I feel like if he wanted to actually celebrate the fandom at all, at least a word of service towards the creativity of furries would've been great? And ANE had plenty of chances for him to actually show that, from DigiFest and Dragon's Dojo and the Variety Show (which I played Theremin on) and Animal Music all would've been great showcases for that. Hell, he might even have gotten that with the dance comp, if he'd bothered to stay for longer than it took to crash the dance comp. But there's none of that; no celebrating creativity at all from anyone in the fandom, no just, trying to exist. Nothing. So then when you factor in the fact he tried to get into a room party to get content and that his entire attempt to be furry was him creating a bratty persona on TikTok, it feels like exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from someone who only knows the stereotypes and doesn't actually try to dissect those stereotypes. And if nothing else, that part is unconscionable.

[@antoineberkani9747]

As someone entirely outside this space, isn't every con filled with creative people though? They're hotbeds for artist/creator networking, of course you'll see cool things. Not to mention there's actual money behind it. I would hardly think of that first as an aspect that the furry community is defined by. I don't think being queer magically activates a creativity gene.

[@BoringKeith]

Yup, even the other coverage of furries that annoys me by painting us as more neurodivergent than queer invariably focuses on the fact that we're an art-driven community. That's an unavoidable fact. But all we get here is that some of us are good dancers, with no further exploration of that context. As far as art goes: he disrespects his fursuit maker, spreads harmful lies about the dealer's den, and crashes the dance competition for content.

[@Ensign_games]

true

[@HerrWozzeck]

@@antoineberkani9747 In this case, it's worth putting within the broader context of the furry community. The fandom as a whole is more a community driven primarily by custom commissions of people's own characters, and more often than not the characters don't exist for narrative purpose the way they would for a comic book artist. In a way, therefore, art in the furry fandom comes with a social aspect that you wouldn't get outside of it, so I imagine a KZbinr would find things to celebrate about the fandom and how it uses art socially, as something more than the commodity or the narrative delivery apparatus other geeky fandoms see it as. As far as the convention culture, too, it's different in the vibe, and also in what attendees can generally expect to get from vendors: from the comic and anime cons I've been to, I've always gotten a sense that the indie artists are there to market themselves, but it is the bigger franchises that dominate the space, or you're there to say hello to various celebrities from the big-name franchises you like. There's an aspect of that in furry conventions too, don't get me wrong, but it is *way* less pronounced in what you can expect from vendors. In furry cons, it's less about what franchises you're into and more "oh yeah, here's a thing that looks cool and is done by a smaller indie artist". So you're not technically wrong, it's just that it manifests in a very different way from a comic convention, you know what I mean? (EDIT: I also have to add the caveat that my parents also come from a medical imaging background, and don't really have the creative bones that my sister and I do. I'm simply offering an observation based on something said by folks with no real artistic skill, so bear that in mind as well.)

[@diogoguedesa3039]

Not to mention his use of AI...

[@chasethecringewolf2195]

I don’t think furries need to flex. We are suspiciously wealthy enough as is lol.

[@redblue5140]

literally the one thing I know about furries is that they are rich

[@Kris-wo4pj]

If someone says theyre a furry. Theyre either rich or broke but only cuz they spent all their money on fursuits and comission art.

[@frankieppbutt]

@@Kris-wo4pj im a furry but broke with no suit or commissioned art lmao 😭

[@fluffywolfo3663]

It’s true.

[@valensfdbn]

@@Kris-wo4pj No no, there's also broke furry artists

[@illusorywall]

I was going to say something to the effect "You know, I wouldn't try to infiltrate someone else’s adult fun and then treat it like an expose for youtube, but that's just me", but a lot of other stuff about his behavior really repulsed me. Like I know that stands out as the worst part, but since I never watched the video I was missing a lot of context that made things even worse. The way he crashed the dance competition speaks to a deeper level of content creator brainrot. Also the way he made his fursona a toxic, money-obsessed weirdo was certainly a choice. I think I was most repulsed by his fake rants against made up haters. People are actually bullied for being gay or different. Faking outrage in this way is a mockery.

[@alicealysia]

Maybe the sigma paws persona demonstrates that putting on a fursuit head immediately makes you express who you really are...

[@ZelphTheWebmancer]

@@alicealysia Give a mask to someone and they will show you their real face

[@ding0dkikl_]

yeah it's supposed to be a joke??

