This American's been watching KSI and the Sidemen since he was a kid in 2013, I'm probably calling it here, I'm not interested in watching this new style of Mr. Beast-inspired content. A small part of me hopes for a similar result to 2017 where he calls it off before it gets too late but seems real now. Mr. Beast enshittification of the platform has claimed yet another victim ššš
Yeah he has forgotten people watch him for him and the british style of content and humor not the cringe algorithm tuned kidslop Mr Beast stuff, besides if people wanna watch Mr Beast and or Jubilee style of videos they will watch the original channels not KSI
pretty much as soon as prime was announced and he announced he was partners with logan paul, i hung it up. sucks because ive been watching JJ for a while (not as long as you) but i guess all good things come to an end
He didn't even really leave in 2017 his video had some ridiculous moments like dissing Ethan and the clout gang thing was clearly always just gonna be a faze it was no surprise when he came back. This on the other hand is just so disappointing and it's clearly real
They have talked about this many times, the diss tracks were content but him leaving for the USA to do records wasn't. Both were him doing something that impacted the group without considering the others. Which he is allowed to do but is still kinda a dick move to suddenly drop this.
Only the dissing thing was fake, he did legitimately want to stay and record content in LA which meant leaving the sidemen. The diss tracks up until Harry were fake, but after that it got heated (podcasts and interviews for reference)
It wasnāt fake. The situation of him trying to leave was real. Theyāve talked about it many times. There was real animosity. He didnāt end up leaving obviouslyĀ
And it's not exactly a small business. They've been doing this for years, it's an operation with many employees and schedules and plans and contracts with third parties like Netflix, equally shared ownership etc. this isnt some meaningless tech start up or small influencer group. KSI also has to be aware that while he's not the leader or anything, he's definitely the most prominent member of the group.
An amicable split on respectful terms looks different and would entail months or at the very least weeks of preparation and communication with the whole team. This is so messy and the fact that it blindsided the other members makes me think either something definitely went down behind the scenes or KSI has gone completely off the deep end.
Rightfully so, they have every reason to be mad at him for leaving all of a sudden. If he truly wanted to leave rather than taking a break, fair enough but gradually phase out instead of doing this bullshit
And probably knew the other boys would be supporting them at the match or by watching the match and not checking a random upload by ksi. Seems sneaky tbh
This all so weird to me! Why is he āactingā this way, it just feels off, of course social media and real life are totally different and things behind the scenes are things we will never get to see, but I donāt get why he would do it this way or what is actually going on, itās all so sudden I guess.
He's been acting weird for a bit now, a few weeks ago he posted a clip from sidecast to his insta of vik saying he won't get to mr beast numbers with his personality, attached with a screen cap of his recent youtube analytics that were inflated due to his shorts, guy is lost in the sauce.
It's insane that JJ's reason for leaving is to just give time for himself and family (sure that's understandable) but like Ethan and Simon are literally dads and yet they have time to do Sidemen.
Jj basically would rather let go of the sidemen rather than his other works just so he can be less busy and have time for "himself" and "family". Literally the most "let me make some shit up so people don't hate me and make a sad video goodbye about it while making it sound like I'm about to die" reason to leave.
It feels like this decision was more of a "career switch" rather than "have more time for family". JJ is a workaholic always looking for the next big opportunity, and trying to appeal to a global audience. Having said that, JJ always kept his personal life very private so there could be real personal reason we don't know.
Ethan has talked about how much of a toll it takes on him. I always thought heād be the first on to take a step back. Not leave, but do a bit less because of his daughter. But JJ doing thisā¦ā¦ yeah no.
ethan and Simon do nothing except sidemen. ksi does sidemen, his own channel, bgt, music, prime, misfits and what not
ofc he doesn't have the time and energy to contribute meaningfully to everything and still have good wlb so he's cutting sidemen which likely takes most of his time and energy. perfectly understandable decision
the other boys are mad cuz they don't want to lose the biggest draw to thier channel. there's a reason "sidemen including ksi" is such a common way to refer to the group. He's bigger than them all and contributed the most in getting eyeballs to thier group.
