Ray William Johnson Tried to Warn Them

[@H1T1]

Its interesting because we see similar big companies taking advantage of young TikTok/Instagram influencers nowadays.

[@hyoonoot]

when are you getting out of the void

[@monkey.iodjdjeje]

Never 😭 @@hyoonoot

[@theninjagamer1]

hi h1t1

[@Junetheart]

It's an evil world we live in

[@Kaicti]

Ikr

[@imthiazmuhassin3267]

Ray William Johnson did something no other KZbinr succeeded. Updated his style of content with shorter length but also kept the zany sense of humour his videos had. To do that for more than a decade and still be relevant is actually an accomplishment. Respect to Ray for that.

[@LyrixNChill]

Him and Phillip DeFranco blew right through all this drama and still going

[@civilwildman]

And of course, Ray knows how to make something funny within KZbin’s guidelines.

[@hunterxgirl]

More important is he go back to his root. Making relatable contents in his apartment.

[@setsers1]

Unfortunately, Ray is one of the only ones who could do that

[@sparrowanon]

@@setsers1He is such a legend, honestly I commend him a lot

[@RayMak]

I was a victim too… their contract is quite complicated. I lost all monetization for two years under them as they couldn’t get any music license for covers like google do. And kinda destroyed the algorithm of my channel. =,(

[@naaqe]

damn

[@ricks3754]

oh man u are the guy who always commented io every video right. damn bro..

[@RayMak]

@@ricks3754 hiii

[@spinningpig2347]

400k and under 1k views on a video 💀☠️

[@ramonbriones4487]

​@@spinningpig2347My guy cappin lol bots and paid subs

[@hisaceinthehole3426]

The irony and surrealness of The Fine Bros at one point being the victims of corporate bullies, only to later attempt to do the same thing. lol

[@JimJamSandwich]

Die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Quote is played out, but it's often unfortunately very accurate

[@Swoiny]

If I don't steal it someone else will - Israeli saying

[@luna_ix]

Seems like somwthing israelis do very often​@@Swoiny

[@TheFunnyGuy9000]

What about Shane Dawson

[@paulius4LP]

@@TheFunnyGuy9000 What'd he do?

[@DomSydMusic]

I love the fact that Ray still gets 1 million views on every video he does, even to this day! Not even just on shorts, but on his long-form videos as well. Makes me happy that he’s doing well.

[@garfieldfan925]

Because his shorts are incomplete and you have to watch the full video lmao

[@Creddz69]

​@garfieldfan925 little scummy but hey it works and it could be worse. You can kinda look at his shorts as a trailer to his full vids or maybe a modified version watching a video for 30 seconds before clicking on it.

[@garfieldfan925]

@@Creddz69 I just click on the full video everytime his shorts pop up

[@UnhallowedFury]

He was the reason I even started watching KZbin in 2009 and I still watch his videos to this day. Equals 3 was fucking awesome.

[@cxssetteman182]

For a Grifter, he's certainly doing well.

[@CZsWorld]

I'm obsessed with early KZbin and I'm amazed you were able to dig up all this information. Incredible video. I'd love to see you do one about what happened to Lisa Nova aka Lisa Donovan. It seems like she refuses to acknowledge her KZbin career now. How did it get to this point?

[@RandomYoutubeEnjoyer]

I am so glad this MCN shit is over for now

[@anthonymort5202]

Why are you everywhere

[@fishthefry]

I see you in almost every weezer music video

[@ehnoobsemaj7774]

Happy to see you weren't dragged away by Krampus this holiday season man 😊

[@vinvalen]

ariana what are you doing here 😂 i just finished catching up on your uploads CZ. happy holidays!

[@Gmoneyjr18]

Insane how fine the line between scam and legitimate business is.

[@markcarey8252]

It seems the difference is just defined by whoever comes out on top.

[@MachineintheMonkey]

It’s been happening for centuries, the digital age has just made it easier

[@kool2btrue]

It isn't a fine line. The reality is that all these creators were inexperienced so they got screwed. Always get a lawyer for this type of stuff.

[@insertu5ernamehere]

@@kool2btruebro what you literally just proved my man’s point by saying that??? Like that is pretty wrong dude and I’m sure there was a lot of illegal tactics and practices being used to dissuade creators from certain actions or to keep creators tied to the company and that needs to be brought to the light one day. People need to pay for the things they were so proud to do not too long ago.

[@ApolloGray]

That is sadly the name of the entire game.

[@dontaeheart22]

Ray’s sudden success on TikTok was not what I expected out of this year.

[@redcherry8137]

Sudden?? Dudes been putting in mad work

[@shrektheconqueror3452]

@@redcherry8137 ye but it was a sudden surge of followers it wasnt exactly a build up

[@ForeverFlower]

Same!! I love seeing him thriving by bringing Equals 3 back in a modern format like shorts and tiktoks!

[@bionic1matt]

@@redcherry8137 Dude has been grinding for over a decade at this point. He deserves every bit of success he gets

[@rhianhegarty3383]

Covid brought me to him ON you tube...not tiktok...and now I can't imagine you tube without him. Fuck tiktok

[@unpaidpiper]

It's so weird that today we only remember Kassem G for harassing cosplayers at Comicon, when he was involved in so much other toxic stuff to destroy the community.

[@gustavthegreat2811]

Also the Norm MacDonald interview?

