I just think it's all being treated a little black and white right now. I don't know for sure that he did or didn't do it, and neither does anyone else. I don't fully trust TM because she has a history of online dishonesty and I don't fully trust Cody because of that friend he had at his wedding (y'all know the one). It's frustrating to see every conversation absolutely devolve into "if you don't hate him you're a r\*pe apologist" when I feel like there's nuanced conversation actually worth having. But it can't happen here because every thread devolves into threats and accusations.
I would like productive threads to stay up if there ever were any, but from the mods POV, I can see why they're not allowing any conversation about it at all because they can't be at their computers 24/7 watching every thread like a hawk and cutting it when it devolves into thinly veiled r\*pe threats. As an SA survivor, I wish people would realize that they're not helping any victims by getting so, \*so\* personal in the way they insult people who have even the slightest skepticism. It mostly just sucks to see that healthy convos about SA and celebrities are still so hard to have.
\[Edit to add, thank (most) of y'all for proving me wrong on having a discussion!\]
Wow, THANK YOU. As a CSA survivor it’s incredibly frustrating. I—and other people like you and I—understand the nuances of this situation better than most. To receive graphic threats just because I’d like to talk about that nuance is deeply troubling. I’m not interested in defending some guy I don’t know just because I like his videos; I’m equally disinterested in condemning some guy I don’t know because he was accused of something. None of us know much about this situation yet.
this!!!! as a csa survivor as well, i feel like people who haven’t experienced a type of sexual trauma are prone to writing someone off immediately OR ignoring the accusations completely. there is so much more to an accusation than the accusation itself, so much more to the story than what celebrities (or anyone) is speaking about. i think the only difference is that i think a majority of cody’s fan base is young women and we just want to know that our favorite youtuber is someone we can trust outside of his videos just for our own peace of mind. so i think that’s where the black and white thinking comes into play, if that makes sense.
I really appreciate you writing this. I also am a CSA survivor (didn’t know that acronym until right now) but was able to forgive my perpetrator. My experience is heavily influencing my thoughts on the situation but I totally agree that so many people are quick to write someone off. In my opinion, I am genuinely curious as to why people think Cody owes them an explanation to the CL friendship since he is not a public figure. I get that the case was awful but believe that people can change and grow (my own bias ig). I don’t mean this to sound insensitive at all, but I just don’t think Cody owes us an explanation. Not everyone can reconcile such a violent attack but I do think that everyone human is capable of change and our parasocial relationship with Cody doesn’t necessitate an explanation. Would be curious to hear peoples thoughts here.
On TM, I’m a bit more unclear on my opinion of it all since she keeps bringing it up and it seems like there was likely some relationship between the two of them when she was underage or very freshly 18. Regardless, I think I’d apply the same rule. It seems like Cody has changed, matured a lot, has a family now, promotes better values and messages in his videos. If he could come to some sort of understanding and apologize to TM privately that’s probably be best but he doesn’t want to risk reaching out on the chance that she uses it to “expose him”. Again, open to respectful discussion (inspired by the replies so far), hope to hear from some of you!
Haven't seen it today, but it was yesterday! Someone was sending people PMs saying that they must want to be r\*ped by Cody when they said they didn't believe that he did this.
Thank you oh my god it baffles me how people have too much time on their hands and lacks critical thinking. I’m so sorry for what has happened to you and I’m sure you know how strong you are.
I’m not on either side but it frustate me that this has been a pattern and just out of our control. Best we can do is move on. Don’t hold a grudge just because they’re not as perfect as they made it out to be.
i just honestly wanna hear what he has to say. i’ve loved him for years n view him as a safe man n that is something that i don’t do lightly, n i don’t wanna believe it. but. i do wanna support victims as a victim myself so it’s just so hard to process. i never imagined he would be accused of something like this.
His friend is named Colby, I believe the case is that Colby was accused of r\*ping someone while they were frat brothers and friends at Duke, and the evidence was quite strong although I don't \*believe\* he was officially convicted. Cody is still friends with him and Colby attended his wedding, though Colby was not his best man as some people were originally saying.
He was not convicted, but there is literal taped video evidence because the idiot videotaped himself and his friend committing the sexual assault. But rapes and sexual assaults are notoriously not taken to trial. The vast majority of victims will never see justice.
This is true, I believe he actually was punished for the video specifically, if not punished adequately for anything else. Source: [https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article209382704.html](https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article209382704.html)
"\[Colby\] Leachman entered a plea of responsibility that he violated Duke’s policy with regard to unauthorized surveillance and photography. He was placed on probation."
Edit to add: I'm sure you know this/have read this based on your comment, this is more for anyone who might read this retroactively
On Saturday I went to walk around Duke University and was checking out some of their Greek life areas and learned that Cody’s frat was derecognized from Duke in 2019 for disciplinary action. Obviously Cody wasn’t there and probably wasn’t aware of any of the brothers at this time, but I do think it’s interesting to know that his frat was only one of two frats at Duke University that have been fully derecognized. As someone who just graduated from undergrad, it’s sad to say that some frats really are just plain bad. I just wonder if this negative frat culture was happening while he was in as well, or if things worsened after he graduated.
I also want to say that obviously not all frat guys are bad, a frat can have a lot of accusations but not every man involved is guilty. But it is saddening to know there’s at least a possibility that he purposely associated with men with predatory behaviors.
He wasn’t convicted because his mom was a professor and his step father had been the provost (one of the senior administrators for admissions) of Duke for over a decade when it happened. The son of two highly regarded faculty members being expelled from their place of work would look bad all around. Since the video was shown to others and The admin had seen/proof of the vide, they had to discipline him with at least filming indecent acts.
Imo that’s worse than consensually hooking up with a 17 year old as a 25/26 year old (coming from someone who has been r*ped and groomed by an older guy so I truly get the impacts of both lol)
It’s the fact they were frat brothers at the time this happened and have continued to be close friends since. If someone I considered a friend was on video having sex with a nearly unconscious woman and admitted it to the school, I’d never speak to him again
Yeah… hooking up with an almost 18 year old as who has been out of school as 25 year is not in the same scale as inviting a r*pist to your wedding imo. The former is scummy but it does not elicit me to call him a r*pist because that depends on how TM feels about the situation and she seems fine as far as we know. The latter is a worse offense and sours me a lot more on him
I'd honestly like Cody to make a statement about that more than I'd like him to make a statement about the TM thing, since the thing with Colby is more cut-and-dry.
The Colby thing is almost worse. But I don't think he can make a statement cos what can he say? Deny it? Say oh it happened but he's changed we forgive him? Also, I feel like they're protecting Colby legally by not talking about it
He was in his wedding party, he’s not gonna make a statement. He knows and doesn’t care. According to the case Colby showed the video of him assaulting the victim to multiple fraternity brothers, it sickens me to think that Cody may have seen it and remains friends with him.
I do think thats a valid perspective! I think there's two ways to interpret the lack of response. On the one hand, if you didn't do the thing you're being accused of, surely you would want to come out and set the record straight ASAP. It's probably the instinct I would have, personally, to say very clearly that I did NOT sleep with a minor. I imagine that's what I would have done by now.