[@montef368]

@@ding0dkikl_intent is an explanation, not an excuse. That’s a naïve excuse that only works with children. This is a grown adult being dumb

[@bookwermofthefandoms]

​@@ding0dkikl_the faking being a furry? It wasn't a very good joke

[@AvalonYjrn]

Hiya! One of the cover artists for Furry Weekly here. Thank you so much for mentioning us and our work! It is so incredibly disappointing to see someone try to use us as a means to harm and ridicule other furs. Everyone on the team works hard to deliver wholesome content to the furry community. Using our need for staff as a means to gain access to privileges is sickening. Super appreciate someone calling him out for his misdeeds!

[@thatradfailure5197]

Now, I'm no lawyer... But I know EXACTLY why he said he had one go over the video and deem it completely legal. Revenge P@rn. Uploading private sexual content to the internet without the full consent of everyone involved is illegal. Federally illegal. As in when I first heard about this video, I looked up the law and urged the people involved in that section of the video (not directly, but as a general post on my Tumblr) to take legal action against him. And I think they still should consult with lawyers and see what their options for legal recourse are, because that was not ok, and this man needs harsher consequences for that

[@andrewdiaz3529]

Was about to bring that Tumblr post up.

[@Wuffskers]

this reminds me of something I've seen Trixie Mattel say a few times "Being gay is not hard, straight people make it hard" and I feel like that's just as true for furries. We're literally just vibing over here minding our own business, it's the people that can't help themselves from gawking and pointing and laughing at a group whose only crime is being different that make being a furry hard.

[@neutrallium]

the dude is literally the equivalent of that one popular kid in school who pretends to be friends with what they think is ‘quiet’ or ‘weird’ kid while in the process being very patronizing and in reality is just making fun of the kid with their friends

[@CamelStudio347]

uh...

[@h0peros382]

As a 'weird' (autistic) kid still in school, how do I avoid this? Pls send advice :/

[@ddirtylarry]

​@@h0peros382 sometimes you can't if you're not able to tell if it's genuine or not. If you suspect they are being mean, ask some other people what they think of it, it may be good to get another perspective. Then, if they are being mean, tell them to fuck off. Or just do it back to them. It makes them feel small and embarrassed

[@TamWam_]

even as someone who reads emotions well and has good intuition, the one popular girl gave me weird vibes. she seems really sweet but smth about her made me feel weird, but subconsciously. consciously, i thought she really was a sweet person, ignoring the subtle alarm bells in my head. turns out she's not that sweet

[@Toaster-q6p]

That was very specific and it’s happened to me

[@ScuubaSteefe]

Did he edit out the lie about being able to buy 18+ books and the references to STDs as well?

[@celisewillis]

just take the whole vid down honestly

[@WillTheWizlock]

Nope!

[@Thegr8MC]

The unedited video of him crashing the dance comp really sums up everything I hate about these types of KZbinrs. His video looks hype and energetic like he's got the whole crowd with him, but in reality it was incredibly awkward, cringy and annoying. These KZbinrs go around acting like public nuisances that no one wants around but thanks to the magic of editing they can make it look like they got a spot in the limelight.

[@Number1JettDawsonShrimp]

ngl I'd been avoiding info on this whole thing as much as possible before today, but jesus fucking christ I had no idea he'd straight-up been roleplaying as a fake furry (and pretending to be a paedo/zoophile while he was at it??) beforehand

[@HastorPrinceInYellow]

I find the bit about him storming the dance comp very interesting. Even through all the chaos of a con, we as a subculture have developed a very orderly, defined, and almost strict social order. He broke that order, apparently for the first time in ANE's history. I just think that shows how little he actually learned, how much he's completely missed out on, in relation to our fandom. He was never truly invested, even just as an experiment, and he never actually cared about our culture.

[@sketchystrawberry302]

It’s especially ironic how he’s making us out to be the cringey ones while he’s disrupting the competition and ruining it for everyone else which is what actual cringe is 😭

[@shark_bee]

He literally has the personality of a middle school kid who is the “class clown”, but he never grew up 💀

[@bronthesaurus3648]

I remember one of my favorite posts on tumblr, OP said: “hating furries is just the silencer on the gun of hating queer people” and it couldn’t ring truer rn.

[@SamaelOtter]

I struggled to articulate all the ways Anthony's video made me deeply uncomfortable. Thank you for putting it to words, this echos how I've been feeling since his video was published.

[@ratbones620]

I don’t really consider myself much of a furry, but as someone who watched Anthpo’s content for a long time I’m honestly really disappointed by these stunts he’s pulled recently. What he did at that convention was super disrespectful and I really hope he’s able to realize this and apologize.

[@risacooper]

Hearing that this guy is 22 is so wild to me- me, who is 29, has never been in a relationshio before and is forever questioning whether I'm ace or pan, who still feels like a child sometimes, who is going to find out in a month whether I am autistic, and who is making nowhere near the money he is. He should be going to parties with his friends, not harrassing communities he has nothing to do with.