[@JollyWanker]

He was also known for interviews with pornstars

[@johnhein2539]

​@@gustavthegreat2811That interview is a gift to the world

[@mikemorrison5232]

He's got an acid tongue​@@gustavthegreat2811

[@dancesmokesmile344]

MatPat made a video explaining all of this, and said KZbinrs (including himself) suddenly stopped being paid for a while, because the company was broke and had to pay investors instead of the content creators, so apparently they all got scammed. I don’t know if things changed after that, but apparently all KZbinrs signed with them just stopped getting paid eventually

[@mojojojo6400]

That's definitely a ponzi scheme if they were paying those other people off with the content creators money

[@the.ghost.behind.u]

Theyre definitely paying ppl now. U can see in alot or youtubers that with their view count increasing as well as subs etc when they start making good money monthly cus then they start buying much nicer stuff. Especially in the musician and car community on YT.

[@user-pr6se1pt3u]

Wasn't that about Defy Media and not Maker Studios?

[@Lycaon1765]

​@@user-pr6se1pt3u yeah pretty sure that was about defy

[@notsans9995]

Boohoo get a real job

You kinda have to appreciate how long Ray is on KZbin now. Great vid. ❤

[@Beanzops]

I make KZbin Videos 👽

[@Beanzops]

🤖

[@NotSuperr]

somehow almost EVERY single video I watch you comment on. I respect the hustle and watching fellow competitors, keep it up!

[@Nitrous0x]

He's pretty successful on tiktok now. I prefer his type of content on there than here.

[@AnekoF90]

​@@Beanzopsno one gives a shit

[@InstrumentManiac]

It's so crazy watching this because I like many other people got dragged into an MCN to make money and avoid copyright claims on videos. Newer KZbin people have no idea what a wild west this place was in the 2010s. It's astonishingly well run and stable these days considering what it came from 😱 (also great video analysis PAtrick you keep hitting it out of the park with these!)

[@GigaPK]

I really enjoy your Thomas covers! I hope you didn’t get burned by those MCNs

[@LionmightOfficial]

Great video! I was one of those who were part of Maker. Thank goodness I was able to get out in time before the meltdown.

[@judicatorhurayth1927]

I can't believe you were one of them before👀

[@chrisstackalot1680]

Crazy, can’t seem to click on or find your profile anymore.

[@LionmightOfficial]

@@chrisstackalot1680 Just click on my profile pic?

[@downsjmmyjones101]

"Pewdiepie's racism saved KZbin" is one hell of a line. This is an AMAZING video.

[@WayStedYou]

The bridge:

[@lpan-xy4pt]

pretty sure it was the anti semitic one.

[@thejunkman]

I thought Pewd was with Machinima?

[@od813]

@@WayStedYouHe had a crazy run in the following year tho with the whole t series thing he had going on

[@redcell9636]

But it really did. He slipped up said a dreaded no-no word and got death threats for it. I thought it was hilarious, fact is after his slip up he GOT MORE POPULAR and the only people complaining were the fair-weather news outlets, and fake outrage mouth breathers.

[@stop_your_bs]

PewDiePie unintentionally saving so many creators by getting into controversy is perfect 😂

[@altchannel1028]

I had no idea that Ray was the most subscribed KZbinr at the time, just shows how hard he worked to get away from that evil company and continue to make content that he enjoys.

[@noahherrera3253]

​@druidic4353He was most subscribed 12 years ago bro. You know how long ago that is?

[@TisBoiGoTSkiLLz]

@@noahherrera3253 Yeah, 12 years.

[@noahherrera3253]

@@TisBoiGoTSkiLLz well I guess I did ask how long, your right 👍.

[@WellISaidIt]

​@@noahherrera3253 You're wrong. It's you're right not your right.

[@dumbbumsc5329]

⁠@@WellISaidItYou’re wrong. Run on sentence.

[@SwaggyG_2102]

I still remember when MCNs were a thing and how grateful I am for the new generation of KZbinrs who don't have to deal with the shit that older KZbinrs had to deal with now.

[@1UpEXP]

Yeah, now they have it worse with bending over backwards to appeal to the green dollar sign and not run afoul of the triggerhappy yellow dollar sign. While dealing with copyright trolls, both megacorps and scammers, still unresolved from the last generation. Even the mitigation to the new awful environment, sponsors are going so wrong with KZbinrs being duped into shilling things like BetterHelp (if you know, you know. If you don't, looking into that will be another loss in faith in humanity), for an extended period of time, no less. For example, apparently the Good Mythical Morning guys are stuck shilling a thing in a sponsorship contract for literal years.

[@Ghs6]

I remember watching a video from a youtuber and him saying that if you ever want to become a youtube AVOID MCNs LIKE THE BLACK PLAGUE. Also I see you everywhere.

[@imdebaws3715]

Oh hey it's you again Just saw your comment while rewatching ytp deliver us

[@RubberRoss]

I was around for all of this. Man, the stories I could tell you hahaha

[@jackjack2604]

make a vid on it!!

[@dragonslayergirl357]

Sharing is caring

[@gnbiggs]

It was mental, I was around too. Miss =3 it was so funny but RWJ is still around, just don't get the same feel though. The old days were good!

[@aserta]

People think today's GoogTube is chuck full of scumbags, but old YT had a fair share, right off the bat.

[@setsers1]

KZbin Veterans!

[@ForeverFlower]

I love seeing Ray’s channel slowly turning into a true crime commentary shorts. He used to only talk about viral videos but I noticed now he’s doing more videos on things normally only true crime people like to search up, like bite-size summaries of real crimes and events without all the emotional fluff

[@miggs7173]

Oh my gosh, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know he originally never made such videos. Literally found him because I watch true crime

[@Sam-vk8xd]

@@miggs7173don’t be ashamed. It’s good you found someone to watch.

[@angelfishluva291]

@@miggs7173 He started with political videos.

[@deacolog]

On shorts he should bring back the viral tiltoks and do the true crime stuff as usual

[@ihaylz]

=3 was my favourite back in the day!