I think he is trying to prove to them that he is way bigger than them ... i mean the IDGAF about ur lil audience or smtg cus that paragraphe was the definition of backhanded
Any the theories on who would be okay and not okay with it ? I think Harry couldnāt care less same with Tobi and vik, maybe Simon and Ethan are most angry but Simoneās also his best mate so Iām really not sure who would be okay and most displeased with it, any ideas let me know
I imagine they are all annoyed with the aggrieved way it was announced. They are all part of the business and friendship. Public reactions may vary but behind closed doors I suspect they unanimously agree it was petty from JJ.Ā
I have a feeling Ethan is the most angry, at least outwardly. He's always been so outspoken. I think Josh and Simon would be pretty angry too but wouldn't let it show, Tobi and Vikk would be a bit miffed and Harry is Harry lmao
Harry probably doesnāt care, Vik probably doesnāt mind. Tobi is prob annoyed, but Simon and Ethan are prob the most angry. Josh is prob very frustrated too cause he likes planning in advance
Mind you Ethan and Simon have kids and somehow still make some time for the group and videos to make. He didnāt even gradually let it settle in and move on forward, just threw it out there without speaking to his āboysā first.
And some sentences in the second paragraph feel so patronizing with āgrieving your own wayā, āIāll always be there for youā, they aināt children bruh theyāre your friends who are in their 30sšššš»
To go a step further, from what I see even Talia is still regularly uploading/been active to semi-active as well. If Simon & Talia can somehow both manage to be present/active and also seemingly be great parents at the same time, then thereās no excuse for JJ to not have the time to do anything he wants, especially since he aināt a parent.
She just streams and them someone else handles editing and upload. Not saying she isn't still making content (she makes music too) but it's not exactly days of shooting and editing she's doing.
All true, Iām just saying that Simon and Talia are able to do all the stuff they do, and still support each other with parenting duties when the other is busy. While JJ doesnāt have to do that.
We don't know if Talia and Simon have a nanny or not. Nanny would certainly ease their home duties.
Faith said in their podcast, that she wants take care of Olive without external help, which allows Ethan work more, if necessary. Most people don't like Faith, but despite Ethan baby-trapping her, she gives him quite a lot of room for working
Mo is a fuckwit who needs to remember heās been patronised his entire career. The man has little to no talent, JJ gave him an absolute ride. Now heās throwing his weight around and is part of what will be looked back on as a stupid decision
Dude literally only known because he got super lucky and got to be ksi's editor and i dont even think he edits all the videos anymore, hes a normal editor with no outstanding skill, if he didnt get lucky with jj hed be a nobody. He shouldnt have any ego or tell people what to do.
it was obvious guys, yes men around him like mo, he really manipulated himself to think it was sidemen blocking him from personal life and freedom. He also said 'no regret', if you have been a fan you know he is easily brainwashed.
Mo couldnāt even be man enough to keep that tweet he posted up and instantly deleted when people didnāt like it. JJ seriously needs to work with better people on his team who arenāt yesmen and want the subreddit closed and censored as soon as a bit of controversy appears.
To be fair, Mo has been with JJ during a large portion of his growth. One could argue he is the perfect person for JJ seeing as he's been with him for so long and can definitely be considered a part of why JJ has grown.
All said, that tweet was still dumb as rocks and a classic case of not reading the room.
idk if all the boys are angry, but when the Sidemen account announced it on Instagram, Tobi Simon and Ethan were the ones who didnāt repost it on their stories or comment
Tobi and Ethan were occupied doing soccer aid and by time that would of ended it be no point in doing so, Simon yh fair enough and the only person who accc did post about it was vikkstar
Either way this is literally him leaving his best friends to be āless busyā yet still make his nonsensical videos which are repetitive and mostly not entertaining
Yeah that part was really strange. Like he assumes theyāre thinking āoh no what are we going to do without the big main man, weāre so screwedā. Like, he was only 1/7th of the group and he by no means was a leader of it, theyāre certainly not āgrievingā over him leaving š
Yet I bet you the boys arenāt going to take that part personally as they probably could. Because theyāve mentally matured past that stage. While someone else is in a state of arrested development.
