this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2025
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PC Master Race

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 4 days ago (1 children)

After skimming the comments I can confidently say there are 4 types of people here: people who hate LTT, people who hate GN, people who don't know what plagiarism is and me. Best course of action is to just move on to the post. The second best is getting the popcorn ready before diving in, you'll feel like you're back on reddit.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Just finished reading. In summary: everyone loses here.

Linus made some silly but understandable mistakes, had some very poor word choices in private communications, and got Steve on the defensive by publicly mentioning he didn't want to sue but implied he could. LMG is also (in the youtube world) a large company and is likely always working on process improvements, and the improvement Steve seems to want to happen that they are definitely lacking in, is to update old content with corrections or omissions.

Steve poorly or never communicated what he thought were satisfactory resolutions to past comments or incidents and is upset that those resolutions didn't happen, and is only escalating the situation further by softly threatening legal action, while also hinting that they have way more evidence they are just conveniently leaving out despite their current evidence being mostly empty (specifically receipts 1 and 2).

They both run very different channels with different focuses and staff sizes and production values, and each has made mistakes. None of this spat should have been public, but it seems both parties are just bad at communicating with one another and it has only escalated due to LMG actually publicly responding to public allegations by GN.

If I had to declare a winner so far, Steve is looking worse for wear to me given the poor examples provided as receipts and the continued threat of legal escalation, but again - everyone loses here. Everyone looks worse and this should have been handled privately. Maybe LMG should appoint someone other than Linus to handle fellow media contacts, because it doesn't seem like he's the best for that job.

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[–] DogWater 33 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

At this stage, Linus Media Group and GamersNexus have both made statements which are extremely serious. This is far beyond presenting a front of friendliness, and I am respectfully requesting that Linus Sebastian drops that facade publicly, as well as ceases the repeated personal emails requesting as much, as it is personally making me extremely uncomfortable.

Uh I'm sorry what the fuck

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago (5 children)

If anyone wants to neatly summarize this drama in a few sentences, that would be much appreciated. I don't have time to read this essay or watch multiple 45 minute videos on GN.

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[–] strangemath 117 points 5 days ago (3 children)

You’d think Linus would know better than to ask GN for receipts.

[–] dinckelman 67 points 5 days ago (2 children)

He genuinely believes that he's above all of that now, or almost too successful to fail. If the last huge controversy hasn't put a dent into his cult of personality, not too many other things will

[–] [email protected] 48 points 5 days ago (15 children)

I dunno. I haven't watched another episode since I heard that girl's story about sexual harassment and toxic culture while working there.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Those allegations were proven to be false by an independent third-party investigation

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 days ago (4 children)

I noped out of LTT after the initial reporting. What happened about the allegations of harassment and particular allegations by a former woman employee?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Honestly though, with this many different claims from such separate entities, I get the feeling there's some evil lurking within at least some core (leader)ship that's probably linked to all this negative coverage?

More directly, Linus kinda acts like a bit of a shit pretty frequently - between a bit of overconfidence that comes off through his general demeanor, and directly calling Steve autistic (allegedly) and definitely using the word 'retarded' as a derogatory (present in the text thread Steve posted), I'd say its pretty clear where the problem lies.

LMG would be a whole lot better off without that L stuck on the front of their name

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

In summary, as confirmed by the investigation, the allegations made against the team were largely unfounded, misleading, and unfair.

Or more specifically the investigation found that:

Claims of bullying and harassment were not substantiated.

Allegations that sexual harassment were ignored or not addressed were false.

Any concerns that were raised were investigated. Furthermore, from reviewing our history, the investigator is confident that if any other concerns had been raised, we would have investigated them.

There was no evidence of “abuse of power” or retaliation. The individual involved may not have agreed with our decisions or performance feedback, but our actions were for legitimate work-related purposes, and our business reasons were valid.

Allegations of process errors and miscommunication while onboarding this individual were partially substantiated, but the investigator found ample documentary evidence of LMG working to rectify the errors and the individual being treated generously and respectfully. When they had questions, they were responded to and addressed.

Source

[–] TBi 32 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Personally I’d wait for more people to complain. There are lots of women working at LMG, no one else has complained.

I’ve see disgruntled workers before lie about lots of stuff. If she’s telling the truth then others would also be saying something.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

By memory the external firm they hired did not release documentation of the investigation but did release a statement saying LMG hadn't done the things that were claimed

[–] NOT_RICK 97 points 5 days ago (2 children)

We also allege that there were derogatory comments made by Linus Sebastian in a conversation with Steve Burke on a private phone call on August 31, 2021 at 7:31 PM Eastern lasting 9m 43s, where Sebastian referred to Burke as being “less autistic than you used to be;” however, with no recording of said call, this can only be alleged and there is no additional evidence to provide.

