I always thought Smosh was cringe. As a teenager I was just old enough to fall outside its target demographic, even if I did tune into Smosh Games sometimes to see whether their taste had gotten better. Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox’s brand of sketch comedy was immature, gross, and seemed aware of its own ineptitude, but it was the exact kind of cringe-inducing authenticity young viewers gravitate towards. For all those who grew up in the early ages of YouTube, you’d struggle to find two more influentialꦆ faces.
The two men began their viral careers dancing to the Power Rangers theme song and doing outrageous sketches that weren’t funny to anyone but themselves, and this is precisely what made them so endearing. ♑But, like many of the big players in the early days of YouTube, the woes of capitalism swooped in and turned what was once a creative dream into a sad chore.
Smosh was sold to Defy Media who thro🌳ughout the years seemed to increasingly tear away at the duo’s creative control while seeking to grow the Smosh brand beyond its means. The years that followed were marred by dishonesty and a lack of fulfilment until the brand, along with its employees, ceased to exist after Defy Media went bankrupt in 2018.
Smosh and its subsidiaries remained under the ownership of another YouTube duo, Rhett & Link, but those nostalgic for its glory days had given up hope that Padilla and Hecox would ever reunite. Padilla left the company prior to Defy Media’s bankruptcy due to clear issues with its direction, and has since built up a solo YouTube career where he sits down with fellow YouTubers, celebrities, and also those with diverse identities so he can provide an educational glimpse at the world wi𝕴thout the outrage and disinformation the internet can otherwise be so keen to throw around. With millions of subscribers now tuning into his new content, Padilla returning to Smosh felt like a pipedream. Suddenly, it’s a reality.
Earlier this week I found out - courtesy of my zoomer colleague James♓ Troughton - that the original Smosh was officially back in business. to not only ꦇtalk business, but bury a hatchet which for years fans feared had ruined their lifelong friendship. Their returning chemistry is immediate, and it puts a smile on my face to see a dormant creative partnership reignite with such loving immediacy. Away from the hour-long chat on Padilla’s own channel, Smosh uploaded its own announcement which is pretty clear cut. The two men have bought Smosh and now have full ownership over the brand they created decades ago, and have no intentions of letting it slip.
The second Hecox’s mother burst into frame and started calling him a cuck because he was taking too long filming a video in the same room she used to watch xQc, I knew the Smosh I saw grow up and change over the years was back, even if I was never their target audience. In an online world populated by to𒆙xic personalities and bigoted deceit, there’s a delight to be found in the return of something so simple and innocent, but equally driven by a passionate willingness to do right by both themselves and the millions watching. There is no attempt to sugarcoat the company’s controversial history and how a laundry list of bullshit drove the💜 two childhood friends apart, which is appreciated, and gives the return a powerful context that we’re allowed to celebrate.
However, at the centre of this feel-good victory sits Padilla and Hecox. As passive observers of internet drama we love to read too much into things and assume the worst when it comes to a fractured friendship like this, which is a trend both men seem to acknowledge. Hecox is clear that once upon a time there was a fear that the two of them would never be friends again due to how their lives had drifted apart and away from t✨he channel that brought them together in the first place. To see that parasocial fearmongering rejected in the face of Smosh’s grand, unexpected return is a rare win for not only YouTube, but the entire internet.