[@4RILDIGITAL]

Crazy to think how KZbin has evolved over the years and the drama that has unfolded. Goes to show that some corporations will exploit creators for their own gain. It's a brutal world out there!

[@chivi]

Except, this video is filled with misinformation...

[@mrwolf9779]

Bro that’s what happens when u work for bigger company nothing is new

[@The_Red_Scare]

@@chivi Proof? Please explain. /gen

[@chivi]

@@The_Red_Scare I'm friends with the original co-founder and I've seen the receipts. Also, selling off to Disney was part of Danny's "scheme" is easily disprovable by the fact Danny sued to stop the sale. There's an article about it but I'm not sure I can link it here without having my comment filtered by KZbin. This stuff ain't hard to find for anyone who wants to do 2 seconds of research before making a whole video.

[@FUGoogle-w5s]

@@chivi maker bot

[@HealthyBakin]

I absolutely love Ray William Johnson! His videos and storytelling are unmatched-I've never seen anything like it on KZbin. I’m always on the edge of my seat, eagerly waiting for the 'UNTIL' moment!

[@Cheerslove08]

Same here! Freakin love it

[@wej0w]

"Disney did not want youtubers to ruin their IP." So they did it themselfes a few years later.

[@Oregonman2011]

“Fine I’ll do it myself”

[@j.menapace625]

And they probably did a FAR better job of ruining it than the KZbinrs ever could.

[@hisaceinthehole3426]

​@@j.menapace625 irony can be so sweet sometimes.

[@Anon0nline]

You skipped over the part where Lisa Donovan was mostly known for trying to redirect people from videos by aggressively spamming the comment section of more popular videos with links to her and other Maker videos. KZbin actually made a policy change to stop that sort of behavior. She lost a giant chunk of her Disney change to an astrology app she invested in; just another scam. That one backfired though. She's down to about 5M and falling now. Danny Zappin is down to about 9M (but he tells people 19M). Kassam is making a comeback; probably tied to his loss of net assets now valued at about 3M.

[@kc-jm3cd]

So in cali pocket change

[@SouthJerseyBaitReviews]

if 5 million or 9 million even 3 million is pocket change ur delusional lmao. Thats more then what most people make in 2 decades. Shit there is people who live for the rest of there life off $2-$3 million. @@kc-jm3cd

[@Ultralined]

😭I feel so sorry for the rich❤️my sympathy goes out to them😭😭views? money? why themmmmmm?😭😭sorry sorry.

[@Anon0nline]

@@Ultralined My post isn't sympathetic.

[@sudo_uyemura_zr]

​@@Ultralinedthe rich who apparently had their wealth built on the foundation of lies they regurgitated from their potbelly filled with the lack of morals and honesty? I'm not a confident man myself but sometimes i gotta step in and ask why? why would anyone feel awful for a pack of scammers? you're falling to emotional deception which they never even did (i never researched if they did make an apology)

[@dabehanz2546]

I like how PewDiePie casually destroyed the company 😂

[@CloudyPuzzler]

Absolute chad move.

[@therealDannyVasquez]

What a fuckin' ... Legend!

[@gravitydefeater]

What it was his plan to bail out of the company

[@tuazulyrojoeljean]

MAAAAD LAAAAAD!!!!

[@margarethmichelina5146]

And remember, he was the King of KZbin back in the day so he was using his "status" to destroy Maker Studio

[@codybaier]

This makes Norm MacDonald's public humiliation of Kassem even funnier than it already was.

[@craigrandle6966]

For sure- I had no idea who he was lol.

[@ImIllITeRaTeAnD]

All the STARS are here for this.

[@DovahKanye]

You acid tongued Arab!

[@TheReaper1557]

*looks up close on paper*

[@TJfromEarth]

if you are talking about the "acid tongued arab" moment...... that was funny but i wouldnt say he humiliated him lol

[@bxdhxdi]

RWJ is the physical embodiment of “do something and stick to it no matter what”

[@AugustRx]

And felix's whole schtick is get bored, do something niche, watch everyone copy it, get bored again, rinse and repeat

[@ForeverFlower]

Genuinely asking: what do you mean by that?

[@wontonschannel]

@@ForeverFlower sounds like just a mean way of calling him a trendsetter

[@woodificould]

Holy crap, I had no idea this had happened. I used to watch =3 religiously and this makes me respect RWJ even more. Stool his ground, exposed their crap, and his content still didn't miss a beat

[@gadget00]

Me too; I had no idea he was dealing with such a mess but STILL grinding it out and carrying the YT flag all those years. Mad respect for RWJ

[@CartoonboyYT]

Ray has been in KZbin for 14 years...yet he still doesn't lose his motivation to make videos he loves to make. Truly an absolute chad!

[@kyrohowe3156]

Keeps on grinding 💪

[@DeeznutztheOG]

He quit during that one time lol

[@penonpaper3132]

He disappeared from the spotlight for quite some time, but yes. He’s definitely a skilled creator who understands how to produce content that people actually want to watch.

[@gr-8166]

He left for a good number of years in between

[@GamerBoyDevin]

He definitely stopped for a while to focus on his comedy career, and really only came back with Tiktok

[@AugustRx]

Didn't pewdiepie start his own network because of this, ran it ethically, realized it's not a sustainable business model and gave up?

[@JcoleMc]

Yeah he did forgot what it was called but I knew people like Markiplier and ken where in on it But after the brigde Incident all that went away as the investors pull out

[@Ikyanya]

so pewds rlly was just the homelander of yt and investors?@@JcoleMc

[@Cdawg6429o]

@@JcoleMcah, when he wished that fellow who stole his kill a Merry Christmas

[@Uuiiai]

He didnt gave up, they cut him out due to edgy jokes around 2017

[@dboy4034]

lol being ethical isn't a sustainable business model when the only reason it failed is because of something unethical that happened makes sense.