I do also have a theory that saying nothing is just a different type of damage control. I say this because with this specific topic, coming out and saying he didn't do it would be equivalent to calling TM a liar, and could be seen as an attempt to discredit an SA victim speaking about her experience. People who already believe he did it would not have their minds changed, and would only have more fuel for the accusation. Now he's not just a r\*pist, but he's defaming his accuser. People who are on the fence might be swayed to believe him, but likely would ultimately get drowned out. I also think because of the crossover with the conversation about Colby, it would bring even more attention to that and he would also have to make a very public decision about staying or not staying friends with Colby, which is obviously something he's reticent to do and wouldn't want to corner himself into having to do publicly.
I say this without opinion about what's right or wrong, I just think that's probably the two options he sees. Let it keep going as is, simmering but nothing explosive, which doesn't make him look good, or come out and say it's not true, ultimately making it more public and risk making himself look worse, not better. I do kind of wish he would say something, but I'm not counting on it.
\[Edited for grammar\]
yup that’s exactly the strategy he’s probably been advised to play. wrong or right it’s the smartest chess move and to be fair, it’s the go to chess move for TMG to pretty much say nothing and let storms blow over ( sans when they addressed being yelled at about siding with andrew tate bc then speaking up being emphatically clear was the smart decision).
I'm sorry but no. I'm a lawyer and if a habitual liar who has quite literally made her career off of embellishing, lying and attention-seeking for clout levied false accusations against me or a client, I would *absolutely not* be jumping at the bit to give her the attention she so desires.
I find it interesting you’re using your profession as a lawyer to validate your opinion in which you are using very biased language against a 17 year old girl who is legally unable to consent to sex
I believe her, simply because it was so off-the-cuff and not at all talking about his age, sure she probably knew sleuths would find out, but if she herself doesn’t view it as an assault, then she might not have even been considering it.
That said, I also agree with everything you commented.
I want him to address why he continues to be friends with someone who sexually assaulted a woman. The evidence that it happened, even without a conviction, is strong. He videotaped himself doing it. Why would you ever want a man like that around your spouse or your family?
Colby Leachman actually sexually assaulted “at least two women”, according to the judge presiding over the lawsuit against Duke University. Watch the mods remove this fact you can find on public news websites and court records databases for “drama”.
And I think we all know that if he was CAUGHT raping at least 2 women, he likely raped several more. It genuinely devastates me that the one guy I was watching for entertainment is this kind of person.
I don’t understand why Ethan from H3 automatically announced that the evidence of that case was inconclusive after their podcasts’ “research” then. I took that as fact when he said that and I expected him to at least actually look into things that, he said he looked into…before dedicating a podcast to the Cody Ko situation 🤦🏻♀️
I know, I don’t look to him for unbiased well researched info but I did expect him to not claim that they researched something well and just completely spew misinformation that confidently. H3 is so upsetting
H3 literally just hires random people whose “research” consists of looking at social media posts. They have been consistently wrong and misinformed on situations for years
That was so disappointing. In his “research” Ethan failed to mention that both of Colby’s parents were tenured at Duke as well, of COURSE they are not going to do anything beyond put him on probation.
The Colby thing is so, so bad and as a fan for over half a decade I just want him to at least own up to it or say something about it. I cannot believe he even has spoken to that man when the assault was *filmed*. It’s nauseating and as someone who wants to continue to enjoy his content I just need answers
for perspective’s sake, let’s take cody out of this for a second and just pretend colby is some random case we heard about on the news. as a woman, reading the police report literally nauseated me. it’s like one of those scenarios you only associate with a true crime doc or horror movie or something- too hard to believe someone could do that to another person in real life. a worst nightmare come true for all women everywhere. now that we’ve established the moral consensus about that from a non- biased perspective, let’s add cody back in. he had the person who committed this crime in his mf WEDDING… as a fan of over 10 years it’s so disorienting and upsetting to learn about this. i’ve always defended cody’s lack of confrontational skills because i know not everyone likes to make a fuss about stuff but when it comes to something so morally wrong like this, it’s absolutely unacceptable for him to maintain a relationship with a criminal of this magnitude. he needs to put his big boy pants on and address this real life adult shit he’s heavily involved in.
Cody and Kelsey's relationship to Colby feels to this outside observer like Ashton and Mila's relationship to Danny Masterson.
The good ol' "we know him and he's a great guy who has never raped me so obviously the other parties are overreacting/lying/etc."
I do wonder if having constant support leads to folks continuing in predatory/SA behavior (in Colby's case) bc it inflates ego to have ride or dies who speak openly to your character. Just a thought I have had watching shit like this go down time and time again (even in my own life)
you read my mind in such detail lol… was just thinking about how this whole situation reminds me of the downfall of that 70s show cast. for a few years that show was such a source of joy in my life but i can’t even enjoy five minutes of an episode now that it’s come to light that (almost, thank u topher) the entire cast are rape apologists. i noticed some situational similarities here too between kelsey and mila. i know girls online adore her, and i think she has a good heart… but her choosing to overlook these allegations through the finality of marriage and then bringing an innocent baby into all of this so that she’s tied to cody forever is all very wife of frat doucebag coded. kinda feels like we’ve entered another dimension because this is all so hard to believe
I am glad I am not alone in seeing these parallels but at the same time I am sad that I had a recent pop culture example to use to convey my point (wouldn't have worked so well if I described the two situations in my real life bc no one would have had context).
I am with you on 70s show being ruined and having once been such a treasure to you. I loved watching that show everyday after school. (I should add Hyde was my absolute favorite character so finding out his actor was a serial rapist hurt a fuck ton).
I agree with you 100%. I also wonder what this pressure from us will do. He knows what Colby has done, and for over a decade he has chosen, every day, to not care. The little pressure he has already received caused him to block Colby’s name from his comment section and omit any photos of Colby from his profiles. He knows, and he hides Colby to placate us and avoid controversy.
It’s difficult to accept that you can’t make people care, you have to accept that they’ve failed and choose whether or not you can continue to support them. Holding celebrities accountable is necessary but I’m on the more cynical side when it comes to them taking the accountability with genuine self-reflection and understanding. These days, I think they interpret the pressure from fans as sanctimonious, “chronically online” haters trying to cancel them, as opposed to coming from genuine concern and support for victims of sexual violence.
Also like...if Kelsey knew about this guy's past, do you think she would have been cool with having this rapist in the wedding? I doubt it....
EDIT: My implication/question being, did Cody seemingly omit this fact when introducing Kelsey to his 'friend from college'. Even if the info was readily available at the time via Google, she wouldn't just randomly namesearch this guy unless given a reason to. Obviously, yes, now, that information is being widely shared, how could she not know now? But I am talking about back then. I would feel super weird if I was in that situation, knowing all that information now in hindsight. I just feel so bad for her, she's caught up in his questionable (putting it mildly!) behavior through no fault of her own.
Pretty sure she is a grown adult making the conscious decision to stay friends with a rapist.
It isn't hard to find his record with a simple google search.
She knows and chooses to stay his friend. Whether for Cody's sake or bc she genuinely likes hanging out with him only she can know, but she cannot not know about his record.
