Moist Cr1TiKaL Commentary Unleashed: penguinz0 Torn to Shreds by iDubbbz fans

Commentary YouTube channel penguinz0, also known as MoistCr1TiKaL, has weighed in on the contentious iDubbbz saga

Last week, iDubbbz, real name Ian Jomha, posted a 17 minute long YouTube video denouncing his past content. This move has proved extremely controversial. New fans have been won over by his newfound maturity, whereas many old fans see him as betraying the community he spent years creating.

https://twitter.com/intofourths/status/1659352247904378881

Moist Cr1TiKaL & iDubbbz Histories Go Way Back

MoistCr1TiKaL, real name Charles White Jr, watched over iDubbbz apology video and commented heavily on the situation, seeing himself represented in the online “creator space” him and Ian are apart of. 

Charlie has been in the limelight for a long time now, creating his channel in the late 2000s. Both him and iDubbbz had a major YouTube presence in the mid-2010s, and they both created content that frequently criticised others. While iDubbbz has been flamed for the damaging videos he filmed, leading him to upload his apology, Cr1TiKaL’s channel hasn’t been slammed in the same way.

Charlie starts with an immediate attack on iDubbbz reasons for posting the apology video on his massive platform. At the beginning of iDubbbz video, he explains that he wanted his changing content to speak for itself, but now he feels that he was taking the easy way out by not addressing his “bigoted content”.

MoistCr1TiKaL opposes iDubbbz confrontational approach, instead deciding that shifting his content is the “optimal way of dealing with this”.

Charlie believes that iDubbbz did nothing more serious than create edgy videos in 2016. He slams Ian for acting like he used to “murder puppies for his videos”. In contrast, iDubbbz continually addresses his old content as “cruel”.

MoistCr1TiKaL is in disbelief that anyone was hurt by iDubbbz previous videos. He extends minimal sympathy to the subjects of Ian’s Content Cop series—videos which the YouTuber has now unlisted. At the end of the day, he thinks that Content Cop was a net positive, calling out those who didn’t deserve their platform.

Two perspectives come to clash

It’s no surprise that Cr1TiKaL is pro Content Cop. While not having content as divisive as iDubbbz, Charlie admits that his old videos have a massive vulgar bent to them, which he is no longer a big fan of. Rather than outright apologising for his past, MoistCr1TiKaL let his changing content speak for itself.

Charlie characterises Ian’s past intentions as harmless. He believes that his aim was clear, and his audience knew that his videos didn’t come from a place of hate. On the other hand, iDubbbz is convinced that “casual bigotry is still bigotry”, and that he needs to repent for his past use of slurs and cruelty towards others.

While Cr1TiKaL sees no need for the “presidential press conference”, he ultimately respects iDubbbz for having the confidence to change his content and outgrow an audience Ian finds himself genuinely uncomfortable with. 

Moist Cr1TiKaL fans battle creator over iDubbbz apology

Fans of MoistCr1TiKaL were furious with his poorly informed response. Many took to his comment section, seeing Charlie as being disconnected to the reality of the situation.

Those from marginalised groups saw no reason for Charlie to voice an opinion on the situation, and considered his response tone-deaf.

iDubbbz himself shared these thoughts, posting this tweet on the same day Moist Cr1TiKaL original video was released.

Cr1TiKaLs age is seen as another dividing factor, preventing the YouTuber from grasping the gravity of the situation. The YouTuber was born in 1994, putting him in his early twenties during this controversial era. As such, he may not have observed the impact iDubbbz content had on an easily-influenced younger demographic. This Reddit post puts this to light:

Apology inception: MoistCr1TiKaL does a dramatic turnaround on iDubbbz apology video

In response to the immense backlash, Cr1TiKaL posted his own apology video on his penguinz0 channel. He positions himself as extremely glad that his fans are disagreeing with him, being hyperaware of the negative impacts an echo chamber can have.

However, he’s furious with those who have “uncharitable interpretations” of his video. He slams those who project horrible things onto him, and put words in his mouth. 

MoistCr1TiKaL is infuriated with critics who didn’t watch his video until the end. He discusses being attacked for not wanting iDubbbz to grow his content, when the conclusion he ultimately landed on was happiness for a creator doing the hard thing and consciously outgrowing their audience and old videos.

