The Rejection Hotline Rabbit Hole | Billiam

[@MrSandMan961]

Can't think of a bigger bag fumble than showing your crush the rejection hotline as a meme.

[@gustavowadaslopes2479]

She probably mean to imply that she wouldn't send him that one. But she uno reversed herself

[@MaddMo0n]

Imagine fumbling Billiam 😩

[@jorg3023]

​@@MaddMo0nhipster trash

[@FENRIRsEGGregor]

Don’t be crass 😉

[@OFS_Razgriz]

@@MaddMo0n Oh I'm imaginin' it alright

[@MarvelousMissC]

Imagine: it’s early 2008. I’m at a pool party for my elementary school graduation. One of my friends runs up to me, excited, and shows me this hilarious phone number they found called the Rejection Hotline. They play it over their flip phone; the audio has never been crunchier. I think it’s the funniest shit ever, and start showing it to other people with great fervor throughout the summer. My cousins love it so much that we try to make our own version that is now lost to time. This ridiculous thing will forever be linked to one of my last true summer vacations (the kind that are 104 days, if you know what I mean.) Thank you SO much for sharing the history of it with the Internet at large!! This was such an amazing throwback to see in my notifications.

[@auraguardianred4771]

Wow, the “last true summer vacation (the kind with 104 days of you know what I mean)” just hit me like a truck. Excellent, evocative writing, really made me sit and be all contemplative over a KZbin comment. I’m going into college and this is the second year I’ve had a summer job, not to mention mowing lawns and extracurricular BS before that. I’m a lot happier than I was in elementary school actually, and I’ll be even happier in college, but this just makes me yearn a bit for those summers of carelessness, playing with my neighbor (who has long since moved away) outside all afternoon and then playing on the Wii.

[@devinsimon7721]

It really does ooze that 12 year old early 2000s humor.

[@Kibato123]

My main takeway from this video is that there is zero differences between Chelsea Peretti and her character in Brooklyn 99

[@MrSandMan961]

It's kinda impressive that they just let her hang out on the set and told her not to worry about the camera.

[@mattwo7]

@@MrSandMan961 Ah yes, the Will Smith method.

[@JeskidoYT]

@@mattwo7 but without the ego

[@mattwo7]

@@JeskidoYT Also almost everything Will Smith has been in has been either mid or shit.

[@CJ_Raider]

@@mattwo7 I won’t accept slander on ID4. That movie is a masterpiece.

[@pudgeCakeDragon]

I remember giving the rejection hotline number to someone and they immediately said NO that is not your number give me YOUR number. How many times he must’ve gotten that number to know it off hand 😂

[@KaleidosXXI]

It's not likely that he recognized the number itself, business numbers use a different numbering plan from normal ones so it's easy to tell if someone gives you one. It's also why fake numbers tend to be easy to identify, since they rarely adhere to said numbering plans.

[@discodog4582]

imagine being given a fake number and still insisting that the other person give you their real number. like dude. they clearly aren’t into you, take a hint and leave them alone

[@iopohable]

you can also say no instead of pretending to be captain jack sparrow.

[@monhi64]

@@KaleidosXXII have no idea what you talking about, there’s area code and even town codes with landlines aka a business but it’s really not that unusual to meet someone with a phone number from a different area code much less town code. You’re not talking about 800 numbers right? The rejection hotline was just formulated like a regular ol’ number it’s intent was to trick people

[@pudgeCakeDragon]

@@iopohable ah yes cause a man who stalked me from college and cornered me in a store asking for my number totally would’ve taken no for answer 🙄😂 girl bye and whatever sheltered life you’ve lived ya lucky

[@tylociraptor8131]

Was not expecting Chelsea Peretti of all people to show up in this video. I LOVE her, she's so funny!

[@eerielakeerie]

i got so thrown off by billiam mentioning TCC right as i was driving past the entrance for it that i almost forgot about the time a kid specifically put the rejection hotline down as the RSVP number in the bday invites that he gave to me and my two friends in 2008

[@problematicmonika3723]

In middle school, there was this girl who was a one upper, and her dad was dating my mom, which met I was forced to be around her despite her being a huge ass to me. Well, we were invited to a sleepover at a mutual friend's house, and my friend's older brother was flirting with me, and because the girl was a one upper, she just HAD to get his number and rub it in my face. So the next night, she kept making fun of me about it and decided to call the boy in front of me and put it on speaker. It was the rejection hotline, and I LOST IT. It was the best karma and the look on her face was priceless.