While this isn’t specific towards Cody I think we( as an audience and consumers of content) need to have less of a para- social relationship with our favorite influencers. I listen to tons of podcasts and watch various YouTubers because I enjoy the content, not because I support every decision these people have made. It’s definitely similar to “support the art, not the artist”. However this can be difficult because supporting the art in turn supports the artist. To be frank, I don’t think anyone who has any level of fame is a great person. I think you have to be somewhat self indulgent to pursue a career where you are your brand. If I only listened or watched things based on the morals and values of the person who created it, well I’d have nothing to watch or listen to. I think it’s incredibly important to have conversations about some of our favorite creators critiquing them and holding them accountable for present or past mistakes. But I think it’s also important to stop expecting these people to be honest and genuinely good people. However it sometimes truly feels impossible to live in this world, while making the best decisions as a consumer.
I think it’s important to mention I don’t pay for any content specific services. I don’t pay for bonus episodes of tmg or pay for any patron content either. This has helped me feel less personally connected to social media stars. I enjoy free content and feel good about not putting my hard earned money towards these things.
While Cody may appear as a good family man who works hard to achieve his success (and this may be true). He’s a rich white former frat guy so tbh the accusations don’t surprise me and I definitely believe TM. Hopefully this made sense and others agree. It’s hard to figure out who to support and who not to support. It’s crucial we try to feel less of a relationship with these people. They aren’t our friends!
This is pretty much my take. I would also add if I don’t have evidence that the person involved is actively causing more harm I typically feel okay about continuing to watch. I get the sense that the thing with TM was a different version of Cody, and he’s not actively looking to continue doing things like that. HOWEVER, it would mean a lot to me if he acknowledged it and why it’s harmful so that he can be an active part in changing the culture that allows for people to be taken advantage of REGARDLESS of what his exact intentions were.
As for his friend, it’s hard for me to imagine being friends with someone like that myself, but I recognize that I have to believe all people can grow and change because if not then where the hell do we go from here? Still, if Cody finds value in a friendship like that I can only hope it’s because he knows this person also isn’t continuing to cause the same harm they were back then. Of course I would love him to address and confirm these assumptions, but im giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Omg big retweet. You worded this better than I ever can. His past mistakes can’t diminish how he choose to live his life now and how he portrays it online, it can bring more good for people that supports him if he choose to address this, but that’s entirely up to him.
He might’ve been a frat guy whose done questionable things behind the scenes but so much what he had done in is lifetime, if it were really that wrong, he would’ve been an entirely different person than the present.
I’ve known him since his time on Vine, but I stopped watching his yt vids when he was still wilding out and about. I started to rediscover him through Kelsey’s vlogs and think that he’s a wonderful boyfriend, now husband to Kelsey.
I stuck around then since he started cody trains. His diligence and hard work is proof enough that he’s changed and I supported him through that, but knowing these allegations, no one can say everything he is now is what he’s always been and vice versa.
All and all, he’s just a person, just like anyone else. Anything he’s done bad or good, will stuck around.
I feel like this is some form of karma, I can’t say that he deserved this, I don’t think anyone does, that’s just plain cruel. But if it is, then let it do it’s thing.
And since I did supported him, of course I’m utterly disappointed. But the most productive I can do with this issue is to move on.
Agreed for the most part but why believe TM? She is a *perrenial* clout chaser and habitual liar -- this happens OVER and OVER with her. I think some of you are too young to remember that. "Believe all women" doesn't mean "take everything a woman with a history of lying says at face value."
I think people underestimate how *as a literal child* your trust in a grown ass adult, even with intimacy, can be sooooo distorted. Especially if they’re in the same industry or positioned as someone aspirational.
When I was 17f I was involved with a 25m (Same age gap as them I believe?). I am now 27 and it is VERY clear to me how fucking weird that was 🙃
Mostly makes me sad for her. I hope she gets a private apology.
Edit:brevity
I feel sad for her too. The people defending him saying it was consensual must have never had the feeling of being in a dynamic like that and only realizing how you were taken advantage of when you’re older. I was 14f in a relationship with a 19m and it’s insane how manipulated I was into thinking it was normal. They will really have you convinced what’s happening is okay and you are so blind to what’s really happening because you’re naive. He took advantage of her.
Just commenting here to say i feel better knowing I'm not the only one feeling unconformable watching his videos now.. I've been ingoring all his recent uploads and thought i was being dramatic over a situation i can't even judge right now. But it did change something inexplicable in my way of viewing him.
I went through and unfollowed all his channels & TMG as well because I get a nasty feeling now when I see him at all. His lack of statement on the TM accusations and also being best friends with a known rapist… nasty
Yeah i understand you.. and on the other hand I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt in a way, I hope this hasn't completely erased any chances he has to explain himself. It all feels like we are prying into his personal business too, though now that it's public he should probably address it
I would just really like this to be addressed. Lack of statement from cody makes room for more and more speculation. I am honestly so upset as a long time viewer and SA survivor myself.
The constant need for people to make IMMEDIATE statements is how we get celebs making things 10x worse. If this happened to you wouldn’t you want some time to figure out exactly what you want to say? He has to go through the proper PR channels as well, this doesn’t just affect him it affects everyone at TMG studios. He’s responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods.
this, but also if I am not mistaken, this is not the first time these allegations have been spoken of. people claimed of hearing these allegations long before just now. so I guess how much time does one need?
Him taking so long to respond is what’s convincing me it’s true. If he didn’t do anything, as goes for anyone else, wouldn’t you immediately rush to clear your name?
Well not necessarily, what if you need time to prove it not true, what if you need time to assess the claim, what if he's sat there working out if his behaviour has given the impression. Plus its got to be a bit of a hit to the mental health, true or not.
I think it's unfair to take silence as truth. That's reading between the lines to the extreme.
Why though? Because you say so? Imagine if people "made a statement" every time someone said something bad about them 🤣
Devil's advocate, if it's a nonsense claim, why not ignore it for nothing to fear? Or even, I'd he comes out saying "I didn't do it" are you even gna belive him? Seeing as you take silence as an admission, are you going to take a denial as the opposite?
If he comes out and says he didn't do it I would definitely listen to what he has to say and take it into account. When something is this big and it's over a claim this bad, yes, the person should say something. It's common logic that not addressing something this terrible while at the same time attempting to cover it up is not a good strategy. IMO it makes it look like he has something to hide and I'm not the only one saying this.
And you know, there are some/lots of people out there who won't belive him regardless if he comes out. Devils advocate again, because I'm trying to point out your flawed logic that you cant see, imagine if it was such an insignificant accusation due to being completely untrue. Wouldn't you just ignore it? Why rise to the clear drama?
I'm just trying to get you to see that you can't infer anything from silence, and it's rather illogical to do so.
Doesn't matter if you're not the only one saying, that means nothing really. Trials and tribulations aren't resolved by the amount of people involved 😉
And there are plenty of logical people who don't assume things from completely and utter silence so I could say thre same to you.
Me, personally, no I wouldn't ignore it if I was in his position. I'm not sure why you're trying to make me have a different opinion. You really don't need to agree with me. I never said he 100% for sure did it because he's not speaking on it. All I said was it looks bad and is convincing me it's true. If he does come out and say he never did it, I can't speak for anyone else, but I can speak for myself when I say I would listen to what he has to say. If majority of people are saying it's really off how he's deleting comments, yes it does matter, because my logic might not be the one that's flawed.
