Skip Navigation
455 comments

  • Alright, time to unsubscribe from their channels. Already started to dislike Linus when he went all Anti-Union and stuff, but this is truly disgusting.

  • I'll start with: I believe Madison.

    I honestly did not even know that she had left, so all of this is news to me. I assumed that she went into a role that suited what she wanted to do (like production or editing or something with no significant on camera time), and was still there. I usually avoid following anything so closely that I'm aware of whatever drama they get into. Which isn't to imply that Madison's experience is mere drama, because it's not. This is an egregious HR violation on all fronts, and bluntly, if Madison still has any evidence of any of this, a lawyer would do well to pick up her case at no cost to Madison; as far as I'm concerned, with any level of evidence, especially right now with the PR nightmare they're currently weathering, they'll want to settle quickly (if they have any sense left in their heads whatsoever).... And Madison can walk away with a very reasonable pay off for all this mental anguish.

    Of course, money doesn't un-do the fact that it happened.

    On the surface, to me, this looks like LMG hired Madison to appease the masses, partly evidenced by the fact that he announced that he had done so before she was even made aware that they were interested in bringing her on board, which seems to be a trend with Linus now - saying things have happened when he simply rubber stamps the approval to go ahead and start the process.... Then "allowed" her to appear on camera enough to show that yes, she does work here... Then as the hype from fans died down and stopped being a benefit to the company, slowly berated her into leaving quietly so schmucks like me (anyone that's not so dedicated that they read the LTT forums daily), are unaware, and they don't lose viewers.

    The workload described, at first didn't sound too bad, busy, sure, but not bad. Some Twitter posts, FB posts, a few tiktoks daily... Yeah ok. That's a fairly reasonable bar to set, a little high IMO, but ok.... Then she went on. And on.... And on.... What the fuck? I get the idea that it's "only social media" so some think it's "not really like working" (which I don't agree with, I just understand why people think that), since managing your own social media is fairly trivial, but when managing it for someone else, you have to constantly check yourself and consider "is this me saying it? Or is this the right tone and perspective for what the company would say?" Because if you say the wrong thing, you're reprimanded, or fired. That kind of mental gymnastics is rough; and having to do that for a dozen posts a day is a lot of work to accomplish alone, and you're probably going to make some mistakes unless you can bounce the posts off of someone like a long term employee or manager to make sure that the message isn't straying from the brand you represent.

    I've personally been in plenty of scenarios where I've been over worked. It happens. When being overworked is basically your job duties, that's unreasonable in every way.

    On top of that the dismissive and demeaning treatment isn't going to help. I'm not surprised that Madison noped the fuck out, and it's sad that happened, and more sad that she felt that she shouldn't even say anything. It's unsurprising that she left and that she had such a major impact to her mental health by being there... Honestly, it's almost surprising that she stayed as long as she did.... And this isn't even addressing the sexual misconduct. I know for me, when I think "sexual assault" I'm thinking the worst case scenario, and bluntly, some of the comments that she relays (like "you've never gotten drunk with us") makes me think that could have happened... But it's not exclusive to that. This is sexual assault. She was sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by staff and bluntly, I hope she names and shames those who were involved. This is unacceptable in any and every way in the workplace and everywhere else. Madison's gender, sexual orientation, preferences, history, everything, is entirely personal, and discussions of such things in a workplace is completely unacceptable. If she wanted to offer up such information of her own volition, sure, but berating her about it, and harassing or demeaning her about it is completely unwelcome both socially, and legally.

    IMO, Madison has a legal case if she ever chooses to pursue it.... I think she should but I understand why she hasn't, and isn't.

    As for LTT and LMG, I'm extremely disappointed that Madison was set up to fail like this. I get that it's a bit of a boys locker room, where most of the staff are "one of the guys" regardless of who they are or what gender they are, and ribbing is part of that. Clearly this was above and beyond it and from what people said to Madison after she left, her treatment was worse than most.... Well beyond a good ribbing, and others could tell. Anyone who participates in ribbing among friends can recognise when they've gone too far. IMO, it was clear that they had, and they just kept doing it. No part of that is ok. The staff then took it further and further into sexual harassment and assault, and the management team was complacent. This is wholly unacceptable on LMG's side. Their behaviour is reprehensible.