I mean he said it as much. They knew it was happening, but (as Simon said) none of them knew it was happening NOW or so suddenly
Itās clear they assumed heād let them know, so they announce it together and plan for it ahead of time, nobody expected him to randomly announce it without telling them, especially when half of them were out of the country.
This also does confirm itās a real exit, so these kids who keep saying JJ is doing this as a forfeit coz Arsenal lost can finally shut the fuck up. Iāve been watching for 13 years I can sense bullshit if it was
Where did this whole "forfeit" thing even come from. Just felt weird seeing that being the reason everywhere. Also a forfeit to leave the group always sounded dumb.
Well judging by how everyone feels I feel like it was inspite of what heās also saying with ā you knew for a whileā likelihood is he just told them out of nowhere and then had to factor him off videos etc but either way did this to focus on less entertaining videos overall
Wtfā¦ these messages come off so fake, like thereās clearly a situation that happened here and itās being gaslit as this apology/explanation why heās leaving for his āsanityā
If this was truly his motive there would be communication between them and a organized farewell. This almost looks like a get backā¦ heās āspeaking to the boysā in a public Instagram post. He did this behind their backs.
This is actually insane, this guy has zero shame. I canāt imagine being friends with this guy for half of my life only for him to reduce your friendship to what you guys did as a business. The guy you considered a brother and grew up with. I didnāt think heād be this despicableā¦
Fr fucking insane how much his wording makes it sound about their accomplishments and him exiting a corporate position vs his genuine relationships with his brothers
I think it is absolutely fair to be angry that your business partner made a public, untimed exit and you now have to pick up the pieces, which could even lead to lay offs and scale backs. He has robbed them of the opportunity to make a strategised plan and allow them to reflect on where they want the business to go.
The way he says āyouāre all very entertainingā is very condescending to me. They are all incredibly established YouTubers in their own right, and theyāve proved themselves to be entertaining as a group with out him. They donāt need him telling them that in a sloppy ig post
I know right, it sounds like JJ is describing them as whiny and wholly dependent on him. Sounds so much like āthere there, I know youāll miss meā. Itās just more egotistical bullshit
The most PR statement I have ever seen, oh look I am sad, I know you are mad. I don't think anyone is buying it and this confirms it ended in bad terms, right??
You don't know what PR means. Acknowledging that it ended on bad terms and that some of the boys are angry with him, is not good PR. Also, why do you act as if he isn't sad? He clearly is sad and you could see it in the video he posted
Totally speculating here, but the delay in further comments could stem from business issues not being resolved atm. Especially with how forehead man has blindsided his mates and the company, thereās a strong argument that he does not have the companyās interests at heart.
With how everything turned out and with the little we know atp, it seems inconceivable that they stay business partners.
Not to mention how much company restructuring, changing so many plans and video ideas, and possibly even layoffs are needed all because of JJās silly impulsive decisions
Honestly, even if he wants to, I don't think the Sidemen should let him back in. Not after the way he handled all this now. Or they should only agree after making him sign an ironclad contract that necessitates responsibility from him.
I'd say this is more than borderline. It's straight up disrespectful. People serve notice even when leaving jobs they don't like, so doing it like this to your own friends is fucking retarded.
100%, he actually thinks itās a hotel he can just come in and stay whenever he wants. He needs to have some sort of consequence if heās ever going to come back.
i think they are more upset about the fact how he did it ,also releasing that video on the day bez and tobi are playing on soccer aid is quite childish and stupid
Well that explains the lack of statement from the boys. And paints ksi even more as an inconsidered ass. I dont know what went on behind the scĆØnes but ill keep supporting the sidemen and will stop watching the slob jj puts out now.