[@life_is_no_fairytale]

The rejection hotline was a bit of a weird concept, but its what finally got a creep to leave me alone so I'll always have fond memories of it. XD

[@FlpDaMattress]

These numbers were huge in my elementary school when only a handful of us had phones and they were super novel. These numbers were passed around on sticky notes or by word of mouth and we'd all crowd around and listen during recess. I never thought I'd hear them again. Holy cow.

[@Eira_99]

As someone whos around the same age as you I can relate to how we're in this weird middle ground where we don't fully relate or feel like we count for either side of Millennial or Zoomer. First phone was a flip phone too but we obviously also fully understand smart phones. We remember using VHS, I even remember using floppy discs, yet all the newer technology also came around while I was young enough that it also feels natural to me. I fully understand and remember older stuff and new stuff but in such a way and at a specific age that I do consider the older stuff old, and not just something I use to use and consider the newer stuff new and not just natural modern tech. It's kinda hard to describe cause older people understand the old and new too, but they don't think about them in the same way.

[@wombatpandaa9774]

Yeah, I've definitely felt that too. I come from the same in-between couple of years and find that I can't really identify completely with either generation.

[@TinyLordCthulhu]

Zillennial

[@weinerlover6972]

​@@TinyLordCthulhu no. boomer zoomer

[@crimson_auror]

I’m part of that group too. We’re called cuspers because we’re right on the cusp of millennial to gen z.

[@tobykassulke2385]

​@@weinerlover6972 zoober

[@versebuchanan512]

Talking about the Donald piss tapes like they're an ancient mystery is wild. The last like, eight years are all blurring together for me.

[@hauntedsunsets]

I always describe myself as having grown up as a millennial then found myself closer to gen Z as an adult. It's left me in that strange space where I had an SNES and a PS1 as a kid but now exist in the same online spaces as gen Z

[@call_me_mad1236]

This is how nearly everyone feels. Every generation. There are only a sliver of years where someone would feel concretely one "generation". The lines drawn are arbitrary and it's obviously a slow gradient of change not a hard start and stop. This is such a pet peeve of mine, because OF COURSE you don't perfectly meet some stupid paragraph trying to describe EVERYTHING in your "generation"

[@imjustdandy9799]

The term is zillenial *gags*

[@MrSandMan961]

My sister was born in 99 and is 4 years younger than me. We shared a childhood so it's not ridiculous that there's some overlap in our experiences even if I'm a millennial and she's in Gen Z.

[@obeseperson]

@@call_me_mad1236 No

[@randomtinypotatocried]

I was born in 93 and I still feel that. It might be because my best friend is Gen Z and others assume I'm younger than I am (until they make a joke about 30 being old and having to remind them of the awful truth of me turning 30 in a few months)

[@imjustdandy9799]

Im realing at how casually you drop the bomb that Buzzfeed is officially not doing news anymore and that Chelsea Perretti is married to jordan fucking peele

[@missybarbour6885]

OH MAN I had totally forgotten the time my friend showed me the Harry Potter one! It was a lady with a fake British accent saying something like "We're sorry, Hogwarts is not accepting new enrollments at this time and you're probably a muggle anyway." I thought it was so funny when I was 13, but I always wondered who set it up? So thanks for answering that question I forgot I had!

[@liz_loves_cats]

I "broke up" with a guy when I was 11 and like a week later he called and told me he had a new phone number and to call him back to make sure I had it right. Rejection hotline. It's so funny to me and even then I was like ? Uh?

[@Ashthegrey]

Oh my God, I remember being shown this back in the early 2000's by my best friend. Thanks for helping me recall a hidden gem of a memory 👍🏼

[@sirhillarybillary]

We all saved it, wildly overestimating the zero men we would use it on lol

[@Ashthegrey]

@@sirhillarybillary so true 🤣

[@frauleinfunf]

I don't remember these hotlines but God is this humor so in line with that raunchy "not PC" era of comedy. It's like the vocal version of those t shirts you'd see at mall kiosks that'd say things like "I Support Single Moms" and underneath would be a silhouette of a woman pole dancing

[@iopohable]

we call these grandpa jokes. and sure they were fun in the 1600

[@mehlover]

Man rejection hotline takes me back. I remember being shown this and it was a Riot amongst my friends and classmates. It's wild to find out Chelsea Peretti is married to Jordan Peel! Amazing! Edit: I meant "hotline" not "holiness" darn you autocorrect

[@boobah5643]

"holiness" I assume some form of autocorrect, but does it not recognize "hotline" or was there another fumble in there that the machine 'fixed' to "holiness?"

