c/canceled-creators-corner

That $40 background check service showed me who was really running the tea page

I'm honestly tired of watching this canceled influencer come back with the same soft launch, so I paid for a background check on the guy who runs the gossip page exposing them. Turns out the page manager was literally their ex-manager from 3 years ago, and they've been planting fake stories to make the comeback look worse than it is. I was skeptical of spending that cash, but seeing the court records and business filings line up changed my whole view. Now I can't tell if any of these drama threads are real or just another PR war between bitter business partners. It's making me question every rumor I've upvoted in this group for the last 6 months. Has anyone else ever dug into who runs these anonymous accounts, or are we all just feeding the machine without checking? I keep going back and forth on whether exposure is even worth it at this point.

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kaiharris•5d ago

The tearful apology video after 300k followers disappeared overnight

This local food blogger from Austin built her whole page on these fake giveaways and bought engagement. She got exposed by a small account in like 6 hours and lost 300k followers before she even woke up. Her comeback attempt was this 12 minute video with tears and a piano track, but she kept the sponsor links in the description. That detail alone made everyone see it as a money grab instead of a real apology. I honestly wonder if anyone has ever come back from that kind of fake follower dump, or if the algorithm just never forgives you. Has anyone watched a redemption arc that actually stuck after that big of a collapse?

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derek656•6d ago

Shoutout to the comeback arc from that canceled travel vlogger in Austin

Tbh I watched this guy, Cole something, get nuked 3 years ago for faking a charity drive in Thailand. He lost like 400k subs in a month and went totally quiet. Then last week he popped back up with a mini doc about rebuilding a food truck in Austin, Texas, and it's honest about the whole scam. He even shows the old receipts and talks to the people he ripped off. I gotta say the raw footage of him scrubbing grease off the grill at 6am hit different. Has anyone else seen a canceled creator come back with actual proof of work instead of a fake apology? I'm curious if this one sticks or if the dirt is just too deep.

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dianal94•8d ago

Warning: that $200 'reputation management' package did nothing for my brand

Paid $200 to one of those PR cleanup services after a client went viral for the wrong reasons, thought they'd scrub the mess. They just sent a template press release and a Google alert setup I could've done free. My brand took 6 more weeks to recover on its own, has anyone else wasted cash on these services?

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allen.charlie•10d ago

It took me 4 weeks to realize my old fave's comeback was just a rebrand

I kept waiting for that YouTuber from 2019 to actually address the stuff they got canceled for, then I noticed their new channel name and patreon tiers and it hit me they just swapped the logo and kept the same act. Anyone else waste way too long trying to spot a real apology that never came?

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ray363•11d ago

That $80 Cameo from a canceled YouTuber was oddly worth it

I paid $80 for a Cameo from that fitness influencer who got dropped after the whole gym drama in 2023. Figured it'd be a trainwreck or a flop, but he actually gave a 2 minute apology-style pep talk that was surprisingly real. My buddy and I laughed at first, then we both ended up a little moved by it. Anyone else shell out for a canceled creator's merch or content just to see what happens?

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dixon.spencer•11d ago

Saw Jenna Marbles' old merch at a thrift store in Columbus and it hit different

Was back home visiting family last month and walked into a Value World near OSU. There it was, a faded 'Team Jenna' hoodie from like 2015 hanging on the rack for $6.99. I just stood there for a minute. That whole era felt so simple, she just dipped out on her own terms and never came back. No lame apology tour, no podcast six months later trying to rebrand. Everyone else from that time is doing some cringe comeback or selling teeth whiteners. She just vanished. I almost bought it but it was a size small and also I felt weird wearing someone's canceled merch. Anyone else run into old merch from a creator who actually stayed gone? Does that make it more respectable or just sad?

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xena1•12d ago

Took my apology video down after 11k views, edited it with a 34 second silence and reposted, views tripled

Found out that pausing right after admitting fault makes people actually stay to watch the next part instead of rage-scrolling, so has anyone else tried playing with pacing to control the comment section's mood?

