Over the past few weeks, my timeline has been filled with two ongoing “drama”! One is between Keemstar and H3H3, and the other one revolves around Pokimane vs ItsAGundam. Now I won’t be going too deep into either drama, I’ll likely just give bullet points so you can get a gist as to what’s going on. The main focus today is to touch on how the once “holy grail” of monetization, sponsorships, which has helped sustain many YouTubers when YouTube itself ain’t enough, is now just a frail and easy to destroy! It’s now become a tool to hurt or silence!
I’ll start with the Pokimane vs ItsAGundam since that one is kinda straight forward:
- ItsAGundam made a video poking fun at Pokimane’s followers, calling them simps!
- Pokimane did not like that and responds, mentioning his sponsors as a way to hit back
- It’sAGundam loses sponsorship!
Yep, it’s that easy! The toxicity on the YouTube platform as evolved to such a degree that now if you want to hurt or silence someone on the platform, mention their sponsors and address what it is you think they’re doing that would damage a sponsors’ reputation and boom, sponsorship eradicated! This to me took me by surprise if I’m being honest. ItsAGundam didn’t even criticize Pokimane directly, but more so the people who would spend thousands of dollars on her, to the point of going homeless. Yet, that was enough for the man to lose his sponsorship. Do you understand just how fragile that is? Literally, if you have a problem with someone, or you want to silence them, make a video and mention their sponsorship and it’s over. Heck, you could bend or exaggerate the truth just enough to really hit the mark!
A similar event occurred with the Keemstar vs H3H3, although this one could be argued was deserved considering Keemstar has had an extensive history of toxicity on YouTube. It goes as follows:
- Keemstar and H3H3 have been beefing for a while!
- Keemstar accused H3H3 of fraudulent!
- H3H3 decides to defends himself and exposes Keem for what he really is!
- H3H3 mentions Keemstar’s sponsorship throughout his video!
- Suddenly Gfuel removes all evidence of Keem from their website.
Attacking a YouTuber’s sponsorship has been one of those no-no unspoken rules, however, that has been thrown out the window. If you ask me, this is just another form of cancel culture for those that never could be affected by the movement. It’s a harsher and more severe way to really hurt someone or put them in their place. A dangerous sentiment that I feel will catch on really quick! Criticizing someone on this platform now bears a dangerous risk of losing your sponsorship if they choose to retaliate out of sheer pettiness.
At the same time, I’d like to highlight just how flimsy these sponsorships are in general. These are the type you have to form a relationship and trust. Instead of giving their sponsors a chance to explain themselves, they are quick to pull out without remorse. Some do form a strong relationship, giving at least a warning of some kind, but most don’t care, it’s a business after all! The so-called safety net for YouTubers now has a massive hole in it, so I hope a lot of these YouTubers begin to formulate a plan to create multiple streams because it’s clear now that these two cases won’t be the last!
Let me know what you guys think of all this?
