The Spoony One has been ejected from That Guy With the Glasses.

[JimB]

Company line was he was "let go."

No, it wasn't. The words they used were "have decided to part ways."

Allison's Twitter (which is now deleted) stated several times this was about his language and harassing fans and co-workers.

So she said the problem was that he was harassing co-workers--plural--as well as fans, and you interpret that as meaning, "Hooray! I, Allison Pregler, got Noah fired from the site with a sexual harassment charge?"

 

[gookygox]

ok I am willing to admit it was a mistake of second hand information, I apologize,I thought you had agreed to the claims it was over his sexual comments on twitter. Just to clarify I do not like how you handled the situation/aftermath, you as a person I cannot like or dislike as I know nothing about you.

If you didn't read everything I said, then how can you know how I handled the situation/aftermath? You do know that I don't fully act of my own accord, right? I report to Mike Michaud directly and tangentially to Rob Walker. And for the record, although I am the one that posted it, and interacted directly with the public Rob wrote the initial statement.

Like Rob had to clarify, Company line was he was "let go" that implied he did not leave of his own free will.Weather that was just a failure of HR giving proper instructions on how to talk about it or what I don't know. Allison's twitter (which is now deleted) stated several times about how this was about his language and harassing fans and co workers.

When the decision was made, it was unexpected. It's difficult to communicate instantly with nearly 100 contributors located across North America and Europe. If Allison DID say what you claim my guess would be that she assumed he was fired for non-compliance with the terms of his suspension. However, there are far more damning Tweets still up on her timeline so it doesn't make sense to me that she would delete some but not others.

 

[renaissance_nerd]

ok I am willing to admit it was a mistake of second hand information, I apologize,I thought you had agreed to the claims it was over his sexual comments on twitter. Just to clarify I do not like how you handled the situation/aftermath, you as a person I cannot like or dislike as I know nothing about you.

If you didn't read everything I said, then how can you know how I handled the situation/aftermath? You do know that I don't fully act of my own accord, right? I report to Mike Michaud directly and tangentially to Rob Walker. And for the record, although I am the one that posted it, and interacted directly with the public Rob wrote the initial statement.

why were members of Channel Awesome allowed to engage with Noah and egg him on? Why did you not give specific instructions on the situation and what could be said and not said, like other professional companies? A director of Human resources would have that authority. This happened aver several days so "instant" communication was not needed, and there was at least a day between his announced suspension (which started the flame war) and his leaving. Also there was a large indication who may have potentially have had strong opinions on the matter so you could have given those a phone call and stated to remain quiet in public venues about it.

She deleted the ones where she directly contributed to the baiting/flame war like the infamous "did Oreo find you a new mommy yet?" comment.

Also would you not agree that without clarification a post made by you could also be considered authored by you?

As this whole thing turned out it is a rather large black eye on Channel awesome and it's members that could have been avoided or at the very least minimized.

 

[gookygox]

why were members of Channel Awesome allowed to engage with Noah and egg him on? Why did you not give specific instructions on the situation and what could be said and not said, like other professional companies? A director of Human resources would have that authority. This happened aver several days so "instant" communication was not needed, and there was at least a day between his announced suspension (which started the flame war) and his leaving.

She deleted the ones where she directly contributed to the baiting/flame war like the infamous "did Oreo find you a new mommy yet?" comment.

why do you assume that was allowed? because they did it? tweets aren't submitted to me for approval. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but I JUST looked at Lupa's twitter and that tweet is still there.

It is not a CA policy to announce disciplinary actions against contributors. Noah announced his own. That was his choice.

...

Since you'd edited your post yet again:

The post is signed "Staff at Channel Awesome" and the byline reads "Channel Awesome". Aside from me telling you just now, there is no way anyone could have said with any certainty that I was the employee that published that post.

...

I don't think I'm going to reply any further regarding the above. This is all stuff I've said on Twitter previously. It's clear you're acting on assumption and hearsay. I'm not sure why you want to find fault with CA but I've said all I can on the matter.

