Some years back, Cryaotic was at the top of his game. He had more than two million subscribers, his streams were popular, and he virtually hung out and had an online friendship with the then-king of YouTube Gaming, PewDiePie.
He was known for never showing his face – having a minimalistic avatar as his persona – remaining anonymous, having a very distinct and pleasant voice, so much so that Cry would upload videos of himself reading stories among all the Let’s Plays he did, and a laid-back style of playing and narrating that appealed to those who wanted a more serene experience in comparison to more over-the-top YouTubers like Pewdiepie.
This all came crumbling down like a house of cards in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, around June and July of 2020. Cry’s – as he was best known – downfall was like watching a train crash in slow motion. The disappointment fans felt when finding out his alleged misdeeds, and borderline criminal actions, knowing how he was always depicting himself as a standup guy with a good moral compass, was immeasurable. Some of us had followed Cry for many years, having played a significant part in many fans’ childhoods and adolescence.
It’s the end of my career, and I’ll Cry if I want to
The trainwreck began on June 18, when a Twitter user going by Beanie made a post implying that, while she was a minor, she was groomed by a Cryaotic in his early 20s, which continued until her 18th birthday. She also indicated that Cry had fooled around with his best friend’s girlfriend, who was later revealed to be RussMoney’s ex-girlfriend.
It later came out that he also pursued a love interest Russ had after his breakup, known as Angel. Russ had met Cry due to the Amnesia game franchise, as Cry had played a mod made by Russ and the two started interacting from there.
Three days later, Cry posted a very vague video to his YouTube channel. In the video, he mentions cheating on Cheyenne, his ex, whom he claimed was abusive, with people who he did not realize were underage. The video linked to a stream – his last stream – wherein Cry had a major mental breakdown, exhibiting clear signs of not being mentally okay. He later partly retracts his statement by saying he never had any physical contact with anyone underage. Later that day, Cry tweets that his video was impulsively uploaded and pleads with people to keep an open mind.
Still on the 21st, Scott Jund tweets that he and Cry’s other Late Night friends, Russ and Snake, had no idea about the allegations before that day. Cheyenne replies on the thread rebutting their alleged obliviousness. To prove a point, Cheyenne posts screenshots of her conversations with Cry when she was 16 and he was 23.
The next day, Cry once again doubles down on the video, claiming that it was made and posted in a “manic state”. Later in the day, a netizen prompted a months-old tweet from Cheyenne to resurface, wherein she claimed Cry was having sexual encounters with minors via Skype call. On this day, Russ came out saying that he was immeasurably upset by the whole situation and that he and Cry had already stopped being friends for a while. On a stream, Scott reiterated that he had no idea Cry’s misdeeds ran this deep.
From here on out, many more allegations and damning screenshots from multiple sources came out, including minors corroborating Cheyenne’s claim that she was cheated on with underage girls. Many of the people involved, including Snake, Russ, and one of the victims, went on streams to talk about the allegations and their perspectives. On July 16 Cheyenne reported that the FBI was involved and investigating him.
Some people were split on the whole ordeal, however, those were mostly avid fans who, understandably, had a hard time coming to grips with what happened to their beloved YouTuber. Others were convinced enough by the mountain of evidence.
This fallout was disappointing to so many, but also eye-opening. While we can hope that Cry is now on the path to changing his ways and becoming a better person, it should be noted that it isn’t because you admire someone or enjoy their YouTube persona, that they are not capable of toxic and downright despicable behavior. There are times, such as this, in which we should stifle our own confirmation biases in order to see clearer.