    I hope Madison is doing better. I'll probably track down her twitch and throw her a sub, because she deserves it, and never deserved to be treated the way she was. I don't know what she's doing now, but I wish her all the success in the world.

    • if Madison still has any evidence of any of this, a lawyer would do well to pick up her case at no cost to Madison

      That's what I'm hoping for. The described behavior is unacceptable.

      Of course, money doesn’t un-do the fact that it happened.

      Getting public acknowledgement that it happened would be a very good start to healing.

      slowly berated her into leaving quietly so schmucks like me (anyone that’s not so dedicated that they read the LTT forums daily), are unaware

      Madison herself wrote that they were going to announce it on the WAN show, and decided to omit it when she demanded they would include the fact that she quit.

      The workload described, at first didn’t sound too bad, busy, sure, but not bad.

      I thought about this. I agree with what you wrote, but I would like to add something: if you go for "stupid" tweets (like "behind the scene" goofy content), hipster-style instagram posts, and boring tiktok videos showing someone walking down a corridor, yeah it can be a chill job. I don't think it would be your job for long, but it would be chill. One the other hand, if you are (like she was) clearly starstruck, and want to do justice to your idol, the tweets/instagram posts/tiktok videos alone are going to take your entire day, at the very best. This is without considering that it also was her responsibility to somehow find people available for floatplane exclusives, and manage other stuff on the top of that...

      bluntly, I hope she names and shames those who were involved.

      Absolutely. With written proof or screenshots if at all possible, to make it irrefutable.

    • I look after the Twitter account of an online news site as one of my jobs, and even doing just the Twitter alone is so stressful and daunting. Because you have to use the right photos, make the text of the tweet interesting, use the right hashtags and tag the companies we're talking about.

      It is a lot. Even though "it's just twitter" like... it still takes a toll out of you. So seeing her workload sounded like hell to me. Like Twitter and Facebook are easy enough. But I've made some tiktoks here and there on my personal one and it takes a lot of my time.

    • Linus and most people ar lmg seen go be workaholics, so it makes sense (though not okay) that they'd work people way past their limits. Similarly, since the team is mostly guys, sexism and assault could go less noticed as well. They need to hire a really good HR, and fast, and slow down to fix their culture issues before the whole company cracks apart.

  • What a terrible ordeal for anyone to go through.

    Ultimately, it just comes down to the fact that they've never respected her, not just as a woman, but as a human being, to be useful when convenient and ignored when not.

    I choose to believe her, because it's something that is all too common in this world, but I don't think the world has to be this way.

  • I've always got bad vibes from LTT. He seemed like he always had a "bigger than you" attitude about everything. The things mentioned here exceeded my already existing opinions about him.

  • Reading the full thread was stressful enough, I don't even want to image what it was like to live it.

    Now I understand why the company is so against unionizing, all this stuff would pretty quickly explode in their face. It's straight up abuse that should be met by the full force of the legal system.

    What the fuck is wrong with people that makes them think that if you have the smallest modicum of power over someone else it's your god given right to be an asshole, a sexual predator or just generally toxic.

    I don't get it.

  • Can't wait to watch Linus fumble over the explanation of this one. I'm sure it'll just be a lot of deflection and not-so-subtle victim blaming, but at this point he needs to squirm. Can't pawn it off on "the new CEO."

  • All the previous proof put a dent in their brand but these allegations are actually brand destroying. Linus is evidently an asshole to his workers in his videos so I don't have a hard time believing her allegations. What a fucking dumpster fire.

  • Really am out of the loop, never heard of these people. If true, I hope everyone associated with this shit goes down.

  • Everyone saying this isn't malice, it fucking is. All of this is done out of malice. He is angry his employees don't treat this like their day 1 dream and give their entire 45k/yr soul to the brand. He is upset that people would even dare question their products. He is furious that employees would have the gall to expect time off.

    It is malice, it always has been. Capitalist hold everyone in contempt, especially employees. It is the easiest thing in the fucken world to take a little less profit from your pocket and add it to the people who actually make your company run. None of these fucks do it because they hate their own employees. They don't want humans working for them, they want cheap drones that follow their every word intention. The people at the top of any company fucking hate they have to pay you at all. Accept that. That is reality.

455 comments