[@smithintern-tainment7868]

This is like finding out an old high school buddy was way more messed up than you thought. I remember watching Maker videos all the time when I was younger This is also like learning the kid everyone made fun of was right all along. I remember everyone made fun of Ray (and a lot still do) for being obnoxious and Maker went so far as to to basically publicly shame him with a dumbass cat puppet Hell I remember the whole story unfolding and Shays weird response in his clog. Man this video was a trip! Very well done!

[@Timothy]

Aww shiiit! Randomly clicked on a video in my suggested and got mentioned twice! Lmao awesome!

[@temptatxons]

Hell yeah Tim 🤙

[@MiningRoger]

lol

[@VoiceofRhyno]

This is why it's important for creatives to try to understand the business side of things and to be aware of what's going on. Otherwise there's always a greedy business person trying to take a majority of what you created and call it their own. I am glad to see Ray back in the game.

[@guyonyoutube501]

I was there in the early days of KZbin. KassemG, Cecily, Smosh, RayWJ...it's weird how this feels like ancient history.

[@Patterrz]

I remember being excited when a new episode of =3 dropped, Ray has done a great job adapting to the new KZbin and staying successful

[@ThePressureKing]

Yeah even when he fell down he got up

[@I_like_my_dad]

He never fell down​@@ThePressureKing

[@aquabuddha]

RWJ is one of the few creators from when I joined KZbin that is still successful and unproblematic. He genuinely seems to deserve the fact that he is still around and doing well.

[@Lycaon1765]

Well I mean he's not unproblematic. It's just that so far he hasn't had some big fat controversy about him doing something abhorrent. But he's still got a bunch of "early 2000s - 2010s edgy comedy" stuff in his backlog (the transphobic your favorite martian song for example). Not meant to be some big fat "cancel him" call to action or anything, just pointing it out cuz calling him unproblematic was genuinely funny to me xD

[@olblue3478]

​@@Lycaon1765that's not problematic

[@pissgaming420]

​@@olblue3478it kinda is

[@OhDelta9]

@@Lycaon1765 That's quite literally not problematic. If it's a bunch of period specific actions, let it be period specific. You're the literal definition of the enemy of content creators.

[@internetspectator6051]

@@Lycaon1765 not problematic

[@FinancialTutor]

Sadly I fell for the trap by Makers too with one of my old channels in 2010. They sold me all the benefits I would receive by signing with them, even though I was already monetized on KZbin. They took 30% of my ad revenue for over a year and provided absolutely no support! Somehow I was able to get out of it by sending tons of email telling them how they did not provide anything in exchange for taking a cut. I am glad MNCs aren't a thing anymore and that KZbin has stepped up their game.

[@NFX]

Back then I didn't understand what was happening, but I loved watching Ray's videos. Thank you so much for telling their story! 💗

[@clursunny]

I still wonder why he quit KZbin for a long time, his last video was just music and weird videos about self confidence and I thought he was disliked because his comments were disabled for approval. This was before he made shorts

[@Hoogus]

@@clursunnyI saw a video about it. Apparently he had burnout and just started living his life, and he did start some projects but they never really went anywhere. That was until he found TikTok and started posting a modern version of =3. One of the only good things TikTok has done

[@nikozguri4167]

Ray is a legend. i'm so glad to know he's still around making content, even after Equals Three ended

[@lustglamore9188]

hes doing really great on tiktok atm. every 10 scrolls i get one of his videos pop up

[@Greatestfratus]

Thank you putting this all together! This is the story of every KZbinr’s dreams and how the truth reveals itself after the storm. Go it alone and listen to your neighbor, not the men who are dressed in sheep’s clothing who, on the inside, are ravening wolves.

[@libyanboy94]

I never understood how people turned back on Ray, he is a funny dude who gave us moist cr1tikal and other funny KZbinrs, the fact that his old team YFM turned on him and deleted his stuff was clearly unprofessional and unethical. I'm glad ray is making new videos

[@leon4000]

Because most people take things at face value and never learned to get out of that mindset. There are many people who would rather support a lie and stay in dreams than ever face the truth and reality. Ray moved on, and that's always a better thing. It's just a shame that Maker Studios and the people behind it managed to get away with good money and opportunities they neither deserved nor worthy of such things. Still if they still have their hubris, it may not last.

[@nomanejane5766]

Because RWJ false copyright strikes people

[@ZennExile]

@@nomanejane5766 he's kind of a piece of sht, always has been. Known him forever. Let's just say I just trust him so much, that I wouldn't let him babysit a pet rock. He's wrong headed. Like severely. Just presents well in short bursts. Been that way since he was a kid.

[@horizonkage]

Because his channel became Spanish and he called everyone a racist for not being able to understand. He was a prick about it. A joke is not a joke if you don't know what the presenter is saying.

[@CantTellYou]

@@horizonkage Sounds like you’re not racist but you are a little bit Ray-cist 🥁 🥁 📀 I’ll see myself out now

[@HeisenbergFam]

Honestly im impressed Ray is still doing KZbin after 14 years and still gets good views

[@metalheadblues]

He has a formula and it works

[@host510]

He get 1-3 million views per video

[@Nswix]

I'm impressed your generic comments get likes, but here we are.