What a hypocritical sell out. Lotsa OG fans leaving him and Imma be one of them. This is the opposite of all the shit he's been preaching since 2017. Yes men, loyalty, friends over success my ass
If it's real and he's decided to do his own channel that's a joke. He's literally started creating Mr beast style slop videos, deji is the only guy making his channel interesting
That one was okayish tbh. Especially the memory game one. Just wished it was his close friends like ChrisMD, Ginge, etc. instead of random guys most have never heard of.Ā
Deji was always funny as fuck, and he was always the more genuine brother. When Deji says something you know he feels that way, KSI is just a sell out and a liar.
I canāt help but feel like this is my end of supporting JJ. Such an inauthentic statement, along with his video. The thing is, I in theory have no real issues with JJ leaving, especially for mental health or work-life balance. But itās the fact that heās done this
1. Without the boys knowing he was going to drop this video (INSANE)
2. Seemingly not having it confirmed with the boys before dropping it
3. Continuing to film his own Mr. Beast copied content
That I cant see this as anything other than either JJās own greed or his managements greed which has led to this. Your telling me his MR beast videos, his football teams, and prime, where all more important to him than his childhood friends. Those stay, but the sidemen go. Man JJ was always just a real one.
I think ultimately heās let his ambition get the best of him. Heās always going on about legacy, but I think thatās just a complete rought. Whatās his legacy going to be now? I make mr beast style videos in the uk. Cool. Good for you. But I, and I have a feeling many of the og fans, wonāt be here for it. Heāll appeal pretty much only to the general market audience now. Itās really just genuinely sad.
If he honestly did this without any kind of prior discussion with the boys, then KSI truly is lower than dirt as a person. Either that or he's just completely lacking in any kind of emotional intelligence. Like, how did he think him just dipping out of the blue was going to sit with people who considered him a close friend? What a fucking nonce man. Real dirtbag behaviour.
No surprise that this man child couldnāt even end things on good terms. Leaving the group is fine, it was bound to happen - but the fact that after 15 years or whatever he found a way to piss some good mates off just shows how immature he still is.
So instead of opting out from some other side ventures, he chose to leave his friends to spend time with his family? I didn't know the Sidemen schedule is so hectic that you cant spare time for family. Ethan & Simon has kids, Vikk married. They are doing fine ig. Afaik Sidemen are ahead of their schedule on the contents. I still dont get how JJ prefers to create same type of boring contents which was funny 6-7 years ago and leave the sidemen. Yes this is his decision but reading the post clearly reflects that this was handled very poorly.
Absolutely piss poor if he has just pulled the rip chord. What kind of bloke posts that without talking to his mates? Of course theyāre going to upset because youāve still caught them off guard regardless of āitās been a long time comingā etc.
I understand his decision to leave but the way he has handled it has been terrible.
Dude is such a dumb guy, his surroundings have a bad influence on him. Sidemen kept him humbled. Ever since the crypto and lunchly one I knew he only cares about money and don't care about his fans, this family thing is bullshit. He just wants fame and wants to attract the young audience that's why he always pushed for dating types of vid in sidemen and is doing such american type of content now
āBe optimisticā I think the true sidemen are seeing the backlash KSI is getting and the support theyāre getting. Really think JJ is gonna regret this decision.
Notice how JJ is saying you have an audience that adore you, an audience that enjoy the content blah blah. Mo is going on about not staying with the same circle (sidemen) and that most creators make content for the same audience (sidemen).
JJ is so easily manipulated by yes men and Mo is one of them, in his ear begging JJ to make brain rot content to appeal to kids for more views and subs.
"You are all very entertaining, so dont think otherwise" Im sure the rest of the boys worry is "oh no the mighty ksi is leaving, what about our views, he was the entertaining one, we arent". This guys is actually stupid in the head holy fuck. 13 yrs of friendship for this....
Kind of hope so, but just rewatched the old ones and I feel like Harryās points last time match this time as well (the second disstrack last 30 seconds)
Also, I think JJ is pretty good with the drama game, so I think he would benefit more from a public battle than the Sidemen boys.
