There is no possible reality where this is in any way capable of being passed off as self-defense. It was never self-defense. It is, and always has been, a genocide.
Crying babies. Crying babies. This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, meant to draw out and kill civilians while also making it far more difficult to locate and aid children who are trapped or alone.
If you have money to spare, please consider donating to some of the fundraisers on Operation Olive Branch to help people escape this genocide.
im sorry people calling watchers response "too late" are incredibly wrong. they took two days. the original announcement was posted on friday and then they posted their response to backlash the following monday. that's a perfectly normal respone time. they took the weekend to gauge the opinion of the fans, reformed their plan and then posted an update admitting fault. im not saying i think their response was good or bad but it was definitely quick.
They acknowledged that they made a mistake, made the wider context more clear, and addressed basically all of the criticisms brought forward by the community as far as I know.
Anyone who already subscribed to the streaming service who no longer wants it gets a refund.
Patrons get a free subscription to the streaming service.
The service now only offers early, ad-free episodes that will still be released on YouTube.
They acknowledged the insensitivity of the original pitch and how the price is not something that everyone can afford.
THIS is how you respond to backlash, especially this widespread. Take time to collect your thoughts, take the criticism into account, and change your actions going forward.
you already know how bitter and disappointed I am about this and how I'm simultaneously mentally eating popcorn while scrolling through the sheer chaos and laughing in disbelief but the emphatic part of me that was their fan for like seven years can't help but feel a little bit bad for them (and ryan especially, very likely suffering an ongoing anxiety attack) because in their arrogance and hubris they clearly didn't expect this to ruin their careers that they've arguably worked for very hard but on the other hand, they've made their beds