[@Sonnix07]

n to think lad still looks the same after 14 yrs (then again he didn't start as a kid like others did)

[@adamk.7177]

I'm surprised you have enough time to watch and comment on every single youtube video

[@-TheRealAnimeFan-]

It’s crazy how much I enjoyed Shay Carl’s content before he cheated on his wife and blamed it on alcoholism…. KZbinrs should never be put on a pedestal.

[@SWtaervdesn]

I give thanks to you for the online investigation. I was a young KZbin user in 2013, when I entered Highschool. I started watching Seananners and became increasingly aware of other and bigger KZbinrs but all this you laid before me is news I hardly heard about at that time or did not piece together afterwards. I am grateful for your internet journalism.

[@HellCat_Kenny]

Just goes to show, don’t always trust and idolize your fave content creators. Some of those who got paid were in on it 100%.

[@kjd-s5b]

Heck, you can’t trust the MAJORITY of them.

[@patriciaw636]

Id argue you shouldnt trust any of them unless given a reason to

[@makaveli087]

Honestly, If someone idolizes ShayCarl (Who wasn't funny even when he was fat) or OG "I'm not Gay!" Shane Dawson, Unbearable Suxe Phil or any of those other unfunny boat anchors; Poverty is your calling.

[@alexz.8302]

I remember a lot of these "Day in the life" and "skit comedy" KZbinrs began seeing some fame (Nickelodeon cameos, small movie roles, Disney cameos etc). They became greedy with the prospects of fame and money and all this drama started popping up and they became some what tribal. Really strange how they went from being just normal people making fun videos for themselves to these would-be reality tv celebrities.

[@ZennExile]

ALL, not some. ALL. There is no exception. Network click-through is the ONLY method of getting into the public feeds. And those Networks are ALL botnets. It's all fake, has been from the very moment Google bought the company. There's only two methods of hitting the feeds now. The first is joining a Network that pushes global botnets to generate false click-through. The second is to be corporately sponsored by one of KZbin's real partners. Solo creators cannot achieve success in any way. It's not possible. And it never has been. Every popular KZbinr is a member of a media network that uses botnets to generate click-through. There are no exceptions. Even the ones that try to leave are still being used by the same botnets to funnel traffic toward adspace and legitimize content by manipulating the algorithm. The moment the botnets drop them their channels die. You can see it in the analytics from both ends. Soon as the click-through is turned to another channel the original channel immediately gets dropped from the feeds.

[@toxichammertoe8696]

Greed and dishonesty is always sledgehammering themselves in the face

[@Seqla]

I rarely comment on any video. But this shook me so hard. Growing up Kassem G was by far my favorite youtuber and yet I had no idea he was involved in shit like this. Thanks for the news, it really is good to know stuff like this. Keep up the good work!

[@XxJohnnyGATxX]

Fr tho, I had no idea he became such a shady fuck, I used to watch Going Deep all the time and then I remember he just stopped and I never knew why, I also used to what Equals Three with RWJ religiously

[@quantum0151]

KZbin before the 2010s was a different. It was so new to the world and we were barely scratching the surface of the internet.

[@XvXMONSTERXvX]

youtube was legendary back then, now its a shell of its self

[@mycelia_ow]

I wish Microsoft had bought KZbin instead of Google.

[@chillieice]

I'm just happy that Ray has started posting videos on TikTok. He was out of my life but now he's back 💖

[@dominicharvey6048]

It doesn't matter how much money some people have. They will always want more and will ruin peoples lives to do it.

[@m15thios]

YES! I'm so glad you're covering him. Ray's the OG

[@stoptakingthenamesdumbpeople]

If he would've said one thing bad about bro y'all would've d ride him so quick

[@happicheshirecat]

@@stoptakingthenamesdumbpeoplebro facts

[@KhanMann66]

@@stoptakingthenamesdumbpeopleJoon The King made a video exposing RWJ. Turns out RWJ is super left leaning and his Twitter post says as much.

[@m15thios]

@@stoptakingthenamesdumbpeople who? I just like seeing Ray get his flowers tbh. He got me into KZbin 🤟

[@stoptakingthenamesdumbpeople]

@@KhanMann66 I'm saying if he were to say one bad thing about Ray I watch Ray to I like his storys but if he said one thing bout bro not y'all specifically but y'all gone get on Ray said quick

[@oksuure]

Its crazy that the maker studios era and the creators involved never get mentioned nowadays. Haven't thought of them in years

[@Borzah]

I’ve always loved watching your videos. I never miss an upload of you Patrick

[@GoofiestGooberOfThemAll]

your the guy!

[@hsjsshsjs-pb8zr]

wait how are you not verified-

[@zguyofficial6206]

Have you find black people in McDonalds? Just asking don't be offend. I love your video

[@iwayt273]

🫵 are the black man

[@Ghs6]

@iwayt273 is that like an inside joke or a racist comment

[@daveofthematthews]

Felt nostalgic watching this, Ray William Johnson was the first creator that made me take KZbin seriously as I loved "Equals3" and still wish he could do a new version, Remember all this playing out at the time and remember being disappointed with KassemG as his series "California On" was also a show I would always watch. Ray is still doing well for himself though which is good to see.

[@GalaxyKane]

Ray came out on top in the end. He switched his style of story telling and kept clever quips. Glad to see he is back and succeeding.

[@Aarzak]

Ray Williams is an original OG of KZbin. To this day I still follow him.

[@johnnytrongaming]

Ray got me through high school. His content was funny and engaging. Even his ‘my favorite Martian’ spinoff was a huge hit.

[@keeganmurphy1]

Ray William Johnson was everywhere back in the day 😂 Watching school fight compilations and this dudes stuff was basically KZbin growing up 😂

[@ShaunInce123]

Yeah, Ray really shined a light on how scummy MCN's can be. Also, it's good to see that he's still around making content, he brought his channel back to life by embracing the Tik Tok style of content.

