Around April 5 and April 7, several Channel Awesome producers left in a mass exodus because of Channel Awesome’s response to allegations made by several former producers. In these allegations, several former producers accuse Doug Walker (the Nostalgia Critic) and Rob Walker of mismanagement and complacency in the actions of Mike Michaud. Accusations against Michaud include accusations of bullying, selling artwork without paying, mismanaging $90,000 in funds raised by fan donations through a crowdsourcing site, and firing a human resource agent over absence from a surgery.
Doug Walker is accused of casting the deciding vote in the decision to fire Brown. He is also accused of overworking volunteer contributors and pressuring Lindsey Ellis, the former Nostalgia Chick, into voice acting an edited version of a sexual assault scene she objected to.
Channel Awesome released a new statement on April 12 refuting some of the allegations and providing timelines of events. Some fans were under the impression that the sexual harassment allegations were directed at current Channel Awesome management, but these accusations were directed at Mike Ellis, a former COO who was terminated.
According to reports, the target of Mike Ellis alleged harassment was the same human resource agent later fired by Michaud and Doug Walker.
In Channel Awesome’s latest statement, the company attacked the credibility of the company’s accusers and accusing some of them of spreading lies out of vindictiveness. After the Second Exodus which resulted from that statement, there are currently three producers who are not known to have left Channel Awesome.
Joe Vargas (Angry Joe), seen by many fans as indispensable to Channel Awesome, was the first to announce his resignation after the statement. In a statement on Twitter, Vargas said he’d decided to resign immediately after recent events came to the attention of himself and his team.
Many fans commented they expected Vargas to be the last to leave.
Including Vargas, eight producers left in less than a day. Of the three remaining, fans noted that two of them have removed Channel Awesome logos their websites and social media pages.
All shows hosted on Channel Awesome on March 1
All shows appearing on Channel Awesome on April 13
* Although the videos have not been removed as of publication, Gaming Wildlife announced their departure on April 13.
* Update: Blockbuster Buster is no longer featured on Channel Awesome.
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