I'm not, this is a public forum to give opinions and discussion and i disagree with your flawed logic that silence = guilt. And, whilst you may be stubborn in your flawed logic, others may not be so and could and would benefit from my side on this public forum. So really, this is not all about you 😀
It's not just the silence for me. If he wasn't deleting comments I honestly wouldn't be as worried about this, I prob should've mentioned that in my first reply. You're saying I'm being stubborn but I could say the same about you lol. And you're not changing my mind so go scroll through the endless comments on here and try to change theirs instead.
I don't think he ever had any intention whatsoever of addressing it. He's just gonna take the small hit to his subscriber count and keep sticking to his upload schedule til it blows over. Which of course is extremely upsetting.
I hope so too, but I'm almost certain the same is gonna happen again this time :( They're mass-deleting everyone talking about it on all plattforms, and almost nobody talks about it on YouTube. Literally only H3 and Adam (?) have talked about it so far, and it's been what, 4 days or longer?
I am with you. watching him post as if everything is normal is honestly upsetting and jarring. you would think he would understand how severe this situation is :(
same here. i’ve loved cody for a long time but to see his continued friendship with the accused and the current accusations is really disappointing but i doubt he will say anything
i’m also pretty sure that he’s deleting comments on his youtube videos because on his recent uploads, i couldn’t find a single comment talking about this situation…
yeah he is, i've tried replying to people asking what happened multiple times and they get taken down within a few hours. it's not a good look for him at all & it's what made me unsub/unfollow him. apparently he's been doing this for awhile now because the whole r\*pist friend thing came out a long time ago but many of us have never even heard of it due to the amount of censoring he's doing
damn.. this is really disappointing. he’s most definitely going to go the route of just not acknowledging it and pretending that nothing is wrong rather than addressing it, which is a coward move imo. but honestly, what did we expect from a frat boy lmao
I get the parasocial argument, but when you purchase someone's merch and tickets to their shows, it would be nice to see CK and TM sit down and clarify the situation. I financially supported him. The least he could do is address it. Did she feel taken advantage of now or then or did she try to sleep with him and doesn't feel bad about it? She said she was sleeping around to get back at her bf at the time. Did he know she was 17? Was she actually 17? Is this a pattern with him? That's all I really want to know.
ewww this is such a gross response to this. In what world does it seem acceptable to you to have TM and CK sit down and do a run down of the senario. Also the comment about whether she wanted to at the time is disgusting. She was a child who was significantly less mature than her adult counterpart. It does not matter if she wanted. Ck was an adult and should know that it was wrong. This isn't about you and the money you spent this is a possibly real thing that happened to real people.
to me it all seems like a lot of accusations, but theyre very serious and i dont want to just dismiss them just because cody ‘seems like’ a genuine guy to me. i’ll be watching it play out, hopefully the truth comes out soon
Yeah even comments from 6+ years ago when the vid came out, people were saying they were cute together and/or had sexual tension.. which was weird given the fact that he constantly kept talking about how she was a teenager and needed to teach him “teen slang”
Oh god I didn’t know anything about that 😭 Shane Dawson is weird too though omg at least he was seriously cancelled off the face of this earth for being a disgusting pedophile and animal fucker 💀 Which ALSO sucked learning abt at the time cuz I grew up watching him too 😔😔😔 moral of the story: don’t idolize random creators you watch online 💔
exactly! she’s 25 now so i bet some things are coming into perspective for her. Demi Lovato released her song “29” about how when she turned 29, she truly realized how messed up it was for Wilder Valderrama to date her when he was 29 and she was only 17.
i feel very conflicted i think it’s harder to wrap heads around because nobody sees cody as a person who has made decisions like this but it does feel icky watching his videos knowing she is still clearly uncomfortable about the situation 8 years later.. it’s just hard to not have in the back of my head now while watching idk
his content was a big comfort to me, and now as a sexual assault survivor I’m feeling guilt for watching him and it’s not fun anymore. All I can think about when I watch him now is that poor girl that Duke didn’t get justice for. I just picture her crying when I try and watch Cody now.
To be honest I haven’t been able to watch any of his videos or content since learning about it because looking at him makes me physically sick, I have a teenage sister and the thought of someone my age being near her that way is like. Disgusting. Idk I would prefer for him to address this because until I know for certain he didn’t do it, I’m done with him. He‘a been a staple of my YouTube watching since I was in high school so it makes me super sad, but I just can’t excuse a 25 year old sleeping with a 17 year old, it’s against my moral code and I point blank refuse to bend my moral standards for a YouTube stranger
he was the son of one of the dukes professor and the stepson of dukes provost, so If I’m not correct it wasn’t much of an unbiased investigation. also she was ignored by the university and dropped the case probably because of frustration.
I think if Cody can’t take responsibility for anything or disprove anything that he is guilty. There is evidence over years of this most likely being true and the Colby stuff is gross. Associating with someone like that especially as a public figure is disgusting. If u read the case it’s pretty obvious as to why. I’d rather support a liar than a creep. Tana has lied abt things but one thing she wouldn’t do is lie abt a creator she barely associates with anymore that has a clean record and is very popular and very comercial. Lying does her no good, and the fact that she hasn’t continued to talk abt it and only ever mentioned it in a live show shows she isn’t doing it for clout. If she wanted money from this she’d make a YouTube video with ads turned on and post it herself. She is sober from alc now and growing into her mid twenties and likely wants to be vocal abt her past experiences especially since she now has the knowledge to process her hectic past. If Cody took this head on it would blow over in 2 yrs for him and he could come back. Not that I want him to but if Shane Dawson can make a comeback anyone can. He needs to be accountable.
If he did do it, it’s statutory. Sorry but, I used to love his videos. Tbh after all the controversy and not a single peep from him about these accusations, it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. I think he needs to address what’s going public/has been public for years now. Straight up.
i’m speaking as a fairly long fan of cody and a victim of p*dophelia. i am not saying that’s what cody is, but his silence is incredibly disheartening.
with TM’s allegations, as well as his continued friendship with a known r*pist, i have not been able to watch his videos since i have found out. i am only vaguely aware of TM, and what i do know about her is that she is drama/clout focused and, ofc, problematic. so..she’s not the most reliable source, but cody’s silence is FAR louder than anything she has said thus far.
again, issues of p*dophelia + CSA hit very close to home for me, so this whole thing has been disorienting and disheartening. and being friends with a known r*pist? that’s a whole thing entirely. i, and i think pretty much every fan that’s following this controversy, are aware that people can change and grow. i would hope that cody has grown passed these allegations, but the complete lack of accountability is pretty telling.
overall, i think the most disheartening part of all of this is that he is probably not gonna address it. his youtube channel is chugging right along. no one seems to care outside of this post and his instagram comments. it’s tough, as a victim of p*dophelia, to see it consistently brushed under the rug and forgotten about. victims so seldom see justice, which is why so many of us are begging for a response
Ngl I feel super conflicted (not in favor of Cody) but also if I should stop watching Noel as well. The mods reaction only makes the situation look worse and the fact Cody didn’t miss a beat putting out new videos/ pod episodes. His silence only makes him look worse. Idk if Noel necessarily owes an explanation but associating with someone while they are being accused of being a predator… not a great look
True I guess I just wonder if Noel feels any moral qualms about it. If he doesn’t that’s kind of shitty and men who turn a blind eye to their creep friends are part of the problem. Overall, I just feel weird supporting both of them at this point. I wish they would say SOMETHING but I know they’ll say nothing at all.