 

[The Material Sheep]

why were members of Channel Awesome allowed to engage with Noah and egg him on? Why did you not give specific instructions on the situation and what could be said and not said, like other professional companies? A director of Human resources would have that authority. This happened aver several days so "instant" communication was not needed, and there was at least a day between his announced suspension (which started the flame war) and his leaving.

She deleted the ones where she directly contributed to the baiting/flame war like the infamous "did Oreo find you a new mommy yet?" comment.

why do you assume that was allowed? because they did it? tweets aren't submitted to me for approval. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but I JUST looked at Lupa's twitter and that tweet is still there.

It is not a CA policy to announce disciplinary actions against contributors. Noah announced his own. That was his choice.

...

Since you'd edited your post yet again:

The post is signed "Staff at Channel Awesome" and the byline reads "Channel Awesome". Aside from me telling you just now, there is no way anyone could have said with any certainty that I was the employee that published that post.

So I'm curious. Your basically neither confirming nor denying that Lupa was punished for her antagonizing Noah?

 

[gookygox]

So I'm curious. Your basically neither confirming nor denying that Lupa was punished for her antagonizing Noah?

Correct. I did say on Twitter that I spoke with Allison. I know anything considered antagonistic stopped. However the disciplinary action is up to her manager, Rob. I have never worked for a company that publicly announced disciplinary action and we have no intention to do so. I am aware that people would like to know, however it's a no-win situation. Damned if we do confirm or deny anything, damned if we don't.

 

[KRAKENDIE]

*sigh* Reading the original "rape" twitter, it reads exactly like something Spoony would say in a review as casual snark. I can even pick out the cadence he uses for that, like I were hearing him say it while rolling his eyes and tossing his hair back, striking a "manly pose" for comedic effect.

Bad taste? Sure it is. Welcome to snark comedy, of which there's loads on Channel Awesome.

Oh, and before we get into the "you're a guy, you wouldn't understand", I'm a victim of childhood sexual abuse who was homophobic well into his 20s as a result.

Just so you know.

You know that isn't being "snarky" right? It is not even close. Snarky is being an unpleasant smartass. That, is half a threat, half a proposition.

And saying "Oh that's just Spoony" doesn't necessarily lend closure to whether or not it was something truly ugly or just incredibly immature.

 

[renaissance_nerd]

So I'm curious. Your basically neither confirming nor denying that Lupa was punished for her antagonizing Noah?

Correct. I did say on Twitter that I spoke with Allison. I know anything considered antagonistic stopped. However the disciplinary action is up to her manager, Rob. I have never worked for a company that publicly announced disciplinary action and we have no intention to do so. I am aware that people would like to know, however it's a no-win situation. Damned if we do confirm or deny anything, damned if we don't.

I can give you several examples if you would like of a company announcing disciplinary action especially concerning those that were involved in any public scandal (which this incident has become)

 

[yawgmothx]

So I'm curious. Your basically neither confirming nor denying that Lupa was punished for her antagonizing Noah?

Correct. I did say on Twitter that I spoke with Allison. I know anything considered antagonistic stopped. However the disciplinary action is up to her manager, Rob. I have never worked for a company that publicly announced disciplinary action and we have no intention to do so. I am aware that people would like to know, however it's a no-win situation. Damned if we do confirm or deny anything, damned if we don't.

I can give you several examples if you would like of a company announcing disciplinary action especially concerning those that were involved in any public scandal (which this incident has become)

As much as I'd love to find out that everyone involved with the shenanigans was chained to a pipe in a basement and forced to watch the others video's, it's right for a company not to disclose whatever they end up doing to one of their employee's. Of course this whole thing should've been done behind doors and both of them should've had their hands slapped away from their keyboards after the first round of flaming was launched but it's the internet and no one can babysit anyone 24/7.

I will say that the line "We feel that with these different aims, it is better for Noah to be free to pursue his own goals unhindered by us." from the Farewell letter implies that he was let go due to the companies wishes, if this wasn't the intended outcome of such a message then the writer should've changed the language.

 

[Noxogz]

You know that isn't being "snarky" right? It is not even close. Snarky is being an unpleasant smartass. That, is half a threat, half a proposition.