[@mehlover]

@@boobah5643 oops. I meant hotline darn you autocorrect!

[@jpool9]

Amazing story! I cant believe you’re the first person to cover this scandal. Do more videos like this!!!

[@ThumpWump]

Holy shit. This unlocked some deep memories I had forgotten. I was able to quote 80% of that message even though it’s been over a decade since I last heard it. 🤯

[@bekaz13]

This unlocked a core memory. Turns out I still have the hotline saved in my phone, thankfully I've never had to use it.

[@NiceandAccurateMoose]

As someone who also grew up being a part of Gen Z and Millennials, this hits me right in my soul.

[@astrowolvez]

I don’t even know where I stand (I see so many shifting dates) but regardless! I have never seen this before. 😂

[@chancebrown98]

I was born in 98. I agree

[@NiceandAccurateMoose]

​@johnnyhotcock5431 we have a power many could only dream of, living on the precipice of two fates. We are gen z when we are gen z, and we are millennial when we are millennial.

[@Jetfox967]

I was born in 96, so I agree.

[@ectopuppy]

I remember getting rick rolled by the phone in middle school. A friend told me she got a new phone number and gave me the rick roll line instead. My introduction to the meme lmfao.

[@GlitchedVision]

I fondly remember both versions of the rejection hotline but I hate to admit this, the thought of playing leapfrog with a unicorn always made me laugh.

[@BriGuy-ed5dr]

New Billiam video, One Piece Chapter, & Not My Party episode in one morning. Its like someone is coordinating the internet around my specific tastes.

[@TasteOfVictory]

I love hyper specific niche 30min or more videos like this. Fun watch.

[@TheRealNova99]

Just....imagine me standing up, solemnly nodding my head and applauding. Because there are no words.

[@JamesLawner]

This was a fascinating deep dive, and I did not expect Chelsea Peretti’s brother to have invented reblogging!

[@Jackvfoster]

The way Billiam said "accusations of plagiarism and theft" and immediately cut to the Connor and Chris Wacky Weekend Theme was crazy to me

[@thumbsarehandy.]

Holy shit, I remember the rejection hotline! I wasn't even dating at the time but I had the number saved (in my Motorola RAZR) because I thought for SURE I would need it. I never did. I also had something they provided where you could have your own number where the caller could leave a message so you could decide if you want to call them back or not. I don't know if this was before Google Voice, or if I just didn't know Google Voice existed.

[@redpup112]

It was probably before, Google Voice started in 2009.

[@philtkaswahl2124]

That rejection hotline misunderstanding is perfect romcom material.

[@abadira]

I never at any point could anticipate where this story was gonna go good LORD

[@lulucool45]

I'm gonna have to watch this one a couple times before I get my Jeffs, Jonahs and Johns straight

[@sageisnotaplant99]

The rejection hotline was a memory deep in my brain that you just brought to the surface

[@evanbalikos1878]

What a vastly underrated Billiam video. Loved all of the history shared here. Thanks so much, Billy!

[@mattercakes]

"How did you get to be so cool?" "By stealing, mostly" I died

[@ShredAimlessly92]

That’s the best part about pre-viral internet, the trends and stories either amount to legends and lore, or are lost to the ages, and it’s always fascinating when old lore pops up over twenty years later.

[@lotusthemermaid]

Jeff Goldblatt was ahead of his time in the amount of cringe he produced.

[@dogfooddevin5538]

Unrelated, but I will never stop loving your usage of the Tropico 4 and Tropico 5 music in these videos. Always takes me back.

[@shutterzero]

i’ve been watching all your vids for the last week and can safely say you’re my new fav channel and was so excited when this vid appeared in my subscription feed. i made my mum sit through both of your LOST videos and she was exhausted by the end of it :)

[@clausewitzianwar]

"Facsimile" is what "fax" is short for (in terms of a fax machine, it makes a copy)

[@prodbyzacy]

I am college student in Tallahassee Florida who has written multiple college papers on the show Lost. You’re channel makes me feel seen.

