Meme Context, Rabia, Aaron and the end of Wondery’s relationship with Mike.
It was International Women’s day when Mike posted this. This sparked outrage, understandably.
This “meme” was the straw that broke the camels back. Wondery finally decided that the risk of having him as part of their network was a lot greater than whatever money he was bringing in.
To my knowledge, they washed their hands completely of Mike and S&S
Wondery decided to part ways with Sword and Scale.
Mike decides to shut down his podcast for good. No more free episodes... At least according to him. This changes later on when he hires someone to host the free episodes.
"I just got off the phone with Wondery, and I am very sad to announce that we are no longer a Wondery show.
In fact, without advertising, we're no longer a show at all. After this recording, I have a call with my staff to let most of them know they are being laid off today. That means no season 2 of Monstruo, no more This Is War, no more Sword and Scale Rewind, and, as it stands right now, no more Sword and Scale. That's it. Censorship actually works. You get a mob to rally against you, intimidate those around you, anyone who associates with you, because you've been deemed "a bad person" who says "bad words." The mob can censor you through intimidation, through boycotts, and other tactics just because they don't like what you say, how you said it, what tone you used, what words you used.
I've been saying that for years. There is a culture war going on right now in the United States, and pretty much all over the world. It's not enough for this particular group of people to scroll past something they don't like, to unsubscribe from it. No, that's not the point at all. It's not about controlling what they hear as individuals. It's about controlling what YOU hear. What all of you, all of us, hear, or see, or say, or think. Your words are no longer your words, whether you think they are or not. They're the words of the mob, of the state. Your individual liberties have been given up for the sake of pretending that you're more virtuous than you are, for the sake of appearances.
Right now, as it stands, this is the end. We will keep putting out PLUS episodes on Patreon until we move to our own platform, and then continue putting out episodes behind that paywall. But Sword and Scale, the free show, and all of the other Incongruity Media shows, are coming to an end. Anything that was ad supported is over now. Because of Aaron Mahnke from Lore, and Rabia Chaudry from Undisclosed, who led this boycott against me and my company 'cause they didn't like certain things I said. There have been many accusations against me over the years, because I believe in independent thought and independent speech. I don't talk like them. I don't say things in the pre-approved way they want me to say it. And when someone tries to tell me what to say, I tell them to fuck off. Well they don't like that. They don't like having their power challenged, so they attack your character. They use things that are out of context, especially screenshots, to prove what a misogynist pig you are. Never mind context, nevermind telling the actual series of events or circumstances behind these screenshots. No. Just collect 'em all and put 'em in a place where you can point people to. A public forum, such as Reddit, for example, where you can show people that "it's on the internet, it must be true!" That's what they do, and they do it to public figure after public figure, that doesn't toe their line. So they went after my advertisers and scared enough of them to drop me. But that wasn't enough. Then they went after Wondery, not just the company as a whole, but individuals IN that company. And guess what? It worked. And I don't blame them. There's only so much you can take, so much pressure you can take. I know other podcasters that have been attacked just because they're friends with me. They've been personally attacked just because of their association to me as an individual because I've been deemed a bad person.
I don't fall in line with their bullshit. I make inappropriate jokes sometimes. I repost memes that some people might find offensive. Everyone takes everything SO seriously and loves to virtue-signal about it online. Even a fucking joke meme that I didn't even create. It takes a particularly special individual to try to get a podcaster fired because they didn't like a reposted joke meme, but that's what people like Aaron Mahnke and Rabia Chaudry are all about: virtue signaling online. Pretending they're better than everyone else, acting like they're more moral, more enlightened. Well there you go, maybe they are. Maybe I am an asshole. And I'm an asshole that you will no longer be able to hear because of these virtuous people.
Now right now I don't know what's going to happen. I wanted to come on here and tell you why we're not going to be putting out shows anymore and also to let you know that there's still a way for you to support us. Again right now it's still on Patreon, we're moving off that platform because of this very reason. We don't want someone pressuring Patreon somehow to drop us because they've been offended by something. And that can very well happen. It could very well happen that we're dropped off of Patreon, kicked off of Twitter, kicked off of every platform out there, Facebook, YouTube, you name it. Because again, we don't fall in line with this common, modern day thinking that you have to say things a certain way, that you have to keep repeating the party line. That's just how I am. I don't let anyone else control my words. And so here we are, where my words have now been silenced. Censorship works. You go after someone online, you get a mob behind you, you can take 'em down. Just like Aaron Mahnke and Rabia Chaudry did to
me. So that's it. Congratulations. You've silenced another free thinker. Good job. Now you can go get offended by someone else and silence them too. Your work is never done, is it? Enjoy your little battle. I'll see everyone else on Patreon, and thank you to those of you still listening."
Ya’ll ready to dissect a few choice parts of this?
Let’s do this.
Aaron and Rabia merely called him out, both are very, very busy individuals and don’t have the time to lead any boycotts or mass take down of Mike Boudet, they just called it as they saw it.
The reason why he was deemed a “bad person” who says “bad words” is because he is. I’ve never seen him once take a step back and think “Well fuck, I sure fucked up. I’ll try and do better”
As for firing his staff. Let me let you in on a secret. Let’s say that his 15k supporters on Patreon give him the *lowest* donation a month... That’s $75k a month. He still has plenty of money to throw around. He didn’t end up firing anyone.
He got deplatformed, and he still doesn’t get why he is the problem.
He did bring in a new host, Tricia Griffith owner of Websleuths and her story is a whole new blog post. She reads for the “free episodes” and Mike reads for the “paid episodes”