[@miikart]

ray is one of the good tiktokers and one that make shorts not the average brainrot content

[@brandonburns5365]

No matter what your talent is, there is always going to be someone trying to exploit it for their own personal gain

[@icu3869]

Even if your talent IS exploiting others for personal gain. I've met some agents, promoters, and nanagers that you'd imagine were the final Boss of slavedrivers, but THEY have bosses driving thier ruthlessness. The dark side of human nature can get darker than most can comprehend- Especially when you're talking about Sociopaths like Danny. God what a pos.

[@oussy22]

you're a savage at 15:31 "the right choice he learned from his mistake as a failed drug dealer; you need to quit while you're at the top" SAVAGE

[@Nathan.Barnatt]

I was there at Maker through all of this. Wild to see videos I was in in this video. They helped me out a good amount. I had a producer and budget for my weekly videos. It definitely was nice for a couple years. Then it all fell apart when Disney stepped in.

[@Shik0njuul934]

Yeah I remember watching the station as a kid. Good times

[@CatsLilaSalem]

I did watch soemthing on Polaris i think, and the last episode was suddenly an mockery making fun of that show, and got heavily disliked at the time. Also most shows suddenly ended or completly changed i think i can't remeber it very well at this point. But it feels like Polaris went from liked to disliked very fast

[@Nathan.Barnatt]

@@CatsLilaSalem they changed the channel to something like “taco fight” and all the subs were confused as to what it was.

[@thejunkman]

Hey old timer! January 2006 creation date right here.

[@CatsLilaSalem]

@@Nathan.Barnatt Oh thanks, i did miss that part then

[@thiagots85]

Pewdiepie just went "I dont have to win... we just both have to lose"

[@SeanMacProductions]

7:49 This is a piece of history many will forget - KZbin was initially very against letting its users upload custom thumbnails. Initially, the only way to do it was by using a formula on the duration of your video that would figure out where KZbin was going to take the thumbnail from, and placing a single frame there with your desired thumbnail. Then, KZbin caught wise to this and specifically changed their thumbnail algorithm so this wasn't possible anymore. It wasn't until years later they allowed custom thumbnails for all.

[@hadiferlan3760]

PewDiePie being a secret hero to all KZbinrs who get involved with MAKER is so meta and cool.

[@irfannasim9092]

he did it by being extremely racist lmao and he also single handedly caused the apocalypse ruining ad revenue for a lot of youtubers

[@Lycaon1765]

Honestly kinda funny that whole thing he did ended up being the only silver lining about it lol.

[@MrEnjoivolcom1]

If Felix is racist, then I’ve got an elephant sized penis.

[@sparkyfolf9487]

Thinking a random website was a scam but found out the hard way when they showed the "Death to" sign in a video.

[@TheHibbitydibbity]

​@irfannasim9092 _"extremely racist"_ Fuck off. He said *ONE THING* on a game. Who cares?

[@T1J]

i fell into the MCN trap early in my youtube career. it made you feel "legit," but truly they just take your money without offering much of anything in return.

[@markcop555]

Faxs

[@elauktan816]

I personally thought that Maker Studios was just an old animation studio that RWJ used and they got angry at him for his music videos, or something. I’m glad RWJ easter-egged the studio in a music video, “Eff this Job.”

[@Jakshere]

Not only is this my favorite go to channel, it reminds me to stay hydrated. Thanks for the consistent, on point content Patrick.

[@bakedstreetyt]

You need a youtube channel to drink water? 😂😂😂

[@bassmankilla9352]

I realized just yesterday that this is my favorite channel. Good voice, good stories, perfect chemistry for a great channel.

[@XDWASDX]

Like Sunny V2 but less obnoxious and content farmy

[@Dylonysus]

100% bros I started binging his videos and watched like 30 in two days haha , happy he gave us a Christmas gift today

[@bassmankilla9352]

@@XDWASDX well said, totally agree, merry Christmas.

[@Vex319]

@@XDWASDXI can’t even watch that guy anymore, he talks like a caveman

[@iDriveAhondaCivic]

This is the only reason I have respect for KZbin. They allow anyone to monetize. I get mad about censorship, but they are a private company, not bound by the US constitution. So, my anger is unjustified.

[@ZennExile]

I love the spin that they were "helping other creators succeed" when all these networks have ever done is create a barrier to entry preventing the millions of other youtube creators who were just as good, and often times far better at creating content on their own, from being able to achieve success. Their networks are just thinly veiled botnets manipulating the algorithm so only creators with "network click-through" are ever pushed on the public feeds. And Ray knew these were botnets. So do all the rest of them. None of this has ever been real. It's impossible to do anything but protect the lie moving forward. Which is what I told most of them individually, in person, at the very begging of all of this. I've been saying "I told you so" now for more that a decade. Best part is, this is permanent now. The botnet scam is baked into the algorithm and youtube has to manually push a trending feed just to compete with it. There's a junk feed you can catch if you block all your data sharing. It's been constantly populated by corporately sponsored content that youtube is "amending" the feeds with. You can see every video they are trying to artificially push the moment it's authorized in the system because it will show up on the junk feed in real time. That's the real reason they are trying to shut down all the adblockers and they are disabling feeds that use your data to modify the junk feed with your personal profile. He was right. It's always been a war. A war between botnet millionaires and the corporate curation algorithm. It never had anything to do with any of us. Not since Google bought the company.