I'm sorry but what exactly are you claiming was "half a threat, half a proposition"?

Do you mean Spoony's joke?

Because that's what it was, a JOKE. In bad taste definitely but a joke none the less.

It is in no way neither a threat nor a proposition, nobody has treated it as anything other than a joke, not even Lupa.

If it was a threat Spoony could be tried for threatening to rape another human being, you know why he hasn't been? Because treating his JOKE as a threat would be INCREDIBLY STUPID because it is clear to anyone with half a brain it was a JOKE!

 

[gookygox]

I will say that the line "We feel that with these different aims, it is better for Noah to be free to pursue his own goals unhindered by us." from the Farewell letter implies that he was let go due to the companies wishes, if this wasn't the intended outcome of such a message then the writer should've changed the language.

Ah, yes. I see how one could interpret it that way. The line is based off of something Noah said while we met with him, which is likely why we didn't think twice about it.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I will say that the line "We feel that with these different aims, it is better for Noah to be free to pursue his own goals unhindered by us." from the Farewell letter implies that he was let go due to the companies wishes, if this wasn't the intended outcome of such a message then the writer should've changed the language.

Ah, yes. I see how one could interpret it that way. The line is based off of something Noah said while we met with him, which is likely why we didn't think twice about it.

Yeah dude, that PR bullshit with how Spoony's release from the company went about is my sore point with CA.

Would it have been to hard to write "We changed our twitter policy and Spoony disagreed with it so we decided to part ways"? Ya know? The blunt fact?

Also the "Wish him well in his future endeavors" line... don't use that. Thats what World Wrestling Entertainment does everytime they fire a wrestler because WWE's creative team "has nothing for them." I mean, yeah sure use it if you guys wanna seem like corporate tools but I imagine you folks wouldn't want that.

 

[yawgmothx]

I will say that the line "We feel that with these different aims, it is better for Noah to be free to pursue his own goals unhindered by us." from the Farewell letter implies that he was let go due to the companies wishes, if this wasn't the intended outcome of such a message then the writer should've changed the language.

Ah, yes. I see how one could interpret it that way. The line is based off of something Noah said while we met with him, which is likely why we didn't think twice about it.

You didn't think twice about the farewell letter that your own company sent out? And I'm a little shocked at the idea that any company would base a line in any kind of announcement on the internet off of something that the other person said in a closed door meeting.

 

[KRAKENDIE]

You know that isn't being "snarky" right? It is not even close. Snarky is being an unpleasant smartass. That, is half a threat, half a proposition.

I'm sorry but what exactly are you claiming was "half a threat, half a proposition"?

Do you mean Spoony's joke?

Because that's what it was, a JOKE. In bad taste definitely but a joke none the less.

It is in no way neither a threat nor a proposition, nobody has treated it as anything other than a joke, not even Lupa.

If it was a threat Spoony could be tried for threatening to rape another human being, you know why he hasn't been? Because treating his JOKE as a threat would be INCREDIBLY STUPID because it is clear to anyone with half a brain it was a JOKE!

I won't say it was an intentional aggressive threat. But for the receiver, it was threatening.

But saying it wasn't a proposition, even a tongue-in-cheek one, denies the nature of a proposition. A proposition doesn't require intent on fulfillment or even seriousness.

 

[EvilRoy]

So I'm curious. Your basically neither confirming nor denying that Lupa was punished for her antagonizing Noah?

Correct. I did say on Twitter that I spoke with Allison. I know anything considered antagonistic stopped. However the disciplinary action is up to her manager, Rob. I have never worked for a company that publicly announced disciplinary action and we have no intention to do so. I am aware that people would like to know, however it's a no-win situation. Damned if we do confirm or deny anything, damned if we don't.

I can give you several examples if you would like of a company announcing disciplinary action especially concerning those that were involved in any public scandal (which this incident has become)

As much as I'd love to find out that everyone involved with the shenanigans was chained to a pipe in a basement and forced to watch the others video's, it's right for a company not to disclose whatever they end up doing to one of their employee's. Of course this whole thing should've been done behind doors and both of them should've had their hands slapped away from their keyboards after the first round of flaming was launched but it's the internet and no one can babysit anyone 24/7.