[@cf8415]

I’m a long time fan of anthpo and not a furry, also not LGBT. I initially liked his video, but this really changed my perspective! Thanks for this, you got a new subscriber

[@crexcrow5581]

Thank you for covering this when I first watched the video when it came out it hurt me. I’ve was a fan of Anthony’s videos for over 7 years ever since he was making content in Highschool and College. His videos are honestly really well and endearing with such heart. He brought such thoughtful messages and expressed so much love to his friends. I know as an outsider to his content he seems like someone who has always been a clout chaser but man he changed. I can vouch for his character before. When he left KZbin it really saddened me and I thought it would be it but man It was a really disheartening for me watching the video on the day it launched with such an ignorant and disrespectful video when he comes from such a great background of content. He left KZbin for a year or so and I’ve was waiting for his return when he was hinting at it and I wish he never did now. Once again thank you I’m glad people are covering this because it’s something that needs to be addressed. Update: I just watched his latest video about the aliens and it’s a perfect example of his old content and the charm he puts into it. You don’t need to watch the entire video you can watch the last 5 minutes. I don’t know what went wrong to where he felt the need to do what he did.

[@celisewillis]

I don't think it's that complex; probably just spends more time around idiots who love punching down, and punching down can feel good. Then he thought "hey, i could monetize that 🤔" We do both ourselves and creators a disservice when we treat them like they're reciprocal friendships. This guy isn't a character in a story with an arc to fulfill. This guy doesn't know you, and you only know the side of him he's willing to record and post online.

[@ItsAK9]

WHO FILMS A PRIVATE INTIMATE MOMENT WITH PEOPLE AND THINKS "oh yeah, this isn't a red flag to post to millions of people in PUBLIC???" Like, I swear people only see it as a smaller problem because of the stupid furry stigma. Random person going to spaces they don't belong to act absolutely stupid is already dumb content in itself, but that's taking it WAAAY further than stupidity.

[@IaRiver]

Really good stuff Keith. I really liked your point about how he's just a young guy making stupid mistakes, but because the internet "gifted" him with success his ignorance and idiocy just gets broadcasted to thousands of people instead of being a private experience for him to learn from. This all just sucks because I imagine most of his audience is rather young and impressionable, meaning there's probably a bunch of kids out there who might be inclined to repeat this behavior and then the whole cycle begins anew. You're doing great work breaking this down. I hope this video does well.

[@Gdoggybee]

Yeah dude the thing is also that his whole “quitting youtube” was an obvious lie. He took a few months off and than started a huge back log to keep the job going. He never stopped, he just stopped posting for the hype.

[@icedgarlic]

exactly! like he had stuff going on in the background (like the cheeseball man thing and obviously the furry tiktok account he had kept for a while)

[@Scoober-km8kk]

I used to really like Anthony Po but he really fell off. Like bro is disgusting for filming something so private and posting it💀

[@hongkongatonn]

Bro should've just stopped after college, what a literal joke of a human.

[@Scoober-km8kk]

@eggsalad3311 Bro really should have stayed off the internet 💀💀

[@larhyperhair]

Shoutout to the MC at that dance comp, they played it off so well and turned it into something ACTUALLY funny, not, "funny because its cringe" but "funny because i can pander it to the crowd and make it into a con-meme" thats what you want from an MC

[@IMPofTHEGASsTATION]

im really glad you pointed out the art looking like ai cuz that was very obvious to me and i felt like i was going crazy

[@libraryowlaz7986]

Can we all take a step back and realize the sheer amount of editing that went into this video. Like, holy crap, that is a LOT of examples given with solid video evidence to back it up. 1 hour spent per minute of video is average, but there has to be wayyy more to it when it comes to videos like this!

[@RedDeeDer]

Now that’s a voice that sank a thousand ships.

[@RedDeeDer]

Brilliant video and analysis by the way, as always. Finishing with that dance competition segment, held in almost deathly silence, made my insides collapse like a dying sun. Absolute toilet of a person.

[@Ensign_games]

no it is Eric Cartman's voice which is worse

[@dinosaysrawr]

Credit where it's due, it does sound like a voice that might come out of a cartoon animal.

[@Ensign_games]

@@dinosaysrawr yeah it does sound like that

[@snoop4472]

He sounds like cool cat

[@andbru11]

idk about u.s. or u.k. but here in Brazil discrimination is actually a crime that you cant even pay for bail, so here he would probably be in jail by now lol

[@Dr.Oofers]

The US and UK have similar laws. But I believe the punishments are more financial/lawsuit focused than actual jail-time worthy (depending on the severity).