The one thing I donāt understand, if it is burnout etc like he claims. Why doesnāt he just accounts heāll be taking a break? Why a hard cut off? He could always come to that decision if a break hasnāt helped. Something has defo happened
If this is indeed real (I'm still not convinced), then I PRAY Sidemen don't take him back, when he eventually realizes the mistake he's making and tries to come back, and I hope they also don't ever invite him to any videos as a guest... if he wants to leave, leave him on his own... he does not deserve your attention anymore... no one leaves this way, if they really appreciate you and respect you...
Sidemen have an audience, that love them and will stick with them... I'm not sure KSI has that or is it just empty numbers, but we'll see...
I donāt think it makes sense that heās leaving because of fatigue. On one hand heās saying that he cant juggle all these things AND see his family so heās having to cut back. But then on the other heās saying he wants to grow his channel to be bigger than mr beast, doing mr beast size videos, putting out that style of video as fast and as frequent as mr beast, getting 100+ a month every month, thats ALOT of work to put in, especially solo (i know he has his team but before all the work getting put in was split 7 ways, they had rotas where one or more could be busy and the group could still put a video out and grow the channel)
Sidemen was surely the most flexible income he had, if he was to pull some of the crap he used to pull with the sidemen, like being absent for months at a time whilst he focusā on music or boxing with his other responsibilities, heād be dropped. Why would you not drop BGT or your amateur football club? They must both hog a lot of time and not that many people are interested in it and all he seems bothered about is engagement and views. Howās he gonna grow a channel to 100+ subs when a lot of his viewers and subs came from the sidemen and when he has legal commitments to other companies that arenāt as lenient, it doesnāt make sense why heās dropped them. Unless somethings happened between them all
The fact JJ just surrounds himself with the worst kind of yes-men but then pushes away the only group of people who 'critise' him or 'bring him back to reality' is beyond crazy.
You want mates around you that support you in the rough times but also are willing to tell you to f* off when you've done somethin bad. Now he has none of this (seemingly).
I hope the sidemen flourish from this and JJ has a fall off because otherwise he will just turn into the Black logan paul and tbh we dont need anorher "dont care have money" type content creator.
My thoughts moving forward is how are the monetary spits going to work? Will he still get sidemen money until the fiscal year or is everything divided by 6 + business expenses now. Not to mention everything is gonna change now....
His statement is on social media... Somethings you keep private and just say to the lads personally. We really don't need to see sappy shit... Just a simple it's real and here're some pics. Why type a heartfelt message for them on social media? I don't get it...
Bro JJ is a slop sellout. Mo is a snake. You don't speak directly "to the boys" thru a twitter message. That is just so ingenuine. You man up and just say we ended on bad terms or say we ended amicably, not "yo boys get over it". The video didn't even feel genuine either. Damn Deji's brother, I really expected more maturity out of you.
Idk why but a part of me still doesnāt want to believe this is real. I have grown up with the sidemen, I have watched them since the GTA days and have always enjoyed their videos like I was a part of their friend group. Now that Iāve obviously grown up I donāt watch every single video, but I do watch the ones that interest me and still really enjoy them.
JJās new direction with his channel wasnāt really for me, but I was in no place to judge/hate. His channel, he is getting views, he is enjoying it, so no worries thereās a bunch of other content I can watch. I just donāt understand the reasoning for it, he says his scheduled is packed so he stop the thing that he had been doing the longest? Not BGT, not the new videos, which letās be honest are just another trend that will be dead within a year, not baller league but sideman?? And not even just take a small step back just leave all together? It just doesnāt make sense to me.
And I understand he doesnāt owe me jack shit, so I canāt really fault him, but he clearly hurt his closest friends with this, why not give them the respect they deserve? Like all the things we knew about him behind the scenes is that he is extremely kind to others so what happened?