[@ErikNilsen1337]

I met a girl during my first week of college, and we became fast friends. One day, while eating lunch at the cafeteria with our friend group, she asked all of a sudden if I would like her phone number. I said, "Sure." She had me call the number in front of her so see could watch my face as I called the rejection hotline. We're still friends to this day.

[@zanafirth4135]

I haven’t seen you around on my dashboard/home screen in a few months & I’m a pretty regular viewer of your content. Looks like KZbin is hiding your stuff in its greedy little pockets :( Very glad to have caught this one! Time to binge :)

[@noahcredibleftw1024]

Your videos are the only thing getting me through college man 😂

[@infinite-ichthyologist]

I cannot believe this insane video has only 80k views. Hope it hets an algorithm uplift bro because it's amazing

[@carlcarlington7317]

People talk about how useful this was in the dating scene but real ones just called the hotline themselves repeatedly, giggling at the concept of such a hotline even existing while sitting alone in their bedroom on a Friday night

[@CartoonHero1986]

Personal favorite incarnation of this was the Mental Health Hotline and the prompter "If you're codependent have someone push 1 for you" "If you suffer from compulsion press 2 repeatedly" "If you suffer from paranoia, please hang up; no one wants to talk to you!"

[@maverickREAL]

Didn't Death Grips sample that? "Press 9 and your call will be directed to the mothership?"

[@CartoonHero1986]

@@maverickREAL I don't know about the sample. But yes that is it "If you're delusional press 7 to be connected to the mothership"

[@John-Doe-Yo]

How odd

[@BriGuy-ed5dr]

Me too Billie. 96-2000 babies stuck in the middl3

[@mrthebunnyhuntr]

love the niche story and hope we get more, but I need an even longer Lost video

[@ericbazinga]

Petition for Billiam to make the Piss Hotline his voicemail

[@Hopeful_dreamer]

That laugh at the end of the phone messages reminds me of Papi from The Proud Family

[@fugyfruit]

The tragedy of being born in 99 right on the cusp of both Millenial and Gen Z

[@erinbrown3744]

I heard about this number back in middle school from a friend at church. It was a bunch of us girls hanging out after youth group and one girl started talking about it and we actually called the number. Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared for the advent of texting to spoil our use of the number when we started needing it.

[@felipevega830]

17:34 they have basically the entire song which is not what I was expecting, thought they'd only have like a couple seconds or so

[@MikeButch]

Billiam needs more views. Such a good channel.

[@lack_of_reality]

This is such an odd Billiam video, but it was very entertaining, informative, and enjoyable!

[@maccamachine]

Another great billiam video I’m glad I got to grow up during the early 2000’s it was a crazy time that laugh is amazing

[@alyshalynperron9385]

I haven't gotten any notifs or anything that you've posted in months and now you have long luxurious locks, what did I miss 😭

[@megalina2]

this was so good . like it took me a while to watch this one but it was like i never knew where the story was going

[@jmv333]

Fun fact, facsimile is also where the name 'fax machine' comes from, they produce 'facsimiles' of the input message, shortened to 'fax'

[@whyiwakeup6460]

The dumb laugh needs to become a post-ironic gen z meme sound effect

[@freakette555]

Love the revelation that Billiam is a former Speech Kid. It all makes sense now.

[@emilyschneider8637]

i remember these. i called a bunch of them on my motorola razr back in the day, but then mom saw a bunch of random numbers on the phone bill and was NOT happy. no more rejection hotline after that…

[@alyssahoeldtke5732]

I appreciate you bringing the Rick roll hotline to my attention, I live near that area code and can actually use it at the bar lmao

[@Turtl3Ramen]

Idk if you take suggestions but a video on season 1 and 2 of The Colony from discovery would be a cool thing to see from you.

[@Ojutai]

Holy crap I remember those hotlines lol. Fun video man and Facsimile is what fax is short for.

[@13silentpoets]

Hey Billiam, I just wanted to let you know I named an NPC in my DND campaign after you. He's a famous enchated item merchant and smith, who opened up an enchanted homewares store in a capital city. His best seller is a magic trash can that teleports any trash thrown in it to the nearest non magical trash can.

[@adriangonzalez5021]

I forgot the Rejection Hotline was a thing. Man, what a time to be alive!

[@meahisleah]

this video deserves a million views

[@weirdproq]

This was pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing this thing I never knew about till now.