[@andbru11]

@@Dr.Oofers here they also have to pay a fee and up to 3 years in reclusion(I googled it just to make sure) but glad that you guys also have laws for this ❤️

[@neo1711]

I did not expect a something like that to come out of brazil of all places

[@andbru11]

@@neo1711 I know right! Cause still we have a ridiculous high rates of lgbt murder BUT our community voice here is getting bigger and LOUDER when comes to our rights

[@SecuR0M]

Based BR moment.

[@BrawlerGamma]

The more I ask the question, "Are the straights okay," the louder the, "No" gets. And I'm becoming increasingly familiar with finding other people's reactions of disgust utterly vile. It made more sense in like, Lily Simpson videos looking at portrayals of trans women in older media (still utterly vile, but it made more sense), but there are zoomers that are still like this?? What??

[@celisewillis]

I'm finding that, at least with folks i meet irl, the cool zoomers tend to be women and enbies 😅

[@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

A lot of modern far-right ideology is just about being disgusted by various groups of people ('the gays', "the blacks', "the transes' ect. ). Like, they will say a lot and talk about how they think those groups are endangering western civilization and how they are just concerned about 'men in women's bathrooms' but when it comes down to the basics they just feel disgust and their entire lives are centered around making it everyones problem.

[@LostLargeCats]

It really makes me wish I wasn't straight sometimes. Because I don't like how straight people act that I see. But I know that's probably wrong of me to feel somehow.

[@LeoFieTv]

Is that apology anthony did text or a picture of text? Because if it's the later, also called a solemn jpeg, it cannot be searched for. This is a technique to technically adress an issue, while making sure not too many people see it. Not saying it's intentional on anthony's part, he may just be copying what others do.

[@05Matz]

Huh, that's a good point. I'm not familiar with much social media culture, but that would be a pretty clever (and deniable, if done right) trick to minimize the reach of an apology/retraction/recall/etc. I presume it's used in corporate contexts, too? Like, when a person or company is legally or reputationally required to say something, but wants as few people to actually see it as possible, just to have the statement public so they can 'debunk' people claiming they didn't apologize/retract/whatever?

[@Matthy63]

I think it's also a thing twitter people do to get more characters in. So instead of typing a tweet you just write it in notes app and take a screenshot, it's almost a meme of online apologies. But that is also a great observation. You can't really Google an image (like technically you CAN but it's not the same), which is very convenient for reputation management when you want to look like you care about doing the right thing but really what you want is for people's attention spans to time out.

[@dowottboy5889]

bro wen't "undercover as a furry" yet me, a non-furry have more furry friends than him

[@vajra6888]

wow, he disgusts me.

[@Ensign_games]

he sure does, and I hope people will see through this dude's lies

[@topatsyn_]

I- he ghosted the team he use?.......... this man seriously IS a problem, and I think the title of his video should be "I want to makes fun of furries even more, so I forced myself and film what is not supposed to be filmed" appreciate you for making this video, this educated me so much

[@joeyoneandonly]

Another thing is anthpo is friends with Caroline Konstnar. The girl who faked being pregnant and having a miscarriage to promote her patreon.

[@kidoshade1011]

jfc the second hand embarrassment when he tries to crash the dance competition physically hurt me.

[@andrasjanosi3765]

Second time I heard him say: "I'm disapointed in myself" and I'm even more mad.

[@dahamystar6216]

Dam, this is one of the most well-deserved, philosophical call-out videos I've seen. Glad it was made.

[@arrowhead8856]

15:45 i definitely am a furry because i’m autistic. i have had a lifetime obsession with animals and becoming a furry was a natural progression of that

[@Chespingod]

People treat furries as if we're other creatures, not people. It is a HOBBY. I am sick of people who do stuff like this.

[@viaxxl]

Can’t wait till Ant realized parties happen in every type of convention not just furry ones

[@TheAstralFencer]

Him crashing the dance competition gave me so much second-hand embarassment man holy

[@viaxxl]

Everybody was laughing at him how was he so proud of it 💀

[@Denetth]

You know what people in the community generally say about fursonas and the deeply connection one has with them, and the reflection of one's self embeded into a fursona? Yeah, this guy's "fursona" TOTALLY shows off the type of individual he must be in his life, a selfish whinny rich kid who has never experienced the struggles many people in the community deal with every day, and that his views on the world rely solely on how he can farm numbers off of said people just to... get something out of it? I dunno man, the way he cheap out on a random fursuit, that was just expensive enough to be decent-looking, while mocking at it because it looked like "trash", it just feels hollow in every single aspect. I can't understand why would anyone do this for clout, money or to even make a fuzz about it. His actual personality just seems rotten to the core, nothing even remotely genuine can be seen through his KZbin persona.