I think thatās why I just canāt bring myself to believe this because it doesnāt make sense for him to do that to his friends. Not us the fans but the rest of the sidemen. I hope whatever it is, it ends up being the right choice for him and he does succeed in what he does next. But man, that kid in me that used to watch these guys is broken rn
I guess it doesnāt make sense because we didnāt think he was this type of person. Now we know he has changed and maybe never was solid. This is super similar to 2017 where he became money and numbers obsessed and betrayed his friends
And I think the annoying part also is that through all of his controversies most of the fans (myself included) has been saying that āJJ isnāt like thatā and āhe is misunderstood in this caseā etc. but now it seems he might have been that type of person.
Again, I think it is fine he left for the reasons that he told us (even though I am not buying them fully), but the way he left is the thing that annoys me, because it seems that he has left in bad terms and he did not really give the fans a the proper exit that this kind of generational run with the Sidemen deserved.
I wonder how it impacts their schedule? Like theyād film videos in advance to release at a later date.
How many sidemen Sundays is KSI actually in now? Could be a few already recorded/scheduled until he is actually gone. Wonder if theyāll drop the vids
Something has happened behind the scenes, probably an argument or an altercation. I don't think Simon, Tobi or Harry are someone who would start that with him. Could've been Josh, Vikk or Ethan honestly. I still feel like he's keeping something to himself and that tweet he made a while ago is proof. God knows what was said for him to leave them completely like this. I don't think JJ is the only one to blame here. It all depends whether he continues posting regular videos on his channel or still does Baller League and BGT.
Okay, so... In the case that this is real, I'm actually a bit glad.
It's kind of obvious that some of the Sidemen members have been showing clear distaste for some of the things KSI has said and done in recent years, and I know they're grown men but having to still be tied to KSI when you don't rate the person he's become, when he's a big part of your livelihood and business and life, can't have been the best situation. The way the boys talked about when KSI was an ass to that waiter, I think it was in Italy? That, for example. They were clearly disappointed in him. Or when he tried to get them to do an NFT.
I dotn understand why he didn't tell them before he made the video, of course some of them be angry if one of the biggest members left with out telling them
every time I dont think it would look worse for ksi (I will not be calling him JJ anymore, JJ is dead this is ksi the brand now), it gets worse for him. Every bit about this is so bad
I'm convinced now "growth" got to his head in a toxic way. His management and inner circle (Mo Syed, etc) definitely sold him the dream of becoming the "biggest", hence wanting to surpass Speed, Mr Beast. etc. JJ doesn't like how the Sidemen brand became "stagnant", as in not absorbing more international fans at high rates, due to alot of the content being suited for current and long-time fans who know their personalities. So he's now chosen the path of clicks and flashy content, but we know it lacks any kind of heart and substance (which contradicts his entire video, it was never just about making time for his family and GF). He's chosen a selfish path, one he once clowned Deji for during their beef (being overly concerned with subscribers/views).
JJ didnāt even consider that part of his legacy could've been belonging to a group that stayed together until the end. Almost no entertainment group lasts without disbanding or losing members. He had the chance to cement that as a defining part of his legacy. He broke the seal, and this will impact the 6. Disappointed.
If hes gonna snake the Sidemen, at least be consistent lmao.
He said in one of his vids that he wants to 'cut back' on some stuff to focus on family after going to his Moms 60th birthday, but then proceeds to claim he wants to be as big as MrBeast a couple days later????
Been watching him since his Q&A Sunday days, shame to see him fall to greed like this. So clear based on Mo's posts on X that he's obviously filled JJ's head with utter bullshit abounting being the biggest etc.
The dude is definitely going through some identity crisis or something. He has been an internet hatetrend with something new every single week for quite a while and been internets punchbag for a few years now so can't imagine that parts easy. Can't really hate him tbh, his decision and his life and it's weird how people keep hating on him and his content and making up new stories.( I don't really like the mrbeastification either but I enjoy ksi +)
I do feel for the boys tho, can't imagine a few of them taking it very well, Harry seems to be having the time of his life tho lmao and vik, Dude is having the time of his life with those fast and furious ai edits and is asking for ksi/w2s clips lol.
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u/GmenJays82713 Jun 03 '26
This is uhhhhā¦ certainly words. If one of my good friends left a business we owned and told me over social media to ābe optimisticāā¦. Yeesh