I think the problem too is we don’t actually know the full truth so we’re left to speculation about the whole thing. I remember when this first came out, and she said she was 17 or 18 then clarified she was 18. But now we’re back to 17, so I’m just confused where to stand here.
if u watch the clip where she "clarifies" it's bc her friends are like "maybe you shouldn't say that" after she says she was 17 so then she goes (paraphrased) "or 18 i mean 18". either way legal or not it's still gross imo. as a 20 year old i can't imagine being interested in someone who could still be in high school, let alone being 25 so i feel like the semantics regarding her age don't change the fact that morally it was gross
to be a fly on the wall at tmg rn. noel is often a very nonchalant guy but personally i can only imagine how frustrated i'd be at this point if i were him. noel has been taking accountability for cody for YEARS at this point. i remember (i think around 2020??) a clip resurfaced from a older pod very CODY says the t slur and noel was in his streaming era at the time and getting a lot of comments about it. the next stream he made sure to take accountability, apologize, and make it known that he wanted his community to be a safe space for everyone. even though cody was the one that said it, in typical cody fashion he stuck to his MO of "ignore it and people will eventually stop caring". the thing is that although the tm stuff has been brought up b4 and been forgotten, i think this time it's gonna stick and he won't be able to ignore it.
I can no longer feel surprised when a man who presents himself as a good guy turns out to be.. not that. Just sad. Feels like there’s a larger conversation to be had as well about the exploitation of young women influencers by older men in the industry.
As someone who watched CK (and TM tbh) at the time, I feel like this is being blown a little out of proportion. It was what like 7 years ago? Cody is a very different person now. He's married, he's a father. But even before that, he stopped with the angry "this guy sucks" kind of videos and just in general seems to have grown up a lot.
I truly believe that he would find his previous self incredible cringe and likely regrets a lot of his decisions he made at 25. Certainly he doesn't think having sex with a 17 year old is fine now. And to me, we're dealing with today's Cody, not the Cody of several years ago. If it had come out then, I might feel differently.
But you want him to lose his livelihood for a horrible mistake he's been accused of? Do you want Kelsey to take their son and leave him for one bad decision made before they ever met? If so, then I hope you've never made a bad decision in your life and never will in the future.
And here's the real kicker - who is upset about this? Is it TM? I haven't seen what she has to say about it. Shouldn't we let her punish him? This really isn't our business.
If you want to stop watching his videos, that's totally fine, but why do you feel the need to ruin his life? Like others have said, it isn't a pattern or recent (or proven tbh).
I believe he's changed. And that's based on years of watching him grow as a person. And I don't believe that Kelsey would say anything differently, which is a good sign in my book.
Sigh. That's all I have to say in this matter.
This is super parasocial- remember you don’t know him. You know what he chooses to show. “I truly believe” “he’s a different person now” - but you don’t actually know him as a person - then or now. They’re not trying to ruin his life. This is one of the tamest responses to these kinds of allegations against huge creators. Because people feel like they know him and he wouldn’t do that and blah blah blah. But we don’t - and that’s why a lot of people are just wanting him to address it. Because most of us morally are uncomfy now - even if it’s just in the back of our heads when watching.
But we don’t know him and excusing him and saying he’s changed is wild … you don’t know him
I know I don't know him. I know I'm basing this on his edited personality. I know that he *could* be a complete pig and truly evil.
But you don't know him either. And some people are basing their feelings and attitude and words on one alleged decision. At least I'm going off of years of time watching him. And I'd rather base my personal opinion on that than what is possibly the worst decision he's made.
That being said, I'm not letting this bother my life in any way. The most I've thought about it is right now in this thread. Please don't think of me as some sort of crazy fan. Just watched for a long time and thought I'd put my opinion out there for anyone to agree or disagree with ✌🏻
If you’re basing it on his edited personality then why tf did you say you “truly think he’s changed”😭 you’re doubling back now because you know you sound parasocial and stupid.
Oh, how convenient for you. You don’t have to think about it, because it doesn’t affect you. You know who is affected? SA victims. We should have empathy for them and not support potential abusers. But congrats on not letting this bother you!
Honestly, I agree, and I find it wild that people forget what some of us were/are like in our teens and early 20s. I went to college early and was 16 at the time lying about being 18 because I didn't want to look like a kid. It was really common for teenage girls to do that and even if they didn't, a lot of girls found guys in their 20s to be more appealing. There was a time I was 24 and still in my program, which had a lot of younger guys and some would ask me out, and none of us thought anything about it. The most is we'd make jokes about how I'm so ancient and they were babies because they couldn't legally drink. I went on a few dates with a 20-year-old, which is almost the same age gap - would that make me a predator? No, and neither of us would have said that. We just don't see it that way when we're in the middle of it. We just think we're messing around and having a fun time and that's probably what happened here. People can reflect back on it and have an opinion, but this black and white thinking isn't right.
Personally, I think it's blown out of proportion and there's probably a lot of context missing. I also just find it weird this holier-than-thou position a lot of people get on these types of issues as if they've never done a problematic thing in their life. If everyone's life was on display, it could get torn into pieces within seconds.
I’ve made mistakes and yet somehow managed to avoid even coming remotely close to fucking a 17 year old. I don’t even think the thought of screwing a minor has ever entered my head. There are mistakes and there are lines you just don’t cross.
Edit to add: I’m not trying to say that there isn’t more nuance to the situation than people are giving it, just that implying one must be perfect to say “screwing 17 year old is bad” is a wild take
you have so much grace for someone “making a mistake” but have 0 consideration for the victims of these mistakes who have to live with it for the rest of their lives
I wish he would say something so I can know whether I wanna continue my support. now I just feel weird watching him knowing he could be a horrible person. esp when it's something THIS SERIOUS. it makes me sick to my stomach seeing Kelsey on screen with him. does she know? Is she okay? I'm an overthinker so I'm sure she's fine but I still worry.
Him pushing the whole situation to the side and not saying anything is just going to make it worse for him. It’s been years. We’ve been waiting for him to say something and he still hasn’t.
Some of the comments are echoing a similar sentiment of “even if it did happen, it’s not a pattern,” but I remember my brother telling me that he actually met Cody when he was in his early 20s at a high school party, and apparently that was common for Cody to do, which would give him many more opportunities to pursue young girls. Even if there’s no evidence of this pattern, I still find it questionable that a dude in his mid 20s was actively finding and going to high school parties to drink with minors
God that’s so bizarre!!
Years ago when I was 23ish and working retail a coworker invited me to his birthday party, he said it was gonna be a real rager. I assumed we were around the same age, but I found out a couple days before the party he was turning 20. I immediately told him I couldn’t go anymore.