[@RedHeadGame]

A bit off topic with the video, but good luck with your ADHD testing! I just went through a grueling 12-months or so of waiting and finally got diagonised.

[@twotruckslyrics]

still waiting since 2022 for my testing 😅 i wish everyone luck!!

[@Farnciss]

I was conflicted at first watching this, but as the video kept going it actually gave me a new perspective on anthony's video. Very high quality content, and more people should actually watch this

[@every_eve]

At a loss for words, this is just incredible analysis, and I'm disappointed I ever supported this guy

[@sandycanid]

As a cis hetero furry, I watched the video when it first came out before the cut and I remember feeling odd about it but I couldn’t really pinpoint why. I knew the room party part was very off but I couldn’t get why the tone for the video felt weird to me. This video perfectly articulated what was wrong with it and I really am glad you made it, it gives myself as an ally a deeper understanding on how subtle homophobia is pushed particularly when outsiders discuss furries. I hope it gets as much views as the original so people can educate themselves.

[@sillyfruityguy]

i knew he was too good to be true. this is so gross. as trans, queer, disabled autistic the furry community has been a huge comfort to me. it has been a lovely safe space and a place ive found true acceptance and support. god i hate cruel, underhanded people like this :(

[@Semi-EternalCocoon]

This just gets worse and worse... and worse 😡 How has his channel not been banned for hate??

[@cringenick23]

Bro is 22 and acting like a high school bully... yikes.

[@Riyshn]

The sadest part about the homophobia around the room parties is it wasn't even necessary to his goal. And it really makes it obvious he should have known what he was doing with the whole invading queer spaces thing. Like, sure the stereotype is that parties are mostly gay men exists for a reason, but women and straight men _do_ exist in the fandom. It wouldn't have been _that_ much harder to find a group he might have actually enjoyed being with.

[@rubenspooky]

Very good video! As a non furry this was very eye opening of the at first glance weird video from Anthpo. I knew something was off but not to this extent... damn. btw I was doing the dishes just when you mentioned it and that was funny

[@Lakeside80]

When I clicked on his video, I was expecting one of the recent trends of "going to furry con to experience what it's like, with a wholesome vibe." Instead it became twisted quite fast, and just slapped on a "oh but actually their fine I guess" at the end doesn't fix the entire point. It felt like a guy who had never heard of furries before and was going "what? "huh!?!?" at everything in a space he clearly doesn't have the patience to understand.

[@siristhedragon]

Its genuinely haunting how mercenary and solipsistic you-tubers like Anthony can be. I completely agree with what you mean about social media randomly launching young people into wealth and fame; it fucks with their brains.

[@tikki2340]

That cut to the unedited dance segment was brutal and 1000% deserved. 10/10 video (also I loved your evil dead video even if it flopped algorithmically)

[@1upx_boi452]

I used to be a fan of Anthony Po until his video on winning a competition that was intended for asian students attending his university. Though the video is alright, I think he deserved it (in a way), but it felt sort of strange to me as a person of color. Though it may be shallow on my end, I believe he only won that competition was because he gave everyone money. Again, I think the video is fun and fine, anyone can join competitions (if they make it in), but it rubbed me the wrong way as some spaces are just intended for certain people. It was until this video I realized he was very obsessed with himself. I believe he thought it was okay to push himself into furry spaces was because furries aren't seen as a "marginalized" group, even if it does contain marginalized peoples.

[@spartankaotix126]

1:35 this did not age well

[@kat1690]

anthpo was a channel that I enjoyed because of the harmless antics and the fact that anthony was both hilarious and so genuine. as he started getting more popular, he still kept up that image and it was amazing to see a youtuber who didn't let fame and popularity ruin them. I was sure he was going to leave everything on a good note when he said he was done making videos. But now not only did he lie, but he did some obnoxious, disgusting, hate-fueled shit all for views. He either was never the person he seemed to be at the start of his channel, or all of that money and fame did indeed go to his head. This really fucking hurts to see. I supported and loved his channel and now I feel grossed out and hurt knowing what he did to people in communities that I'm a part of. I hope later in life he realizes how fucked up this was and is ashamed.

[@jgt2598]

Sadly I have feeling this guy just going to eventually become a replacement for Ben Shapiro when he ends up to old, divorced, and probably convicted of child pornography possession to keep drawing in young conservatives.

