Most people are familiar with Ethan Klein thanks to his H3H3Productions YouTube channel. That was the old Ethan, a content creator whose content over the years had sparked controversy. But it was funny and thus, drew attention. Many people even went back and rewatched those videos to pass time during the lockdown. But, what went wrong and why did Ethan Klein of H3H3 get canceled?
In short, he made some jokes about the Holocaust that were understandably quite difficult to take, which is how the whole Ethan Klein fiasco began. The outrage came mostly from conservatives and far-right figures.
All the recent shenanigans happened on Ethan’s podcast channel. The majority of individuals who follow this online persona are aware of his knack for dark humor and sensitive jokes. But it seems he went too far with this one. Let’s delve a little deeper into how this whole thing escalated.
Reason For H3H3 Being Canceled
Ostracizing or calling out people for their opinions is the key element of cancel culture. Some people would also classify canceling as a form of modern-day censorship.
Before we get into more about the messy situation that’s surrounding Ethan, it would be better to see how Cancel Culture fits into his content. You see, Ethan Klein used to be a very enjoyable dude. At least back when he was still making the funny, often very pointed YouTube videos.
He cultivated a very critical audience. Most people that followed old Ethan’s channel had much to say about the terrible content that was swarming the online platforms at the time. Nobody batted an eye when Ethan called out Logan Paul and questioned his content, at least nobody with more than one brain cell.
The reason for that is that most people understood that he was right. They agreed with the opinion, those people knew the good from the bad. But therein lies the problem. Ethan’s tragic flaw is that he had an audience that knew how to think critically and judge the good from the bad.
When he slowly declined into being the kind of person he used to make fun of, the people called him out. Dark humor is fine, but there is always a line that one shouldn’t cross. Ethan crossed that line, walked back, and asked the audience “wanna see me do that again?.”
Recent Controversy Surrounding Ethan
Image Source: Twitter
Now let’s talk about the specifics of the line he allegedly crossed. The Internet does not have a unified opinion on this subject. There are always people with different opinions, and nothing is ever truly black and white.
Ethan’s recent controversy is related to anti-semitism. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it means holding prejudice against Jews. The Internet has taken to viewing Ethan as an anti-semite due to his very inappropriate joke about another prominent internet personality, Ben Shapiro.
All of this took place on Ethan and Twitch streamer Hasan's podcast, Leftovers. At one point, Ethan stated that if another Holocaust occurs, he hopes Ben Shapiro is gassed first. His “joke”, which was admittedly not very funny, led to widespread internet outrage. Viewers went wild with their views in favor of and against Ethan. The arguments on both sides are strong enough.
Ethan Sympathizers
There are, of course, Ethan sympathizers, who claim it was only a joke. They base their point on the fact that Ethan himself is also part Jewish. On that note, Ben Shapiro also comes from a part-Jewish background. Right now, the debate is over how much of a free pass Ethan should get on account of his origins.
Some people say he should get a free pass to tell dark jokes about Jewish history. The people on the same side also claim there’s no way Ethan is an anti-Semite because he has been on the hit list of the neo-nazis for a long time.
Many people think bashing Ethan so hard for this is a violation of freedom of speech. They claim Ethan’s joke sounds very inappropriate, but it is fine if taken in context. But most people don’t have the time to watch the entire podcast, and many people can not do it even if they want to since it was taken down.
Non-Ethan Sympathizers
The other side says the exact opposite thing. This group does not think anyone should make dark jokes like that in the media. Almost all conservatives and far-right activists are against Ethan. They’ve been throwing mud all over his platform for a while now. Calling him names like a scumbag, and so on.
Additionally, several opponents of Ethan advocated for his ban from speaking on public platforms. His opinions are damaging and harmful to any community. Ethan’s platforms are getting massive amounts of hate from a wide range of people. It has reached the point where it wouldn’t be surprising to see a few death threats in the mix.
Ben Shapiro also tweeted back to Ethan regarding this issue. He said he hopes Ethan and his family can escape if there is another Holocaust. Was that a subtle threat or a genuinely heartfelt wish? That is for you to decide. However, Ethan thinks Ben is terrible at taking jokes. At least, that is what he said in his tweet.
Ethan’s Content Was Already Getting Him In Trouble
Ethan’s content over the years has been very different. Back in the day, Ethan's content revolved around making fun of stupid people on the internet. It was all mostly very negative, but there was a strange allure to it.
For the most part, his opinions were sound, and many people still love that content. But many conservatives and right-wingers hate his rather blunt opinions. One side thinks the old Ethan was bad, and he fixed it in recent years. He merely relapsed into his old mindset for a bit.
However, many people believe that the old Ethan was superior and that the current one is everything he once stood against. Are the conservatives failing to take a joke, or does Ethan deserve to get canceled? It’s impossible to give a definitive opinion on that, so you’ll have to find that answer yourself.
But his old content was also setting him on the path of cancellation. YouTube temporarily banned Ethan's YouTube channel, and it received a strike. YouTube has a three-strike policy, and this is Ethan’s second one. Anymore, and he could very well lose his channel. Ethan claims this is happening because the conservatives are very upset and that they are report-bombing his channel and content.
YouTube took down Ethan’s original podcast. Now the only source of information on the topic is a 12-second video clip and a bunch of random tweets. Ethan claims it was for bullying, harassment, and violent content. YouTube has very ambiguous criteria for judging those.
This incident has cost Ethan almost the entirety of his sponsors. Many of the sponsors pulled out because things were not looking good. The heat was too much for them to take, and it was affecting their business. Ethan’s haters allegedly wrote to his sponsors, showed them the footage, and demanded they terminate their support for Ethan.
Conclusion
To recap, why did Ethan Klein of H3H3 get canceled? For telling one inappropriate joke. He lost nearly all of his sponsors, and his YouTube channel received a temporary ban. Now the only source of information on the topic is a 12-second video clip and a bunch of random tweets.
Thanks a lot for reading till the end and have a nice day!
