As many of you may know, this blog was inspired by Doug Walker and his character, the Nostalgia Critic. When I created Reviews and Retrospectives, I took a page out of Walker's book with the intention of paying tribute and showing my respect to him. However, in light of the recent controversy surrounding him and Channel Awesome, I am slowly losing respect for him. I understand many of the grievances were caused by CEO Mike Michaud, but I can tell Walker and his brother were also part of the problem. They mistreated many of their fellow producers, such as Kaylyn Dickson (Marzgurl), Lewis Lovhaug (Linkara), and especially Allison Pregler (Obscurus Lupa). It sickens me that a man I looked up to, a man I idolized and saw as a source of inspiration was allowing these problems to happen. He had many opportunities to stand up and say something; despite being an advocate for freedom of speech, he did nothing to quell the fears and he still has yet to address them. I understand he may be afraid of Michaud, but because him and Rob have yet to say anything at this moment, Channel Awesome is going into the red; it is losing subscribers by the day and producers on the site are leaving at an alarming rate. Mr. Walker, I doubt you are reading this. However, if you are, you have to say something and somehow address this situation. One can not ignore a problem forever, and if it is left untouched for too long, it could kill the site. I have always dreamed of working for Channel Awesome, but after hearing of this controversy, I am not sure if I still want to. Until further notice, I think I will be limiting my viewing of Nostalgia Critic; knowing he was aware of these problems and did nothing to change them shows the truth behind his character. I idolized Walker for his advocacy toward the first amendment and equality for content creators; seeing he was partially behind the problems with his company, it makes him seem a tad hypocritical. All I can say is that my heart goes out to those affected over the years, and I pray Channel Awesome can somehow make a change.
If you would like to learn more about the controversy, feel free to look at the google doc known as Not So Awesome: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WZFkR__B3Mk9EYQglvislMUx9HWvWhOaBP820UBa4dA/preview#heading=h.v89be0jiemu0
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