[@asiimovfox]

I felt very similarly about this video when I saw it, that reply about schools was quite scary to see. The whole video felt like it was coming from a terrible place, painting poor individuals in a horrid light and overall not being productive for the fandom or more generally the LGBT+ & Neurodivergent spaces! The dance competition stuff was so disrespectful too, I felt so bad for everyone running the show and all the poor performers who had to work their asses off to get on that stage. Also I know the guy who messaged him and got that terrible response , which was surreal to see, but they said it was a pretty terrible experience messaging them 😅

[@lycanycteris]

I love how he says most furries "know they're cringe". Personally, I don't think I'm cringe at all. I know how people feel about furries, I just don't care. Being a furry has helped me be so much more comfortable with my orientation and gender, and fursuiting has helped me feel really comfortable in my own skin (or, fur). If people think that's cringe, they have their own things to work out. You know what's actually cringe, though? Infiltrating an entire community and crashing a dance competition that you don't even stay to watch the entirety of. Genuinely, that part was SO hard to watch just because of the intense secondhand embarrassment I was feeling.

[@KrazyKaiser]

WTF?!! I have more pecks than that guy and I don't work out at all...

[@emeraldhenderson399]

At around 15:30~16:10 you talk about your experience with getting assessed for neurodivergence. As a person with ADHD who has had her diagnosis since she was 10, I wanted to let you know, that there have been times where upon finding out that I also have generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, people wanted to invalidate my earlier ADHD diagnosis. Just like autism, ADHD is a spectrum. And it can manifest differently in people of different genders. So I want to encourage you to not give up trying to figure out what mental health issues you are dealing with, whether you have ADHD or not. Because, sometimes even people who have been doing this job for a long time can get it wrong or need a second opinion. And comorbid conditions, like depression or anxiety (I happened to deal with both) can hide certain common symptoms of ADHD. Also if you were abused for stimming, being hyperactive, or an inattentive as a child, you might be masking those symptoms, or the way you cope with those symptoms makes it harder to diagnose. So much love and encouragement for me to you, good luck on your mental health care journey. Otherwise solid video, I would also agree that the thing that sticks out to me the most about the furry community is how openly queer it is. Which is why it blows my mind when I find out that some far-right fascist has infiltrated the furry community. (It's happened a couple of times, because unfortunately they are everywhere on the internet, and in nerdy spaces.)

[@Boreality_]

Aw man I really wanna know where the contemplating lemur is from

[@BoringKeith]

Eric M Strother. He can be seen at many cons selling these rad animal masks. I just retweeted the art.

[@DrethenHyena]

Holy hell, firstly; amazing coverage. Secondly; from one yeen to another, can someone please direct me towards that amazing backdrop / curtain? It's so cute!

[@ebucario]

i have never heard of this guy before now and hadn't heard of any of this. watching and hearing the events Anthony described and filmed unfolding was gut-churning. i understand he apologized and i'll accept that much at least, but i'm just... not convinced he even knows why what he did was wrong. and the views on that video... it sucks to know for certain that "normal" society still views us as clowns for their entertainment first, and so different from them that they need people like Anthony to "understand" us for them

[@dust8236]

His video is made even worse by the fact that STRANGE ÆONS did the same "non-furry going to a convention" premise without all the...shitty behavior.

[@emilcastagnier391]

This whole situation seems so surreal and alien to me. I'm sorry this kind of thing is happening in your community. To be fair, it's not surprising for people coming from a place of privilege to come to a different community and misappropriate their cultures. I will say, this whole thing is puzzling to me because I am not active in social media. And even as part of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole you can scarcely find me there. I guess I live in a very insular and old fashioned way. Regardless, my prayers go to you all as a community. Sorry this is happening, even more sorry how often this seems to be happening nowadays. Regardless, thank you for all your content Keith. It was rather informative! Keep at it!

[@MazzHicks]

This feels like a lot of internalised homophobia and him wanting to explore things while also having the whole “Did it for the bit” escape plan. no straight guy actively goes to a room party and has some nude fun time with a bunch of gay furries 😂

[@giantpigeon845]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure he is bisexual actually, because in his recent bachelor show (11 tinder dates) video he went on dates with both men and women.

[@meh9334]

As someone who's not a furry and doesn't interact with that community, this was very interesting and insightful. I didn't think about the implications of his actions and how bad it was for the furry community

[@Shadybish]

I genuinely hope the next time I go to con, no one follows in his footsteps…

[@Chimrabbit]

Thanks so much for pointing out the problem with furry documentaries. The "Why are furries like this?" implied question even when they're trying to be genuine always rubbed me the wrong way.