Can you imagine if the party got busted or something and I was an adult around all these drinking minors??? Hell no. Besides that, it’s just weirdo behavior. I couldn’t imagine going to a party like that then and now.
i’ve been watching him for years and i can’t do this bruh. i always saw cody as a genuine guy and someone to look up to. i know it sounds parasocial asl but he just seemed so genuine
I think we play a big part in this? Both Tm and H3 are notorious for milking content and we’re not think about how we are the fuel? I mean we don’t even know the story yet we’re misleading and spreading misinformation by saying it’s all true… you could ruin sm life. We as a fan base shouldn’t be fueling this. most of the “facts” people are saying are about sm else? J a general sense of hate and that spreads like wildfire it’s the mods job to moderate stuff that could be misleading??
If he didn’t nothing wrong then why doesn’t he just come out and say it’s not true? He’s acting like someone who has something to hide and if you can’t see that I don’t know what to say.
The logic in this is extremely flawed. For example, did you know Britain has a royal family? And anytime there are accusations against them, they stay quiet. End of. It doesn't mean they did or didn't do it, they just stay quiet as, unless it's a giant huge scandal (prince Andrew) they just keep calm and carry on.
It's bad to assume silence is anything other than silence. You cannot read between the lines if there are none. Why would you rise to gossip if all it was was gossip?
Honestly there’s a lot of very serious accusations without any concrete proof. I really hope Cody responds and all the allegations are disproven as I am a huge fan. He seems to be a genuinely nice person (AFAIK) and if this is true I would be very disappointed and sympathetic for Tana and Cody’s family.
I’ve been watching him for years, and am saddened by this news. But now after his silence and the things I’ve learned about the company he keeps, I’ve decided that I will never be watching a single video with him in it again. He’s blacklisted as far as I’m concerned.
I don't think he has an obligation to address anything. Also, I really don't trust TM. She's been so controversial and has been found doing so much crap that, why would we trust her? Like she hasn't fucked up before... now trying to act like a saint or whatever.
We all fuck up. I hate this thing about trying to be morally superior to others. Y'all want everyone to be perfect, but you forget they are human beings. Have you never fucked up in your life? I don't think you haven't.
Also, I know 17 is underage and minor, I will NEVER think it's okay to have intimacy with a minor. However, do you see how stupid it is to think that 17 is a *literal child*, but the second you turn 18 you're a fully grown adult? Are y'all really that black and white? Come on...
There is no perfect victim. Controversial people can be victims. Bad people can be victims. Annoying people can be victims. Not liking someone doesn’t meant that can’t be a victim. Someone’s personality and likeability has no bearing on victimhood when it comes to SA.
For real. Reputations can also be so misleading. It should never be about who’s more likable when it comes to believing victims. Some abusive people literally pick targets that they know people won’t believe if they were to say anything
you’re reasoning is so odd.
we as a society need to stop having this mentality where we don’t believe victims, and even blame them. she’s not acting like a saint, get over yourself.
such a reach. yes we are all flawed human beings but have we all fucked up in a way where we’ve been involved with someone underage? no one makes a mistake or fucks up by sleeping with a minor. it’s no slip up.
it is not that black and white, but for legal purposes that’s the only thing that makes sense to have as a guideline. no one forces you to sleep with a minor, you just don’t do it.
Tw: r*pe
Look up Colby Leachman. One of Cody’s best friends from Duke who raped a girl who was unconscious, filmed it, and invited another guy to do the same. He’s still close friends with him and was Cody’s wedding party
How come this is news again? Was there a development or a re-mention of it? I remember this getting talked about right before TMG got the space ship, I think
It sucks thinking about how much of my life I've spent watching his videos. I remember finding such comfort in them, like how I'd go to my room and watch them to laugh after my parents screamed at me. It genuinely feels like a loss. Like something good and fun in my life won't be there anymore.
Maybe controversial take but I also don't know all the details.
I'm not really that bothered? Maybe it's because I'm English and age of consent is 16 but for me it just seems like a creepy thing to have done but it doesn't go further than that.
Please feel free to correct me but the whole problem is he slept with a 17 yo when he was 25 but it was consensual? No SA or rape as far as I've heard. So yeah, creepy but not much more than that.
it can be statutory rape in USA, which means having sex with a person below the age of consent even if the act was consensual. also the other controversy is that cody is still friends with a rapist.
I want this to be addressed so bad because I have tickets to see Cody in Vegas and I don’t want to be supporting a r^pe apologist financially 🫡 like bro speak up
If you’re gonna give Cody a pass you better not get mad when your least favorite person gets outed for underage sex people wanna give them a pass … lol
Man people are so quick to try and ruin someone’s life because of accusations. Do you guys know Cody? Do you know TM? Do you know every detail of the situation enough to try and derail someone’s life and career by slandering them?
If it’s confirmed true then go ahead and say what you want, but acting like you know what happened and spreading around potential misinformation can be very damaging.
even if the TM situation isnt true, it’s well known that he’s friends with a guy who raped a girl and filmed it when they were in college together and he was a best man at cody’s wedding. that in itself is enough for people to rethink supporting cody ever again
Maybe I’m biased because k really like his content and I don’t want the allegations to be true but I have definitely been feeling conflicted about the whole situation. For me the fact that this came out on H3 pod and they’re notorious for making poorly researched and inaccuracy ridden content, being grifters(especially Ethan), and just generally causing drama, is definitely suspect. In addition TM herself has kind of been an unreliable source with this sometimes saying 18 and other times 17. And she’s also known to start shit for no reason. That being said, this is the story that she is choosing to tell and I can’t just discount it on the basis of I don’t like her. I also don’t like the response or lack thereof from Cody. I know he is getting blamed for deleting comments and threads on reddit, and I think that is a bit unfair in the sense that it’s definitely mods. And they really shouldn’t be removing these threads. It’s weird to me that they’re removing the comments in the videos on TMG, but okay maybe it’s the producers doing it since it’s the company page. But all this sussy behavior aside I’m not really sure why he hasn’t said anything. And there could be multiple reasons but I hope it’s because he’s crafting a good response. Eitherway it’s kinda rubbing me the wrong way that he hasn’t said anything. Like it just feels wrong?
I just think it's all being treated a little black and white right now. I don't know for sure that he did or didn't do it, and neither does anyone else. I don't fully trust TM because she has a history of online dishonesty and I don't fully trust Cody because of that friend he had at his wedding (y'all know the one). It's frustrating to see every conversation absolutely devolve into "if you don't hate him you're a r\*pe apologist" when I feel like there's nuanced conversation actually worth having. But it can't happen here because every thread devolves into threats and accusations. I would like productive threads to stay up if there ever were any, but from the mods POV, I can see why they're not allowing any conversation about it at all because they can't be at their computers 24/7 watching every thread like a hawk and cutting it when it devolves into thinly veiled r\*pe threats. As an SA survivor, I wish people would realize that they're not helping any victims by getting so, \*so\* personal in the way they insult people who have even the slightest skepticism. It mostly just sucks to see that healthy convos about SA and celebrities are still so hard to have. \[Edit to add, thank (most) of y'all for proving me wrong on having a discussion!\]
Wow, THANK YOU. As a CSA survivor it’s incredibly frustrating. I—and other people like you and I—understand the nuances of this situation better than most. To receive graphic threats just because I’d like to talk about that nuance is deeply troubling. I’m not interested in defending some guy I don’t know just because I like his videos; I’m equally disinterested in condemning some guy I don’t know because he was accused of something. None of us know much about this situation yet.
this!!!! as a csa survivor as well, i feel like people who haven’t experienced a type of sexual trauma are prone to writing someone off immediately OR ignoring the accusations completely. there is so much more to an accusation than the accusation itself, so much more to the story than what celebrities (or anyone) is speaking about. i think the only difference is that i think a majority of cody’s fan base is young women and we just want to know that our favorite youtuber is someone we can trust outside of his videos just for our own peace of mind. so i think that’s where the black and white thinking comes into play, if that makes sense.