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margaret_gonzalez25•13d ago

My 10,000 follower loss didn't sting, the 143 who stayed did

Back in 2019 I had a modest channel, maybe 11,200 subscribers. Then the old tweets surfaced and poof, down to 1,143 in about three days. It hurt, sure, but what surprised me was combing through the comment section after the dust settled. Those 143 people weren't bots or bandwagon fans. They left messages like 'I still watch your old woodworking videos' and 'Folks make mistakes, I'm sticking around.' That number changed how I viewed the whole cancel culture circus. Instead of chasing views or apologies, I started replying to every single one of those loyal folks. Has anyone else found that the small group after a fall matters more than the big crowd before it?

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lane.cameron•15d ago

That Shane Dawson apology doc at my local theater changed my mind

I watched that comeback documentary screening in Portland last month and realized I'd been way too quick to forgive him before. Has anyone else had their opinion flip after seeing a canceled creator talk in person instead of just on YouTube?

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evaallen•17d ago

My friend told me to just apologize and go quiet, that backfired hard

So back in March this micro influencer I followed, @jessicawanders, got called out for using AI images in her travel posts. My buddy was like 'she just needs to post a quick sorry and log off for two weeks, that always works.' She did exactly that. Posted a one line apology, deactivated for 14 days. When she came back, everyone had moved on to the next drama and honestly it felt like it worked. But then her engagement tanked. Like her views went from 40k average to like 3k. People weren't mad, they just didn't care anymore. She lost all momentum. Six months later she's doing cheap sponsored smoothie ads nobody clicks. Maybe that advice works for celebrities but for smaller creators, silence just makes people forget you exist. Has anyone else seen someone follow the classic playbook and still end up worse off?

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cora_scott77•17d ago

Met my favorite canceled creator at a gas station in Tulsa, she was shockingly normal

I pulled up to pump gas last Tuesday and saw this woman who looked so familiar. It was Jenny from that mommy blogger scandal two years ago, the one who faked her whole clean eating brand while secretly eating fast food every night. She was in sweatpants buying a Monster energy drink and a bag of chips. I walked over and said I used to watch her, and she just laughed and said 'yeah, the lies were exhausting, I'm honestly happier now.' We talked for maybe five minutes about how she lost 400k followers overnight but gained her kids back on weekends. It stuck with me because everyone online acts like these people are monsters, but she was just a regular person who messed up. Has anyone else met a canceled creator in the wild and had them be totally different from their online persona?

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gavin_kelly91•20d ago

Hit 500k views on a 'regret video' and it changed my comeback plan

So I posted a video last month owning up to the whole sponsor scandal from 2023, not expecting much. It got 500k views in like 4 days, which is wild because my channel was dead at 40k subs. I think people actually respect when you admit you messed up instead of doing that fake PR apology thing. My old manager texted me saying I should pivot to 'accountability content' but that feels like a trap. Now I'm stuck deciding if I lean into this or just go back to normal gaming videos. Has anyone else had a random apology post blow up and then figure out how to use that without looking thirsty? Also curious if the hate comments ever stop or if you just learn to ignore em.

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margaret_williams5•21d ago

My old mentor was right about apology videos, took 5 years to see it

Back in 2019, my buddy Dave who runs a small PR firm in Columbus told me that when a creator messes up, the first apology video is almost never the real one. He said wait for take two, because take one is always damage control. I laughed it off until I watched that lifestyle vlogger with 2 million subs post a 'sorry not sorry' apology in March, then a genuine one in April after the sponsors fled. Has anyone else noticed the second apology is where the actual truth comes out, or is it just me?

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briancarter•22d ago

Practice apology video got 40k views, so I actually posted it

So after my last cancellation I kept writing draft apology videos but never hitting post. This Tuesday I was bored and recorded one just to see how it looked. Wasnt even planning to upload it, just practicing my tone. Then I figured whatever, let me post it at 11pm and forget about it. Next morning it had 40k views and people were actually saying I sounded genuine. I think the trick was I didnt script it, I just talked about what I actually did wrong and what I'd do different. Has anyone else seen better reactions when they stop trying to sound perfect?