[@hardbrocklife]

Eh. I dont think it even takes a botnet, though I think they exist. The largest consumer of daily content on KZbin is teens. Smoothbrained and ignorant. They will mindlessly consume what is promoted to them as being cool. I do believe botnets are used on top of this to a degree. Mkay egregious one I've seen recently is SypherPK. I followed a little bit WAY back in tje day when he played Elder Scrolls Online. He then went to For Honor when it was trendy, then sacrificed his dignity to the Fortnite gods. Hes channel exploded playing fortnite largely because of all the market dumped knot fortnite itself by epic games. I saw a video of his in the trending feed when I accidentally clicked on it one day, in gave it a watch as I had thought he left KZbin after For Honor stopped trending. The content was cringey and low quality, and you could tell it was forced, but had tons of views and comments. I scrolled through a couple hundred comments and they were all like "thanks for covering fortnite, i love this channel" and "my favorite part was when he shot the gun at the guy". It 30-40% of the comments were the same variation of highly generalized comments that legit an AI could write. This stuff is either funded by SypherPK, Somenumber Thieves, or Epic Games, to drive consumers to fortnite and Thieves affiliated channels.

[@hisaceinthehole3426]

Is this related to the "dead internet" theory?

[@josechavez9041]

Damn bro nobody’s reading all that

[@mollusckscramp4124]

Fr, Maker was like the blue shell of early youtube fame

[@ZennExile]

@@hardbrocklife you don't know what you think you know. Bots make up about 60% of all internet traffic "officially". There are more botnets that are omitted from the official analysis due to security concerns (aka being connected to massive corporate entities). The moment it was determined that the "free internet" could only be free with sponsored advertising was the moment there became two internets. The corporate one you think IS the internet because that's all you know. And then the private/hidden internet that makes up the rest of the iceberg below. The chat bots aren't even new. They are just the new model of the same nonsense. They are why you know what copypasta is, and literally the source of meme culture. The corporate internet is not the internet, and the same corporations who want you trapped in their echo chamber are the ones who create the majority of the bots. You need to go read ALL the Iceberg Slim books. Like right now. Then you'll understand how the internet really works. And how all human interactions work to some degree.

[@horrortackleharry]

Seems like KZbin actively conspired with shady 'networks' until they cleaned themselves up in 2012. Possibly some personal relationships were involved?

[@Darth1Marik]

I remember watching Ray William Johnson back when I was active duty Navy. His videos helped my time on watch pass quickly. I remember when his Your Favorite Martian channel announced it had ended and I never knew why. This is some good closure for me.

[@--Paws--]

This is like some lost media, the old drama being retold. I knew something happened with Ray William Johnson but I didn't know of how involved others were with what has happened. I've heard of how Maker was bad yet this revelations is very surprsing how much worse it really was.

[@elgritton]

People think it was easy and because they were the first content creators that is why they made it big. Ray was a good example of how gifted they are. He left and came back to make it big again in TikTok, that’s innate skills.

[@Alan78941]

Good on Ray for whistle blowing, hopefully today’s content creators will listen and learn

[@JK-gm6kk]

Still can't believe the fine bros tried to copyright a genre of content that America's funniest home videos has been doing since i was 2 years old

[@jessekauffman3336]

Corporations need to keep their greedy hands off everything

[@EndoftheBeginning17]

Not so much corporations. Each successful KZbinr should individually incorporate to protect themselves. What needs to go away are these vultures called venture capitalists. These investors make a mess out of everything because they invest into a company and want to get as much profit out of it as possible. In this case it didn't help that Maker was using other channels to make it seem more impressive than it actually was.

[@OGruurd]

Communism?😅

[@DanDoesGame]

4:47 I'm surprised we don't have a lawsuit for offending someone and hurting their feelings 😂 lmao

[@Noifsnobutsnococonuts-rj4kk]

Ray William Johnson never fails to allegedly tell me something I’m not ready for

[@boonstuff]

@justaguy677 ???

[@Noifsnobutsnococonuts-rj4kk]

@@boonstuff it’s a RWJ thing, you wouldn’t understand

[@emreelalms]

AMS39K is like that one player in the game who scores a hat-trick right out of the gate. Absolutely dominating.

[@alessandrobiondo4726]

100% this

[@seba.4926]

scam

[@SomeRandomDevOpsGuy]

Yes, 1k likes and 3 comments. Checks out.

[@georgie535]

Drivel, garbage, nonsense. Shut up bot.

[@WassupGeeeWahhhh]

scam reported

[@kittycatcat6962]

Never knew this poor guy, equals 3 was so good back in the day and I always thought he was hilarious, cool video

[@CodeDusq1]

I was just watching the latest RWJ video and I saw this video had also dropped. I always like how he presents his commentary and I like the artwork he uses to portray the individuals involved. Like all his comments say, he always delivers.

[@reddolichee]

Its funny how that fiver video ended up saving a lot of creator at the cost of PewDiePie's name being all over the media and label as anti-sematic at that time

[@kaorimiyazono4363]

I feel like Disney had the monopoly from the Mainstream Media, so they decided to slander Felix's name.

[@hisaceinthehole3426]

The swede di ed for our e-sins.

[@neuspeed79]

I’m glad I came across this video. I was very sad whenever RWJ stepped away from =3 and now I know what went down!

[@mukkaar]

It's still insane to me that MCN's would get the money first. It just makes so much more sense that KZbinr would pay for their services normally.

[@noblexx72]

At this point it is rather obvious where the trend is moving and as far as I can tell it is more because of AMS39K by Amazon than anything else. These guys entering the scene is a huge win to all of us

[@seba.4926]

scam

[@captaindanger13]

this is a scam, guys.

[@CantTellYou]

Jesus fucking christ these bots never give up. Shouldn’t they be celebrating the holidays with their families?

[@dingickso4098]

Do not trust anything you see, including my comment! Bunch of scammers everywhere!