[@tvguts]

Great vid!!! Prerecorded phone hotlines are such a fascinating relic. Just a creative way to get random junk out into the universe with the technology available. Some of it funny, most of it not. Reminds me of TMBG's old Dial-A-Song hotline, kinda!!!

[@Xizor15]

Rejection hotline being brought up in the year of our lord 2023 was like getting hit over the head with a baseball bat

[@41dn]

the editing in this episode goes crazy

[@otaking3582]

The only rejection hotline anyone needed was the Freddy Krueger 1-900 line.

[@senhorkorracha]

5 minutes in and I'm already dizzy. Good rabbit hole!

[@ItzShdw]

imagine your homies show you the pissed on hotline

[@NickyG_vz]

loved the video Billiam. What an interesting topic good stuff

[@penhuinz0]

At 17:36 Billiam said "Are you angry about the taste of preteen girls in 2008?" 😂😂😂 Billiam is the Tallahassee Cannibal🎉🎉

[@billiam]

oh no - i hate my wording here

[@penhuinz0]

@@billiam I'll delete all incriminating evidence if you just finish your Lost series. I didn't watch you live in a box in the jungle for nothing!

[@leocruz1688]

i had you playing in the background when this episode started and i heard the theme for a second i thought i was watching "abroad in japans" wacky weekend

[@johnnypollack3243]

Love the video and keep up the great work

[@jb0258]

This unlocked memories of watching Family Guy back around 2007, and not understanding John Lott jokes, since I never knew who he was 😅

[@Sidewinder1996]

My grandmother memorized the morgue's phone number to give to guys when she was younger. Oooof

[@billiam]

Now THATS epic

[@thenosh9860]

Maybe you can make a video about the history behind websites like “the useless web”, as always love these videos 👍

[@natkatmac]

From niche core memory toys to niche core memory flip phone numbers. I'm fully ready to dive into allll the collective memories.

[@wrmsnicket]

“These existed in the time of the pre-Internet before everything was recorded.” I don’t think Billiam knows what phone RECORDINGS are.

[@Jetfox967]

Man, this is a very intriguing rabbit hole.

[@TeamAPS]

I remember jokes like this when I was in junior high!

[@alchemistofsteel8099]

8:12 But what about people with autism who can't read body language?

[@879SCSP]

I don't remember if it was this one but I remember some kind of hotline having a phone version of chatroullete that teenagers most definitely should not have been on but somehow had my 13 year old self obsessed

[@molotera8789]

I first learned abt Jonah Peretti after Buzzfeed news was shutting down and my first thought was "is he related to Chelsea?"

[@hauntedsunsets]

that jermaphobe joke got me good

[@mentalcrowbar9434]

Fantastic video as always. Thank you

[@ArtomicBass]

Billiam you should check out Rokenbok, it’s a sick toy my parents couldn’t afford. Im gonna comment this on every video you put out till you do it starting now. Please let this be short lived

[@mattwo7]

5:43 This coming from the guy who shook tons of hands during a pandemic when he self-allegedly doesn't like shaking hands either. He might have OCD but he is not mysophobic. Those of us with OCD can push past our hesitations of getting dirty when push comes to shove.

[@petbird19]

This was so good!

[@TheCrow8198]

Great digging. The hotline was still better. I heard the STD line back in the day, but had the humorish laugh to let you know it was a gag line at the end. I feel gag lines shouldn't be monopolies. Image how many sex hotlines we see in magazines would be if they fought who was the only one allowed to post those spamming posts in adult magazines. Most outside the rejection hotlines were for the gags of the fact. Only people who believed the calls didn't finish the recording that said it's obviously a joke.

[@bigburgerboi2005]

The recently brought it back under a new number

[@Toroslim]

This was a great vid I had forgotten about these 😂

[@Kristopher-Ryan_Kovacs_IRL]

Ahh man I'll never forget when I first heard this phone number. I was a teenage living in Toronto and of course trying to score some weed, and the guy I was going through took my money and told me to wait at a bench while he went to go grab it. Cleverly I asked him for his cell phone number so I could get a hold of him in case he was "taking to long or something" so he gave me the infamous rejection hotline # without me knowing what it was so about 15 mins later I called "him" and heard that mysterious message and come to the conclusion that I ain't ever seeing that guy again and no weed for me. Ahhh the early 2000s before Facebook. What a time.