Well that’s pretty fucked up

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 5 days ago (17 children)

why is there 0 response on the honey and billet labs thing, which is part of that same wan show? what's with this half done response, why not show all the receipts? and also, why does he bring up a threat of legal action when there was no actual threat of legal action if you see that wan show?

this is such a disappointment, I'm apparently meant to watch as these two adults constantly miscommunicate, misunderstand and ignore half of what the other has said online, and stretch the back and forth even longer than it needs to. This will take like 5 wan shows and gn articles to conclude properly

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[–] MajorasMaskForever 80 points 5 days ago (12 children)

I'm not sure these are the receipts GamersNexus believes them to be. They're all kinda stretching things into a gray area.

The plagiarism part is straight up incorrect. LMG did not say that their discussion was original reporting. The WAN show is explicitly a podcast reacting to news articles and events (WAN = Weekly Analysis and News). Plagerism needs a "passing off as your own" piece, while IANAL given react content typically ends up in the fair use category because of additional commentary and thoughts being added, the WAN show doesn't have to disclose sources. Usually on WAN show they mention where they heard of the story, and not mentioning GN is a dick move, but it's not plagiarism.

The history of not following up on issues was definitely better addressed in the original GN video. But at the same time, this just makes it seems like GN is trying to use the argument "Hey we warned you once that some of your methodologies aren't great and led to skewed results and you didn't really react, so now we're gonna release an hour long video on all of your previous fuck ups and not tell you, k thx bi*"

To Linus's original point on not getting a heads up, that's not industry standard behavior and also kind of a dick move.

The unprofessional communication part I can go either way with. Would I talk to my boss like that? No. Technical mentors and peers that I had a good relationship with? Absolutely and I have done it. By the book it's unprofessional it's hardly the damning statements Gamers Nexus is trying to sell them as.

Also for those of you who have not watched any LMG content since that original GN video, LMG has cleaned up their act quite a bit, so credit where credit is due. Linus also only asked for receipts since he was getting increasingly frustrated with several negative comments coming from GN whereas on the LMG side they've continued to praise and recommend GN content

[–] reliv3 41 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Your understanding of what qualifies as plagiarism feels wrong. Just because an organization advertises itself as a "weekly analysis and news" doesn't disqualify them from citing sources. They still are required to give credit where credit is due.. Even mainstream news channels will let their audience know where they are acquiring their information whenever it isn't coming from their own investigations.

At the end of the day, if a primary source privately requests a citation, then a citation is definitely required, so this is where lmg really messed up. GN (as the primary source) felt wronged when lmg used information from their own investigative journalism and did not give them credit (when they apparently gave Jayz2cents credit). At that point in time, lmg was obligated to give GN credit and lmg admitted to this mistake; but then did little to nothing to rectify it.

[–] DogWater 13 points 4 days ago

And moreover, the question is from Linus about why they weren't given a right to reply to GN's first big piece. The plagiarism and subsequent lack of resolution is stated as a reason that GN felt uncomfortable. GN evaluated that situation and felt it met their own standard. I dont know if LMGs reporting on EVGA actually qualifies as plagarism, but GN is successfully providing the context for their decision.

Ultimately, Linus asked why? And GN said essentially because you did 'this' and it crossed our threshold for hostility, and we actually didn't give those other outlets right of reply either like your claiming we did so calm down.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

I have not finished reading the article, but "Receipt 1" is just embarrassing to GN in my eyes. They claim LMG never addresses the plagierism and provides an email chain where Linus tell him what exactly LMG is going to do in response and GN responds indicating the solution is good. Where is the problem?

Specifically on publicly addressing it, Linus said they will pin a comment and Steve said that's OK. That's what happened. Is it truly unresolved? Just reading the emails provided makes it really look like an open and closed case.

I also dont get why they include the additional context in that part of their response. What does GN's recent criticism of LMG have to do with that interaction?

Sorry, on mobile and just had to type something out before I forgot, because this is a long read.

[–] kippinitreal 40 points 5 days ago

Agreed. I think GN missed the point by not publishing the smoking gun receipts, but an avalanche of receipts for things LMG was guilty of and have admitted to. It kinda makes it look like GN wants it to look like they're "burying LMG with evidence", but in reality the smoking gun would only need to be a paragraph & some screenshots.

[–] Dalkor 26 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

While I mostly agree with you, I do think there are problematic things in this article that make Linus come off as disingenuous at best, especially seeing that he played the "I have 0 idea what I did wrong, I want to sue you but i wont" card.

As for the reciepts for lack of citations, while I think it's obvious that Steve is asking for citations and he shouldn't have to ask, it's always best to make your request explicit. It breeds animosity to have expectations and not state or ask them clearly. I could absolutely see someone being naive in these exchanges and thinking that Steve was reaching out not to get a citation but to fix future mistakes.

