Who remembers that era of YouTube where everyone was a chef– where content meant roasting? Between 2013 and late 2017, the algorithm was dominated by commentary videos, roasting, and canceling channels.
Thus, flooded in a legion of YouTubers, where viewers tuned in for beef between them in the ultimate roast-battle.
Let’s take a quick time capsule of what that era looked like–
From high-production value diss tracks to someone making commentary videos in their mom’s basement, people were eating up this type of content. One particular sub-genre in roast videos was voiceover commentary while gaming.
Young viewers idolized these Youtubers, deeming them “savage,” “fearless,” “OGs,” and more such cringy words that inflated their egos to no bounds.
That was until 2018– a major big bang in the YouTube community that killed off several dinosaur channels. Popularly known as the “Adpoclaypse” – It was the beginning of the renaissance in the YouTube era when the majority of brands, corporates, and endorsers were pulling out their sponsorship and ad revenue from YouTube on the grounds of insensitive content, bullying, verbal abuse, inappropriate words and more.
This compelled YouTube to implement new guidelines that censored content based on language, subject matter, copyright strikes, etc.
These policies affected channels sitewide, but the repercussions on the commentary channels hit like a cyclone. The once-popular YouTubers were called out for bullying and callous content.
Those who grew up in that YouTube phase are well-versed with the name LeafyIsHere. This channel was at the peak of reach pre-adpocalypse. But the channel went through a series of deaths and rebirths, as the Calvin Vale, known as LeafyIsHere, kept coming back after several bans on his accounts.
LeafyIsHere returned to YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter just a few months earlier after the social media platforms banned him a couple of years ago. Although he did not receive the same engagement as he used to before, he still managed to keep his social media presence above water. However, on September 16, X (Twitter) banned the LeafyIsHere account because it violated the safety guidelines with his content that displayed bullying, insensitive language, and targeted harassment of particular YouTubers. He was already banned from YouTube and Twitch. At present, he is only active on Instagram.
What Happened to LeafyIsHere?
Calvin Lee Vale, who came from a tumultuous childhood, found solace in the YouTube realm. After living off the internet in his teenage years, he finally launched his own channel in 2011, starting with Minecraft gaming content.
He upgraded his content by integrating commentary as voiceover. He would particularly target lesser-known channels and “roast” their content. Clickbait titles and raunchy thumbnail was LeafyIsHere signature. Kids, adults, old folks, people with disabilities– no one was spared from his “so-valuable-to-human-existence” commentary.
By 2015, his channel had reached half a million subscribers and a dedicated following. No matter what he said, his followers would defend his actions and send death threats to the smaller channels. His video, “The Saddest Man on YouTube,” made a mockery of a goth YouTuber.
In a more shameful event, he made fun of a small YouTuber, Fedora Guy. H3H3, another famous commentary channel, called out LeafyIsHere for insensitive comments about an autistic person. While Leafy’s hardcore fans started sending death threats to the autistic YouTuber.
His other vile attempts included a popular Twitch streamer Pokimane, where he mocked her appearance and accused her of copy-striking other creators. He also spread misinformation about her relationship status, coercing the viewers to harass her.
Soon, netizens realized the toxicity in his videos, and after the iDubbbz content cop video, his own subscribers turned on him.
[Side note: LeafyIsHere was criticized in a similar ridiculing way that he did. Do you think that these commentary channels are also perpetuating toxicity? Let us know in the comments].
In 2017, Leafy apologized for his actions and went on a hiatus immediately.
However, after the renewed YouTube guidelines, his account was subjected to multiple strikes, leading to a ban. Leafy later switched to Twitch, where he livestreamed similar content. He was banned from the streaming platform as well.
Is LeafyIsHere Banned from YouTube, Twitter & Twitch?
LeafyIsHere has been banned from social media platforms almost six times now. And just a few months back, he resurfaced again, but this time as a meme. His new selfie became mass entertainment for netizens, who tore him apart in his style (the irony is ironing too hard here).
He tried to revive his relevancy with the help of another problematic YouTuber, Keemstar, but that went down the drain, too.
And you know you have reached rock bottom when the most free-speech platform bans your account. A couple of days back, X permanently banned LeafyIsHere’s account as it violated the community guidelines. X was previously criticized for stopping streaming the “What is a Woman” documentary. Elon Musk then himself resumed the streaming since he is a staunch advocate of “free speech.”
LeafyIsHere’s ban also raised a few questions about the validity of X when it comes to free speech.
But most netizens agreed to his ban, considering his content won’t suffice in the current social media lexicon.
Some speculations suggested that Leafy’s tweet about Israel might be the reason for his ban.
But the memes that came out of this are totally worth it.
Here’s one last poll for you–
What are your thoughts on this case? Do you think Leafy’s ban is valid? What are your opinions on the commentary channels in general?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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