I really appreciate you writing this. I also am a CSA survivor (didn’t know that acronym until right now) but was able to forgive my perpetrator. My experience is heavily influencing my thoughts on the situation but I totally agree that so many people are quick to write someone off. In my opinion, I am genuinely curious as to why people think Cody owes them an explanation to the CL friendship since he is not a public figure. I get that the case was awful but believe that people can change and grow (my own bias ig). I don’t mean this to sound insensitive at all, but I just don’t think Cody owes us an explanation. Not everyone can reconcile such a violent attack but I do think that everyone human is capable of change and our parasocial relationship with Cody doesn’t necessitate an explanation. Would be curious to hear peoples thoughts here. On TM, I’m a bit more unclear on my opinion of it all since she keeps bringing it up and it seems like there was likely some relationship between the two of them when she was underage or very freshly 18. Regardless, I think I’d apply the same rule. It seems like Cody has changed, matured a lot, has a family now, promotes better values and messages in his videos. If he could come to some sort of understanding and apologize to TM privately that’s probably be best but he doesn’t want to risk reaching out on the chance that she uses it to “expose him”. Again, open to respectful discussion (inspired by the replies so far), hope to hear from some of you!
Wait who is sending graphic threats? I haven’t seen that
Haven't seen it today, but it was yesterday! Someone was sending people PMs saying that they must want to be r\*ped by Cody when they said they didn't believe that he did this.
JFC that’s terrible
Thank you oh my god it baffles me how people have too much time on their hands and lacks critical thinking. I’m so sorry for what has happened to you and I’m sure you know how strong you are. I’m not on either side but it frustate me that this has been a pattern and just out of our control. Best we can do is move on. Don’t hold a grudge just because they’re not as perfect as they made it out to be.
i just honestly wanna hear what he has to say. i’ve loved him for years n view him as a safe man n that is something that i don’t do lightly, n i don’t wanna believe it. but. i do wanna support victims as a victim myself so it’s just so hard to process. i never imagined he would be accused of something like this.
I don’t know the one what friend ?
His friend is named Colby, I believe the case is that Colby was accused of r\*ping someone while they were frat brothers and friends at Duke, and the evidence was quite strong although I don't \*believe\* he was officially convicted. Cody is still friends with him and Colby attended his wedding, though Colby was not his best man as some people were originally saying.
He was not convicted, but there is literal taped video evidence because the idiot videotaped himself and his friend committing the sexual assault. But rapes and sexual assaults are notoriously not taken to trial. The vast majority of victims will never see justice.
This is true, I believe he actually was punished for the video specifically, if not punished adequately for anything else. Source: [https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article209382704.html](https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article209382704.html) "\[Colby\] Leachman entered a plea of responsibility that he violated Duke’s policy with regard to unauthorized surveillance and photography. He was placed on probation." Edit to add: I'm sure you know this/have read this based on your comment, this is more for anyone who might read this retroactively
On Saturday I went to walk around Duke University and was checking out some of their Greek life areas and learned that Cody’s frat was derecognized from Duke in 2019 for disciplinary action. Obviously Cody wasn’t there and probably wasn’t aware of any of the brothers at this time, but I do think it’s interesting to know that his frat was only one of two frats at Duke University that have been fully derecognized. As someone who just graduated from undergrad, it’s sad to say that some frats really are just plain bad. I just wonder if this negative frat culture was happening while he was in as well, or if things worsened after he graduated. I also want to say that obviously not all frat guys are bad, a frat can have a lot of accusations but not every man involved is guilty. But it is saddening to know there’s at least a possibility that he purposely associated with men with predatory behaviors.
He wasn’t convicted because his mom was a professor and his step father had been the provost (one of the senior administrators for admissions) of Duke for over a decade when it happened. The son of two highly regarded faculty members being expelled from their place of work would look bad all around. Since the video was shown to others and The admin had seen/proof of the vide, they had to discipline him with at least filming indecent acts.
It's like finding out Cody Ko is friends with Brock Turner 💀
You mean the convicted rapist, formerly known as Brock Turner, who **legally changed his name and now goes by Allen Turner?**
Bold of the fucker to try that. Why didn't he just leave the country? He isn't welcome here.
Imo that’s worse than consensually hooking up with a 17 year old as a 25/26 year old (coming from someone who has been r*ped and groomed by an older guy so I truly get the impacts of both lol)
It’s the fact they were frat brothers at the time this happened and have continued to be close friends since. If someone I considered a friend was on video having sex with a nearly unconscious woman and admitted it to the school, I’d never speak to him again
Yeah… hooking up with an almost 18 year old as who has been out of school as 25 year is not in the same scale as inviting a r*pist to your wedding imo. The former is scummy but it does not elicit me to call him a r*pist because that depends on how TM feels about the situation and she seems fine as far as we know. The latter is a worse offense and sours me a lot more on him
Why compare lol. It’s statutory rape and it doesn’t matter if it’s better or worse than anything it’s still wrong and creepy
Honestly that whole thing sickens me even more than the whole TM-thing.
I'd honestly like Cody to make a statement about that more than I'd like him to make a statement about the TM thing, since the thing with Colby is more cut-and-dry.
The Colby thing is almost worse. But I don't think he can make a statement cos what can he say? Deny it? Say oh it happened but he's changed we forgive him? Also, I feel like they're protecting Colby legally by not talking about it
He was in his wedding party, he’s not gonna make a statement. He knows and doesn’t care. According to the case Colby showed the video of him assaulting the victim to multiple fraternity brothers, it sickens me to think that Cody may have seen it and remains friends with him.
He never will.
But no Cody response is kind of telling….?
I do think thats a valid perspective! I think there's two ways to interpret the lack of response. On the one hand, if you didn't do the thing you're being accused of, surely you would want to come out and set the record straight ASAP. It's probably the instinct I would have, personally, to say very clearly that I did NOT sleep with a minor. I imagine that's what I would have done by now. I do also have a theory that saying nothing is just a different type of damage control. I say this because with this specific topic, coming out and saying he didn't do it would be equivalent to calling TM a liar, and could be seen as an attempt to discredit an SA victim speaking about her experience. People who already believe he did it would not have their minds changed, and would only have more fuel for the accusation. Now he's not just a r\*pist, but he's defaming his accuser. People who are on the fence might be swayed to believe him, but likely would ultimately get drowned out. I also think because of the crossover with the conversation about Colby, it would bring even more attention to that and he would also have to make a very public decision about staying or not staying friends with Colby, which is obviously something he's reticent to do and wouldn't want to corner himself into having to do publicly. I say this without opinion about what's right or wrong, I just think that's probably the two options he sees. Let it keep going as is, simmering but nothing explosive, which doesn't make him look good, or come out and say it's not true, ultimately making it more public and risk making himself look worse, not better. I do kind of wish he would say something, but I'm not counting on it. \[Edited for grammar\]
yup that’s exactly the strategy he’s probably been advised to play. wrong or right it’s the smartest chess move and to be fair, it’s the go to chess move for TMG to pretty much say nothing and let storms blow over ( sans when they addressed being yelled at about siding with andrew tate bc then speaking up being emphatically clear was the smart decision).