[@comatose3788]

Only the corrupt (rich) would ever come up with a contract where you could legally force a person to never tell the truth of.. then make it a law and call that lawful truth.

[@jbmp1390]

Love the fact that you referred to him as an Ex Con throughout this entire video 😂

[@jaimedelgado7529]

Why tho ? As an ex con I thought it was extremely petty. All he did was sell some extasy tabs. So basically a victimless crime. Also he did his time so he payed his dues. Also what Dani diamond was doing he only did because creators signed contracts so they agreed with terms. The contracts were greedy but his company did provide service. The video stated it was hard to get monetized back then and he made it happen immediately. This was in addition to smaller services. Seems like for allot of these creators back then the choice was either make nothing or give 40% of what you are making away. Sometimes it's a fine line between scam and legitimate business and let me tell you there are many legitimate businesses out there doing much worse than what this guy was doing.

[@ericapaquette9624]

​@@jaimedelgado7529that's a YOU problem, because felonies shouldn't be taken lightly (yes there are issues with the justice system but that's another story) the guy was garbage he hustled and scammed he earned that ex-con title.

[@SupaMan0714]

​@@jaimedelgado7529I understand where you are coming from is that YOU are an EX con.... basically a regular guy who did a thing and was rehabilitated. HE is a piece of shit who was and IS still a con

[@PurplePanda1233]

He's not shitty because he sold drugs, He's shitty and he sold drugs...@@ericapaquette9624

[@Kristi__xo]

​@@jaimedelgado7529Danny is that you? bc dang you a riding hard for him. When you are an ex-con and you show that you are still a pos, then it's fine to highlight your past. Additionally, even if other businesses are scummy, doesn't make him less. He's a terrible person who took advantage of creators who didn't know any better. Some weren't getting paid for months. Also. Shay "I cheat on my wife" Carl isn't much better either. Danny isn't an ex-con who did good things, he found a "legal" gray area to exploit people. So sorry if calling him what he is upsets you.

[@BrandonPoirierBlair]

i'm an og "2 camels in a tiny car" kinda RWJ fan and tbh all of what happened with maker really sheds a new light on the reasons why =3 went through all those weird phases and host changes. He felt like they were trying to take away what he had built and he just wanted to hold onto it no matter what.

[@BasicPrune]

bro chucked the federal convict multiple times as if it means anything he got done in for drugs not killing like a child or somthing

[@tylercafe1260]

PewDiePie pushing the envelope is what saved them in the end. Fascinating

[@nightly4804]

Ray was always and will always be my favorite content creator since his launch. I didn’t really know too much of what was going on behind the scenes but this video made it super clear. This what happens when you try to milk other people’s passion. Thankfully KZbin is in a better place today than before. Thanks Patrick for the info, really amazing work!!💙

[@リset]

L

[@DripTheFaucetJohnson]

@@リsetL opinion

[@MooreInteresting]

This is one of those videos that really needed to be made. It's like the original founders didn't receive any consequences at all.

[@electrojones]

It's amazing that Disney didn't sue them over this.

[@olblue3478]

They couldn't

[@sethender443]

I just love how an anti-semantic joke is what basically saved so many youtubers😂

[@Newt2799]

I guess edginess has its uses

[@mustang8206]

Don't upset the Jews. They've got their fingers in a lot of pies

[@Jabrownie23]

Reminds me of a South Park plot.

[@alexisbruce4586]

they blamed him for the adpocolypse anyway

[@kaorimiyazono4363]

​@@alexisbruce4586the adpocalypse is the salvation.

[@friedbaconsizzles]

Wow, haven't heard half of these names in a long time. Thanks for sending me down memory lane lmao.

[@jasonbryant6357]

Imagine Pewdie Pie saying all that dumb shit intentionally as a way to help all those creators get out from underneath those terrible contacts? 😂

[@kaorimiyazono4363]

With the cost of getting his name getting dragged out of by the News media who are making the same articles about the jokes, the cost of Which his Second season of Scare PewDiePie getting scrapped.

[@keomg4718]

@@kaorimiyazono4363 a small cost in the long term. Nobody cares about youtube originals anyway

[@AC-iz7eh]

Man was actually playing 4D chess and people thought he slipped 😂

[@loveandparty4118]

As usual it's the higher ups in corporations that are the problem. They know exactly what they're doing and I feel bad for the smaller channels that lost all their money and were made of talented naive people with very little education.

[@charlesedwinbooks]

Seeing what stage of life shaycarl was in while supporting makers is what tipped it for me. Shaycarl drastically changed from this charismatic fun guy into someone who was really egotistically giving bad health advice. I'm glad he got a place that him happy to be who he wanted to be, but it completely changed the vibe of what brought most people into his content.

[@FlaccidFella]

You did not just tell me the biggest controversy on KZbin is what saved the platform 😂 Pewdiepie is a blessing in disguise

[@SpecterMemo]

Pewdipie literally saved every creators job and he’s begin labeled as the villain. He literally did by textbook the necessary evil to defeat evil What the fuck

[@Pekara121]

​​@@SpecterMemodidn't he fuck everyone up with the adpocalypse tho?

[@viktorreznov6747]

@@Pekara121 nah its the Media who lied about him and stamped him as a nazi for making some jokes and being funny

[@gr-8166]

@@Pekara121no all it did was have advertisers stay away for a few months then everything went back to normal.

[@smjin11]

@@Pekara121 From what I remember the adpocalypse was already going on for a few weeks or months, there was a hitpiece article about ads appearing beside ISIS beheading videos and advertisers started pulling out, but I think it did get amplified by the media hitpiece on PewDiePie.