That's something I don't think I'll ever understand about the videogame/entertainment industry.
In my industry when someone messes up this bad (Lupa, Spoony, whoever utterly failed to read over the press post) it's pretty much a public crucifixion.

I guess the higher ups feel it stands as a warning to the others, and honestly I kind of agree. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those, and it keeps me clean and honest. But it just doesn't happen that much in these industries, and I've never really understood why.

 

[VoiceOfTheVoiceless]

Ah, yes. I see how one could interpret it that way. The line is based off of something Noah said while we met with him, which is likely why we didn't think twice about it.

So let me ask this. Would Noah be welcome back if he asked to or would you not be the person to be able to answer that? It would be great if the whole nasty situation was forgiven and forgotten. No Spoony on TGWTG just seems wrong. Both sides did so much for each other it sucks that things just end like that.

Also, How many times is Lordkat going to be allowed to piss on TGWTG without removing his links on the site? He fully admitted on the Lupa stream that he was breaking his agreement by stating why he left so why bother promoting him?

Lastly, I know disciplinary actions, if any, on Allison will be confidential but I hope the less views she gets now as well as the weight on her conscience because of her part in all this will be lesson enough. She caused a rift between fans and TGWTG is caught in the middle of it. the site will have to do some goodwill to return those viewers, if possible.

 

[Noxogz]

I won't say it was an intentional aggressive threat. But for the receiver, it was threatening.

But saying it wasn't a proposition, even a tongue-in-cheek one, denies the nature of a proposition. A proposition doesn't require intent on fulfillment or even seriousness.

I wouldn't say it was threatening to the receiver as JO didn't seem to have much of a problem with it when he said it in the first place.

Could his joke be interpreted as a proposition? I think it would be stretching it but I guess it could be.

Captcha: in the air

I guess it is.

 

[KRAKENDIE]

I won't say it was an intentional aggressive threat. But for the receiver, it was threatening.

But saying it wasn't a proposition, even a tongue-in-cheek one, denies the nature of a proposition. A proposition doesn't require intent on fulfillment or even seriousness.

I wouldn't say it was threatening to the receiver as JO didn't seem to have much of a problem with it when he said it in the first place.

Could his joke be interpreted as a proposition? I think it would be stretching it but I guess it could be.

Captcha: in the air

I guess it is.

Well I know it was received as creepy and there was some discomfort, maybe not 'fear', so to speak.

That is incredibly fitting.

 

[gookygox]

You didn't think twice about the farewell letter that your own company sent out? And I'm a little shocked at the idea that any company would base a line in any kind of announcement on the internet off of something that the other person said in a closed door meeting.

...
It's another no-win. We have a policy of closed door meetings so you're not going to hear EXACTLY what was said. I stated multiple times on Twitter that Noah chose a different path from our own and that our entire meeting was very calm and polite. We had no reason to assume that anyone WOULD interpret that any differently that what is directly stated, hence not reading into it.

As for the WWE thing, as far as I know, none of the exec at CA watch it. It's a pretty standard line across the board. I've known people to write it in going away cards when someone takes a new job.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I won't say it was an intentional aggressive threat. But for the receiver, it was threatening.

But saying it wasn't a proposition, even a tongue-in-cheek one, denies the nature of a proposition. A proposition doesn't require intent on fulfillment or even seriousness.

I wouldn't say it was threatening to the receiver as JO didn't seem to have much of a problem with it when he said it in the first place.

Could his joke be interpreted as a proposition? I think it would be stretching it but I guess it could be.

Captcha: in the air

I guess it is.

Well I know it was received as creepy and there was some discomfort, maybe not 'fear', so to speak.

That is incredibly fitting.

I mean... isn't that based upon how close JO and Spony are?

Hell me and my buddies joke sometimes about killing one of us and helping the others bury the body. Frank discussions spoken so straight that if we were being listened to by the FBI, we'd probably have some problems... but were all close enough friends to know that we're just joking.