The worst thing about this bullshit though is the lmg clips video title. It's a serious allegation that Linus allegedly wants to resolve, but they cover it in cringe memery. And I say this as someone who watches LTT and not GN.

I think if Linus had just called out Steve's beef and publicly requested some forum to speak privately or publicly and sort out differences, that'd be one thing. But with the lmg clip title and the "want to sue, but I won't" bs, it all just seems kinda gross. I know that Linus may not be personally responsible for that, but the company uses his name, and he started it.

[–] MajorasMaskForever 25 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I took Linus's statement to mean that he doesn't understand why he is continuing to get heat from GN since they have addressed the issues GN pointed out.

The could sue but won't part I think it's coming more from a context with the ongoing Honey lawsuit, since at least on WAN show its been brought up several times that people recommend LMG join the lawsuit and Linus repeatedly refusing because as he puts it, he's not a litigious person. Given the rest of the his plea in that segment for the viewers to not go after GN, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on it. I also personally give a lot of leeway to people and organizations who have admitted mistakes in the past and corrected them so that definitely feeds into me choosing not to interpret things the way you are, even though I can see why you view it that way.

And yeah the dedicated clips channel video was moronically named imho. Linus or someone else at LMG should have vetoed it, it's a serious topic and deserves to be taken as such. If they felt the need to make a joke, do it like the "channel this angry energy into powering RTX 5090s". A small quip at the end, not leading into things

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[–] Graphy 76 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It’s wild how Linus hasn’t pivoted into acknowledging his videos are like junk food. They’re fun but you shouldn’t take them too seriously.

Instead he’s doubling down in all the worst ways while continuing to come off as another whiny tech ceo

[–] aido 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

He has? Not to the degree you're taking it, but that's been a topic of conversation on the WAN show multiple times.

[–] TheDannysaur 4 points 3 days ago

Yeah I'm a bit confused. He's said they are trying to provide a pretty base level of education... Just enough to get started, but aren't meant to be crazy deep dives. The labs content is a bit different, but I think it's pretty easy to tell the difference.

[–] dinckelman 54 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I find it really ironic, given that he's spent the last 5-ish years trying to double-down on technical accuracy, while being entertaining. Now there's no accuracy, and the entertainment has turned into repulsive cringe

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[–] Bieren 28 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Linus is just insufferable. Life has been great with his channels blocked for years and not paying a cent of attention to him. Everyone should try it.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Yeah; I only ever see his content when the drama spills into other channels now.

I miss the days of small-time LTT doing silly projects like whole-room water cooling. :/

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[–] dustyData 29 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Well, so much for ditching the R-slur from his vocabulary. It's like everything Linus says is in bad faith. What a douchebag. And also texting while driving, class A shit-4-brains specimen.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 5 days ago

Holy shit it has a table of contents

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Call me when GN explains how having an engineer sent by an incumbent monopoly holder provide exclusive content right before a massive launch is not a massive conflict of interest.

I too would ditch low input advertisers like NZXT for clout if I was making the same money GN makes from NVIDIA alone.

From its inception, GN has been covering for EVGA and for NVIDIA. He's the origin of the story "it's user error" when it's obvious for anyone to see it was a design fault (including the consortia that published the specs and revised the 12V-2x6 connector because it was a shit connector).

It's easy to be strong vs small companies when one has the backing of one of the wealthiest companies on earth. Let Steve publish the contract he has with NVIDIA if he's so keen on ethics and transparency.

Till then, it's just a competitor throw shade at another competitor for the sake of clout and audience. They're both the same marketing arms of technology companies. Note that Linus is one the bigger YT advertisers for AMD and both companies are just releasing a new gen...

[–] [email protected] 55 points 5 days ago (24 children)

I get the different likes and dislikes, but seriously, at this point why would anyone watch Linus videos?

[–] [email protected] 60 points 5 days ago

It's fun to watch them do dumb projects and drill too many holes in a wall

[–] [email protected] 48 points 5 days ago (6 children)

Because they're entertaining?

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[–] rockSlayer 33 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

I checked out from all LMG videos after I found out about the treatment of Madison during the huge controversy. WTF is going on over there? I thought Linus and Steve were friends at one point, did Linus forget that Steve remembers everything?

[–] [email protected] 52 points 5 days ago (3 children)

From the article:

Sebastian’s recent calls for friendship were accompanied by serious legal allegations and claims regarding the ethics and motives behind our entire business. We believe this is a play on parasocial relationships, reinforced by Linus Media Group’s decision to re-title the LMG Clip “Can Linus & Gamers Nexus Ever be Friends Again?”, where it paints GamersNexus as a friend who just needs to make up with LTT so things can “get back to normal.” This suppresses dissenting views by pretending to be everyone’s friend, so a legitimate critique seems like a personal attack to onlooking viewers.

If they were, they emphatically AREN'T anymore.

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