Linus Sebastian’s Linus Media Group YouTube empire is currently in disarray, with claims of theft, ethical failures, and, most recently, s*xual harassment.
The company has currently halted all production in order to enhance its review systems, and CEO Terren Tong has told The Verge that an outside investigator would be engaged to investigate the harassment charges.
This morning, a video titled “What do we do now?” was posted. Linus Media Group CFO Yvonne Ho declared that the entire channel would be paused for the next week to resolve complaints highlighted by the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus over mistakes in videos and ethical standards. “I agree with the community,” Ho stated in the video, “so I’m standing firm.” “All YouTube video production is currently on hold.”
The debate began earlier this week, when Gamers Nexus produced a video highlighting a number of factual inaccuracies and ethical concerns in previous Linus Tech Tips films. “We’ve been seeing an alarming amount of conflicts from Linus Tech Tips as it relates to their corporate connections, their flow of money, and the potential bias as a result of those things,” Gamers Nexus host Steve Burke stated.
Burke was most concerned about a GPU cooling block manufactured by Billet Labs. Linus Tech Tips, according to Gamers Nexus, tested a copper cooling block from Billet Labs on the incorrect GPU, then auctioned it off at a recent fan event without the company’s consent.
Sebastian began responding to anxious fans in the Linus Tech Tips forums the afternoon after Gamers Nexus posted their video. “We are using this, like everything else, to continue to drive ourselves to do better,” he wrote in one of his posts. He further stated that the auctioning of the cooling block was a mistake caused by a misunderstanding and that the business was working with Billet Labs to fix the problem.
On August 14th, Gamers Nexus broadcast the video in reaction to Sebastian’s forum comments, with a part headlined “Linus Tech Tips response is disappointing nonsense.” Meanwhile, supporters vented their wrath and irritation on the Linus Tech Tips forums and subreddit, with some seeking a public apology from Billet.
As a result, Linus Tech Tips published a video this morning in which Sebastian and other Linus Media Group employees outline their plans to address the concerns identified by Gamers Nexus, including a one-week halt in production to focus on strengthening documentation and testing methods. “I was at the helm of the company for every mistake that our community rightly brought to our attention,” Sebastian said in the video.
Linus Tech Tips published its most recent video around 7 a.m. ET. However, around 2 a.m. ET last night, a former employee, Madison Reeve, posted a thread on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, accusing Linus Media Group of cultivating a toxic work environment and encouraging a work culture that was detrimental to her health, as well as sexual harassment directed at her by Linus Media Group employees.
“I chose to quit my role at LTT because it, and the working environment I was facing, were ruining my mental health,” she says. “My work was called ‘dogshit’ I was called ‘incompetent’. When I would reach out to managers and try to get help with these situations, I would be told to ‘put on my big girl pants’ and be ‘more assertive’.”
To stop the speculation and DM’s I am receiving.
I chose to quit my role at LTT because it, and the working environment I was facing, were ruining my mental health.The number of daily items the Social media role at the time was expected to fill was incredibly high.
— Madison | Suop (@suuuoppp) August 16, 2023
Reeve went on to accuse the company of prohibiting her from appearing in videos after she said she was “grabbed multiple times in the office” and being told to “calm my tits” and “stop being such a bitch.”
I was told I was bossy, when I was trying to be assertive. (like I was asked to do)
I was told I was arguing, when I was trying to discuss my point of view.
I was told to “calm my tits”, “stop being such a bitch”, and other comments to similar effects.
— Madison | Suop (@suuuoppp) August 16, 2023
“It felt like a horrible teenage drama movie,” she added.
There were numerous instances of misinformation being given to me purposefully to negatively impact my work.
I only know this because co-workers would tell me they overheard the actual information I should have been given.
It felt like a horrible teenage drama movie.
— Madison | Suop (@suuuoppp) August 16, 2023
We contacted Sebastian about the new allegations, and he answered via email, saying:
I was in a state of shock reading through these allegations, plain and simple. They aren’t consistent with my recollections. They aren’t consistent with our internal processes. They aren’t consistent with our company values.
We pride ourselves on maintaining a safe and inclusive environment. In addition to our existing report systems (both anonymous and otherwise) we’ve proactively reached out internally today to encourage members of our team to report any workplace bullying or harassment they might be experiencing so we can take quick and decisive action.
Our HR team will be conducting a more thorough assessment of the allegations, and when we are ready, we will release a more complete statement. For now I would ask that we allow our team the time they need be as thorough as possible.
Terren Tong, CEO of Linus Media Group, also emailed, stating he was “shocked at the allegations and the company described” in Reeve’s articles. He said, “as part of this process, we will hire an outside investigator to look into the allegations and commit to publishing the findings and implementing any corrective actions that may arise as a result.”
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