[@Anberye]

I'll start by saying I'm not a furry just want to get some observations out there. I feel like content that can be boiled down to "furries bad" is really popular throughout the wider online community and is very much encouraged. it probably started out as joking for some people but these jokes eventually become actual beliefs. I myself don't make those types of jokes and I try to get friends of mine to not joke that way around me because I feel like again that type of joking eventually leads to actual beliefs, and is a strategy from people who actually hate furries to get the ideas to spread. with that out of the way, That Anthony Po guy's personality is awful based on his video, the flexing is likely something that he gets from himself. A lot of the other stuff he did with those tiktoks were based on stereotypes he believes of the furry community. Potential AI art aside, you see a lot of negative stereotypes that are joked about in several communities, like the pedo stuff, the zoophile stuff, and the STD stuff etc. very telling of what Anthony actually thinks. I'll leave it at that, this is a very well thought out and made video.

[@cricket5203]

i remember watching that video when it came out. i saw the first five minutes of the video, sent it to a friend excitedly saying that "look! one of my favorite youtubers went to a furry con!" ... only to watch the video and feel sourly disappointed. makes me sick.

[@kaiyote7924]

Since i know so little about the furry community I am actually interested in the LGBT aspects of furry culture. I think as a fellow LGBT member it's important for me to know all parts of the community even the ones who don't share my labels and circles. Any starting points for learning would be appreciated. I have already seen your LGBT furry space roman game review and also the "legoshi is gay" analysis; which I very much enjoyed. (Legoshi is gay is actually what lead me to subscribe)

[@tipsyGnostalgic]

Im really thankful for this video because you were able to present everything in a well organized way. Ive been avoiding this topic after I first caught wind of it because it made me so angry. Im one of those people that figured out that I was a furry because of your Beastars video. Outside of everything else that was shitty, it really burned deeply in my core that he was so dismissive of us. Like we were just props when - like you said - a core part of ghe community is the creativity ranging from beginners to masters of their craft. He used AI, insulted the suiter who made the Sigma head, and the commisioned animation he Did pay for ultimately is a part of a segment that is the worse violation. Hell! He even insulted 'May the Best Man Win' in that fucking 'think of the children 🥺' bit. That was the first nsfw furry comic I followed because of the art being so good and the plot so engaging!! The fall off of the decade to put it dramatically. He should have just committed to stopping after he graduated. Im glad the small bit that was shown in that Alpharad Friend Awards video of him getting upset at his mom onstage made me start to lose my trust in his KZbinr persona.

[@sorane8910]

What the hell is wrong with people like this ? - Huh, look I'm straight, and I'm gonna try to interact with thing I'm not confortable with and say "Eeeeeew" all the time, because I don't like that If they don't like that, then don't do it... NO ONE force them to be gay, lesbian, trans etc. We just want to EXIST, is that to much to ask nowaday ? :/

[@axeldude7051]

Ok so I’m not a furry, I have a lot of furry friends tho and I was a casual fan of anthpo for a while until this video. It felt very. Off. Compared to his usual stuff. It was kinda jarring and I thought I was the only one who felt that way. You can tell that he really just didn’t know anything about the furry community considering all the jokes he made throughout the video. The video is distasteful best way to put it. It’s embarrassing watching him walk around the con knowing his intentions while talking to just friendly furries and interrupting the beginning of the dance off very awkwardly.

[@UnreasonableArticulo]

Don't let the Donkey fool you, I'm not a furry. And yet you're absolutely right. Someone pretending to be a furry and acting like that isn't acceptable at all. That would be like me saying "I pretended to be a homosexual for 200 days" and acted all offensive and stereotypical the whole time. That's messed up.

[@thelittleal1212]

Even tho I’m a fan of Anthpo, I honestly can’t defend him on this one. He’s a very funny and charming guy in his college days. But now that he’s back, I really hope he isn’t getting too far as other infamous youtubers have

[@elisehaluska9712]

this was an excellent video. i feel like you really demonstrated how insidious this guy is and how videos like this hurt us and our community

[@RobinSpellbinder04]

One hell of a title

[@Kris-wo4pj]

Only reason i clicked honestly

[@BritishFurryGuy]

Don't you love it when a youtuber who knows nothing about a community other than negative comments people have made about it attempts to "infiltrate it" (Otherwise known as, although temporarily, joining it.) using a persona made up of all those negative comments in one?

[@Nikkiflausch]

"...or for that matter, staying in the same room the video is playing in" goddammit Keith why do you know everything

[@sniperfreak223]

The more...adult side of the furry fandom has made me much more comfortable with my dad bod.

[@A3ste11k]

Is this why furries gets hated…?

[@Rookie643]

As you peeled the layers away of each thing he did it just keeps getting worse and worse.

