So yeah, I didn't see this coming. Just-A-Robot, a prominent commentator, has recently destroyed his reputation and career after he spoke in defense of a predator. A defense that was done apparently because he wanted to get in her pants. But a lot of you already know about that one way or another. All I could add is my personal experiences with him, more or less to highlight the general irony of what happened then compared to now.
I first met Jar when he launched his earliest or first deviantArt account. At the time I was invested in deviantArt drama and tried to get involved with ongoing incidents. It was... honestly a pretty bad time looking back, and I have no intent of ever doing it all again. Anyhow, he used to comment on most of my stuff, but I rarely interacted with him by then. Things began to pick up during the advent of drama surrounding a user by the name of PrincessElizabeth013, a Sonic artist whose issues were blown way out of proportion. The girl had temper issues and is on the autism spectrum, and a bunch of bad faith individuals sought to exploit this for their own entertainment.
Seeing a commentary on a Google chat between her and others, it was honestly terrifying if you're on the outside looking in.
Anyhow, during that drama JAR would take her side, and as this was during a time when internet toxicity was at its most raw, if you side against the majority on anything you were essentially fucked. I sided with him at first, until I caved and joined the winning team to save my own ass. But along with siding with the period's public enemy number one, JAR was accused of driving another user to an early departure from life. Nearly everyone was against him, and I had joined in driving him off the internet. After that unfortunate chapter, I just went on not knowing how bad what I did was.
So time later I would discover Just A Robot and after finding some videos of his that aligned with my views back then I started following him. Then a couple of years later, I suddenly get these comments on my old drama posts condemning me over them, over that person specifically. Well, to my absolute shock, that person would become Just a Robot. I had been outed because I had turned against him whether it was justified or not, how I went about it and doing no favors for his mental health.
If you wanna know what I did about it, I left a comment admitting what I did, would do whatever JAR suggested me to do to build some good faith, and in spite of the act still having happened, it worked out with JAR even taking it well. While expressing his thoughts on me for what I did, he also said something to the effect of, "He could've helped me grow my channel, and I backed the wrong horse"
Now, given I make content for YouTube and given his size and prominence it would make sense. But, let's go into JAR's general content, the atmosphere he contributed to. JAR is/was one of those anti-SJW/moderate grifter channels, and while he didn't claim to adhere to the one side, the content doesn't really help much. While he was able to at least explain himself beyond just "lol woke" bullshit, he was essentially walking a tight rope.
If that wasn't enough he was also associating himself with some pretty unsavory individuals, among them being resident wacko Zaid Magenta. Look at it like this, the last person associated with him that criticized him got stalked and harassed, that person was Cartoonshi. If everyone else in JAR's sphere was similar to this, what if I were to give a dissenting opinion? Would I survive in that kind of crowd?
I was never looking to get big on YouTube, and while it would've been cool to grow thanks to someone striking big, I doubt I'd have much staying power in a community like that, especially as the lid has been blown on content that even has a slight tinge of right-wing grift.
And then of course he completely ruined his career. Compared to allegations from the past drama, this time there were not only major details brought forth, but the reveal of chats between JAR and the guilty that just make him look worse. If I had taken his side back then and stuck with him, he'd probably use that as leverage to keep me on. If I sided against him and got back on when he got big, he'd also use that as leverage, maybe guilt me into taking his side because "Oh you almost drove me to self-delete long ago, you owe me this."
He said I blew my chance at getting big, but what did he do? Throw it all away on a battle he could never win. It's funny how back then I made the wrong decision, but now I managed to dodge a bullet. I'm sorry for what I've done in the past and I don't stand by it anymore, but if someone, anyone, is willing to throw their good will away out of smallness, i.e., trying to get with the accused, it says a lot about their character. Dare I say JAR came out about his past at a time where he knew his influence was strong and therefore you'd be a fool to question it.
JAR has made it a point he has managed to beat his opponents, whether that played a part in some seriously poor judgement may be clear here. He may still post content, he may apologize, who knows?
But that said, this was my piece on the matter, I'm one of the few individuals who knew JAR way before he became famous, recalling some early drama and being one of the few old heads either willing to discuss it or be around to. He's still alive, spoke his side of drama long ago, I had done the same, and now I went into this while the odds are currently well against him.