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daniel_walker•25d ago

Went to a meet and greet for that canceled beauty guru last weekend and saw only 12 people showed up in a room that could hold 200.

The whole vibe felt like a library book sale where nobody remembered there was a sale happening, and she kept glancing at the empty chairs while talking about her new 'authentic' skincare line - has anyone else watched a comeback attempt just fizzle out in real time like that?

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ryan_gibson84•28d ago

Found out Colleen Ballinger lost 40% of her subscribers in one month after that podcast clip went viral

I stumbled on that stat from a Social Blade breakdown someone posted here last week, and it honestly shocked me how fast the drop happened. Has anyone else noticed her trying to quietly slip back into content without the ukulele?

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troy832•28d ago

Still waiting for that Logan Paul boxing match apology to actually mean something

I was watching this old video of Logan Paul talking about his Japan forest video and the fallout from it. He did that whole thing where he said sorry on camera, looked real serious about it. But then I noticed he was back making money off the controversy within like 3 weeks. It took me a whole afternoon to track the timeline from when he posted the apology to when he started selling merch again. The gap was less than a month. That got me thinking about how these people use apologies as just another step in their business plan. Has anyone else gone back and timed the space between a creators apology and their next money move? I bet most of them are under 60 days.

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cora_scott77•29d ago

Gave up on a canceled creator after 8 months of their apology tour

Was following this one YouTuber who got caught faking their charity livestreams. I stuck around hoping they'd turn it around but after 8 months of halfhearted apologies and still no real charity work happening, I unfollowed. Anyone else just get tired of waiting for a real change?

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kaiharris•1mo ago

Watched a canceled creator try a comeback for 3 years straight

I remember this YouTuber I used to follow. Got canceled hard back in 2020 for some really sketchy stuff. Deleted everything. Went silent. Then a year later they pop back up with an apology video. Then another one six months after that. Then a third one last summer. Each time they lose more subscribers. It's been 3 years and they still have less than half their original audience. They just can't let go. Anyone else follow someone who keeps trying to come back but it's just not working?

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margaret_williams5•1mo ago

Hot take: That influencer who got canceled for faking a charity run actually made me donate more

I rolled my eyes at the whole scandal last summer, but seeing the backlash made me actually look up local food banks. I ended up giving $50 to one in my town because I felt like I had to do something real after watching the fake stuff online. Has anyone else felt that weird push to donate after a big cancellation story?

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dianal94•1mo ago

Caught a canceled lifestyle guru faking a live workshop in Austin last weekend

I went to this "intimate comeback tour" for Jenna Voss (she got canceled for faking her whole organic farm brand) at a small venue on South Congress. She was supposed to be showing us how to hand-make soap from scratch, but I noticed all the ingredients were pre-measured in identical jars... and her "spontaneous" tips matched a script I found on a production table by the bathroom. The whole crowd of 50 people paid $75 each for a session that was just a pre-recorded video playing on a screen. Has anyone else seen influencers charge real money for events that feel totally staged?

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perry.evan•1mo ago

Hit 50,000 subscribers after a cancellation and it felt hollow

I got canceled last year for a bad take on a gaming controversy. Lost like 20k followers in a week. Then I made a quiet apology and just kept posting normal content. Somehow six months later I crossed 50,000 subscribers which was my old goal. But nobody in the comments even mentioned the drama anymore. It felt weird hitting that number because most of those new people had no clue why I was gone for a month. Has anyone else reached a milestone after getting canceled and not felt proud of it?

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the_tara•1mo ago

That influencer who lied about her DUI apology finally got to me

I watched her first apology video 3 times and thought she was faking it, but after she posted a second one a week later with actual steps she took, I actually bought her new cookbook. Has anyone else changed their mind after a second try?

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hernandez.finley•1mo ago

I finally found a trick that got an influencer unblocked from every platform

My buddy dated a canceled beauty guru who got booted off IG, TikTok, and YouTube after that whole fake giveaway scandal. She hired some $500 consultant who told her to post a raw unedited apology video with no filters or script, and it actually worked. Has anyone else seen a comeback strategy that felt too simple to be real?

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