So, it's come out in recent weeks that Jon "JonTron" Jafari is, to put it politely, a very staunch conservative. Not to say there's anything wrong with that- my personal qualms are not with what he's said or the opinions he's expressed, but rather the way in which they were said. He is welcome to his opinions, just as much as I am free to disagree with them. But, the issue at hand here is less about "JonTron" and more about the project he founded with Arin "EgoRaptor" Hansen way back in 2012.
To the uninitiated, Game Grumps was Arin and Jon playing video games and riffing on them, MST3K style, until the metaphorical wheels came off. For reasons unknown, Jon left Game Grumps without notice in 2013, replaced the next day with Daniel Avidan, better known online by his musical persona "Danny Sexbang" from his musical group "Ninja Sex Party". I am not making that up, that's what it's actually called.
Naturally, the great many of us (myself included) who had joined the Game Grump's adventures felt rather slighted that Jon had left the show. Rumors flew about wildly of conspiracies, most of which were against Arin and Danny. As such, the Game Grumps suffered a huge subscriber exodus, and many viewers (myself included) left and never came back- as I argued back in 2015: "When JonTron left Game Grumps, it ceased to be 'Game Grumps'... it was still a halfway decent web show, but it was no longer 'Game Grumps' to me, nor those that were there for the original run of Game Grumps Classic."
Well, it seems an apology is due. Knowing what is known now, including information gleaned from the Twitter feud that erupted a few weeks back between Jon and his 'former friend' Austin Hargrave (the "PeanutButterGamer" on YouTube), it seems that Arin took the highest possible road when he and Jon could not work together any longer. If what was said is true, then Arin did take the metaphorical heat when Jon left- all to protect Jon from the backlash he's suffering today. Effectively putting his channel Game Grumps on the line, taking a wild left turn, saying nothing, and taking all the blame for it to hopefully make it out okay on the other side. It was a bold, dare I say outright brave move, and one that almost flies in the face of reason- I don't think of myself as a "spiteful" person, but even then I can't imagine sacrificing my own project to let off someone who was creating a toxic environment.
In the end, there are a lot of unknown variables here. It's still not known exactly what happened before, nor now, and in many cases it's unlikely all the facts will ever be fully established. It's all YouTube drama, so I suppose it doesn't much matter. All the same, I have for the first time gone back to the Game Grumps to see what it is they are up to. Perhaps I was wrong all along.
Anyway, that's my overly long ramble on the bizarre newfound respect I have for Game Grumps and the people that make it happen. I don't know, this all sounded better in my head. Eh...
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