[@Parageist99]

i dont know what it is about this video but it seriously resonated with me. i wouldnt call myself a furry but ive always been close to the community in a variety of ways. it started out quite dark actually, i was one of the setereotypical furry hating people who wouldve loved anthony po's video, but then after my actions and words hurt a lot of friends at the time who were furries, i rejected that naive and hateful view of them. sometimes i even think of myself as at least partially furry, and this video strengthened that deep respect i have for the community now and it honestly made me cry, both from your story about you and your boyfriend going to your first con, and also out of the sadness of watching this ignorant man perpetuate centuries of harmful rhetoric about people like me. thank you keith, this video is honestly very special

[@jakeparkinson8929]

This is anthpo isn't it, I saw another video about him being a furry. He used to be that guy that spammed fat yoshi pictures in the school/college he attended years ago when all that fad was a meme. He genuinely used to be entertaining? Then he went silent (for me on my end). Holy hell.

[@Tonithealtwing]

I was one of the people who half paid attention to this video when it first came out, and because I knew Anthpo as someone who lightheartedly trolled people, I was pretty shocked from what I *did* notice, and then it all got worse with hindsight. I hate that clout chasing by pretending to be a furry is a legit subgenre now 😭

[@theultimateawkwardness4025]

Not to defend him, he is not at all a good person. But in the around 3 years i have considered myself part of the community, i too have not made any friends here, nor attended a furmeet, nor attended a furcon. I just want to be clear that that is not what makes someone part of something, its certainly helpful but its not that cut and dry.

[@BoringKeith]

I'm not gatekeeping people declaring themselves to be furries. He specifically doesn't claim to be a furry, but claims that he immersed himself in the culture for his experiment, which I argue is a lie.

[@theultimateawkwardness4025]

@@BoringKeith oh, okay, I understand now. Thank you for the clarification.

[@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

I visited one furcon and use an app to meet people from time to time, but none of those contacts really sticks. Like I had friends who were furries back in the days, but yeah, I'm also more of a lurker. Mostly just following artists and stuff.

[@daniellewasdelayed8921]

I love the choice of having Andrew voice Anthony's apology tweet, and the "because they're such good boys" at 25:02 was perfect. I don't really have anything to add to the broader discussion but wanted to still say something :)

[@ColonelRPG]

Haha, why? XD Because Andrew just has that perfect always-100%-sure-of-himself care to the wind tone? :P

[@km72327]

The youtuber you're criticizing sounds absolutely insufferable. This video is almost too nice a response to it. Personally, I'm not a furry, but I think it seems like a really interesting community. From the outside it seems to me like everything the internet tries and usually fails to achieve: meaningful connections to others, supporting artists, overwhelming inclusion of minority groups. I really liked the segment about your first furry convention. I think youtube is full of videos with this almost aggressively impersonal stance and you really stand out for not doing that (in a good way obviously)

[@Falschera]

"Hey cutie love the videos" "I am not allowed near schools" Who the fuck starts a conversation like that? Anyway, funniest intro ever.

[@rmt3589]

So. I hope I never come across that guy again. Though to you, great video! I have subscribed. Keep up the good work. The fake furry was so cringe, I'm still a little stunned.

[@fikamonster2564]

On 39 and on the asking for consent part: I think anthony genuinely thought that asking if he could record the party was equivalent to asking for consent to post it anywhere. Celebrities have to learn that ANY footage of you can be publicized anywhere, there is always a risk. Whether or not he consciously thought this is another matter. But i think he was surprised by people reacting negatively against the footage after he wrote he asked if he could record it. He was very stupid here though and people should have pointed out to him during the production

[@azhrie139]

In fairness, it seems like his production team and friends might all similarly be content brain stupid.

[@Silverizael]

Well, he's gonna find out that the law is much more strict than that and considers multiple things he did as a felony, especially in the state the con was in.

[@GraphiteShores]

This is a person with at least a million subscribers who has been doing similar actions (Maybe not in terms of 'yikes' factor, but in production) for some time. That is not normal, even for a celebrity, to think that it would be permissible to post a very intimate and sexually compromising video of people who CLEARLY DID NOT KNOW that they would be in a video hosted by a person with a million subs.

[@SecuR0M]

​@@Silverizael I kind of doubt it. If he has permission it's generally fine.

[@Silverizael]

@@SecuR0M Permission for one specific usage of video is not consent for other usages. It's why people who do documentaries in some states get sued if they lied about what the documentary was about to people being interviewed in order to misrepresent them.

[@CrimsonRabbitAnnie]

Great vid! I remember fear factor 😔

[@bethaltair812]

Ok, this starts as "what a douche" and goes to "WTF!!" real fast. How does he not get it this badly after going to a con and seeing thousands of people having fun?

[@Canibot80]

lmao I saw someone with a fursuit on that cost 15k I'm pretty sure most furries who fursuit have a decent sum of cash lying around.