A huge component of the penguinz0 video is Charlie’s shock that iDubbbz is acting like he singlehandedly created the culture of edgy and offensive content. He doesn’t see Ian as a “real racist”, and believes that his old content has a message. However, he doesn’t share what he considers this message to be.

He apologises for misunderstanding the intention behind iDubbbz video. Critics didn’t understand why MoistCr1TiKaL felt the need to react to a video of someone expressing their feelings and apologising of their own volition. 

Charlie doubles down on the Content Cop videos being well-deserved, in spite of iDubbbz almost completely scrubbing the series from his channel. He believes the targets of iDubbbz critiques needed it, as they shouldn’t have had the influence they did.

MoistCr1TiKaL talks about how 2016 was a different time, especially on the internet. While he can understand why someone would regret their past offensive jokes and use of slurs, he doesn’t consider it a big deal. Cr1TiKaL doesn’t see iDubbbz use of derogatory language as coming from a bad place, and therefore doesn’t see it as requiring an apology.

MoistCr1TiKaL addresses the theory that he’s disconnected from the situation due to being older when it took place. He largely agrees with that take, saying that he didn’t see anyone vulnerable indoctrinated into bigoted beliefs as he was out of that demographic by the time this content came out. 

Cr1TiKaL admits that iDubbbz videos could very well have been “a gateway drug to racism”, and he wouldn’t have been aware. He doesn’t see this as changing the impact of Ian’s previous content, as he does not believe his intentions went beyond entertainment.

MoistCr1TiKaL deepens the divide with fans

MoistCr1tikal concludes his follow up video with his hope of how people would now better understand the points he was making.

The 18 minute video hasn’t left fans happy, despite Charlie’s intentions. They take more issue with his opinion now, with a few criticisms appearing a number of times.

In the video, MoistCr1TiKaL considers iDubbbz dramatic, given he alone didn’t push YouTube towards its edgy content in the mid-to-late 2010s. However, his usually devoted community doesn’t agree. While iDubbbz alone may not be at fault—the Content Cop focus LeafyIsHere is blamed too—he was massively popular with a young audience, and highly influential to them as well.

Another reason people have complaints is their perceived conclusion that Cr1TiKaL is not getting his head around iDubbbz intentions for the apology. In his subsequent video, he acknowledges that he may have misunderstood why Ian was doing this. But fans think he went on to interpret the fellow YouTuber in an equally incorrect way, changing his view on the video to that of a “diary entry”.

Fans point out that iDubbbz isn’t only apologising for himself. He’s also saying sorry for the fanbase his offensive content created, and the ripple effects of controversial behaviour that others were forced to deal with.

Many are still shocked at MoistCr1TiKaL minimising iDubbbz frequent use of slurs as no big deal, and see the bigoted harm as something he’s unable to relate to.

A disconnected creator shatters fan trust

Problems have been brewing with the highly opinionated MoistCr1TiKaL for a while. Being a reaction channel forces him to take on a lot of divisive situations, while still not being so opinionated it alienates his massive audience of 18 million subscribers.

Many are decrying him for not being political enough, seeing this as heavily restricting his opinions. These aren’t the only people seeing his approach to sharing his thoughts as problematic.

The drama YouTuber Cid Dwyer uploaded a 40 minute video slamming MoistCr1TiKaL for being irresponsible with his audience, poorly doing research on the heated topics he discusses. Dwyer thinks Charlie needs to have a better hold on his fanbase, who frequently go attack the subjects of his videos. 

What does the future look like for channels stuck in the past?

penguinz0 has gone back to normal after the two iDubbbz videos. Charlie has uploaded four unrelated videos in the days since his iDubbbz content was released, covering everything from Disney hotels to the controversial dating talk podcast Whatever.

Last month, iDubbbz put on a show at Creator Clash 2, an influencer boxing event he co-produces. He lost to legacy YouTuber Alex Wassabi. Things have changed, with Ian now being largely silent, He’s only replying to a few Twitter threads—including one by another Content Cop target, Tana Mongeau, inviting him onto her podcast.

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