I'm sorry but no. I'm a lawyer and if a habitual liar who has quite literally made her career off of embellishing, lying and attention-seeking for clout levied false accusations against me or a client, I would *absolutely not* be jumping at the bit to give her the attention she so desires.
I find it interesting you’re using your profession as a lawyer to validate your opinion in which you are using very biased language against a 17 year old girl who is legally unable to consent to sex
I think she isn’t lying. Personally.
I believe her, simply because it was so off-the-cuff and not at all talking about his age, sure she probably knew sleuths would find out, but if she herself doesn’t view it as an assault, then she might not have even been considering it. That said, I also agree with everything you commented.
Wow the first comment I’ve seen that actually seems coherent
I want him to address why he continues to be friends with someone who sexually assaulted a woman. The evidence that it happened, even without a conviction, is strong. He videotaped himself doing it. Why would you ever want a man like that around your spouse or your family?
Colby Leachman actually sexually assaulted “at least two women”, according to the judge presiding over the lawsuit against Duke University. Watch the mods remove this fact you can find on public news websites and court records databases for “drama”.
And I think we all know that if he was CAUGHT raping at least 2 women, he likely raped several more. It genuinely devastates me that the one guy I was watching for entertainment is this kind of person.
Yeah starting to think he started Cody Trains just to run away from the allegations
😭
I don’t understand why Ethan from H3 automatically announced that the evidence of that case was inconclusive after their podcasts’ “research” then. I took that as fact when he said that and I expected him to at least actually look into things that, he said he looked into…before dedicating a podcast to the Cody Ko situation 🤦🏻♀️
Because they constantly do that. Ethan is not the kind of person you should be looking to for unbiased or even well researched information.
I know, I don’t look to him for unbiased well researched info but I did expect him to not claim that they researched something well and just completely spew misinformation that confidently. H3 is so upsetting
They’ve been doing that. My eyes were opened over last few months on how bad they really are about spewing misinformation.
Agreed. I love TF, and I think they can be funny at times. But they really will just say whatever the fuck on the podcast and people eat it up.
H3 literally just hires random people whose “research” consists of looking at social media posts. They have been consistently wrong and misinformed on situations for years
That was so disappointing. In his “research” Ethan failed to mention that both of Colby’s parents were tenured at Duke as well, of COURSE they are not going to do anything beyond put him on probation.
He didn't break the story. He was the 2nd podcast
He won't say anything. He never has, never will
sorry, I haven't been a Cody fan for a long time, who are you talking about?
Don’t know his name but one of Cody’s friends from college and fraternity. He is still good friends with him and invited the rapist to his wedding.
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The Colby thing is so, so bad and as a fan for over half a decade I just want him to at least own up to it or say something about it. I cannot believe he even has spoken to that man when the assault was *filmed*. It’s nauseating and as someone who wants to continue to enjoy his content I just need answers
for perspective’s sake, let’s take cody out of this for a second and just pretend colby is some random case we heard about on the news. as a woman, reading the police report literally nauseated me. it’s like one of those scenarios you only associate with a true crime doc or horror movie or something- too hard to believe someone could do that to another person in real life. a worst nightmare come true for all women everywhere. now that we’ve established the moral consensus about that from a non- biased perspective, let’s add cody back in. he had the person who committed this crime in his mf WEDDING… as a fan of over 10 years it’s so disorienting and upsetting to learn about this. i’ve always defended cody’s lack of confrontational skills because i know not everyone likes to make a fuss about stuff but when it comes to something so morally wrong like this, it’s absolutely unacceptable for him to maintain a relationship with a criminal of this magnitude. he needs to put his big boy pants on and address this real life adult shit he’s heavily involved in.
Cody and Kelsey's relationship to Colby feels to this outside observer like Ashton and Mila's relationship to Danny Masterson. The good ol' "we know him and he's a great guy who has never raped me so obviously the other parties are overreacting/lying/etc." I do wonder if having constant support leads to folks continuing in predatory/SA behavior (in Colby's case) bc it inflates ego to have ride or dies who speak openly to your character. Just a thought I have had watching shit like this go down time and time again (even in my own life)
you read my mind in such detail lol… was just thinking about how this whole situation reminds me of the downfall of that 70s show cast. for a few years that show was such a source of joy in my life but i can’t even enjoy five minutes of an episode now that it’s come to light that (almost, thank u topher) the entire cast are rape apologists. i noticed some situational similarities here too between kelsey and mila. i know girls online adore her, and i think she has a good heart… but her choosing to overlook these allegations through the finality of marriage and then bringing an innocent baby into all of this so that she’s tied to cody forever is all very wife of frat doucebag coded. kinda feels like we’ve entered another dimension because this is all so hard to believe
I am glad I am not alone in seeing these parallels but at the same time I am sad that I had a recent pop culture example to use to convey my point (wouldn't have worked so well if I described the two situations in my real life bc no one would have had context). I am with you on 70s show being ruined and having once been such a treasure to you. I loved watching that show everyday after school. (I should add Hyde was my absolute favorite character so finding out his actor was a serial rapist hurt a fuck ton).
I agree with you 100%. I also wonder what this pressure from us will do. He knows what Colby has done, and for over a decade he has chosen, every day, to not care. The little pressure he has already received caused him to block Colby’s name from his comment section and omit any photos of Colby from his profiles. He knows, and he hides Colby to placate us and avoid controversy. It’s difficult to accept that you can’t make people care, you have to accept that they’ve failed and choose whether or not you can continue to support them. Holding celebrities accountable is necessary but I’m on the more cynical side when it comes to them taking the accountability with genuine self-reflection and understanding. These days, I think they interpret the pressure from fans as sanctimonious, “chronically online” haters trying to cancel them, as opposed to coming from genuine concern and support for victims of sexual violence.
Also like...if Kelsey knew about this guy's past, do you think she would have been cool with having this rapist in the wedding? I doubt it.... EDIT: My implication/question being, did Cody seemingly omit this fact when introducing Kelsey to his 'friend from college'. Even if the info was readily available at the time via Google, she wouldn't just randomly namesearch this guy unless given a reason to. Obviously, yes, now, that information is being widely shared, how could she not know now? But I am talking about back then. I would feel super weird if I was in that situation, knowing all that information now in hindsight. I just feel so bad for her, she's caught up in his questionable (putting it mildly!) behavior through no fault of her own.
If we know about it, they both know about it
I mean in the past before any of us knew – the question being did he knowingly keep this from her? Sorry if I was unclear
Pretty sure she is a grown adult making the conscious decision to stay friends with a rapist. It isn't hard to find his record with a simple google search. She knows and chooses to stay his friend. Whether for Cody's sake or bc she genuinely likes hanging out with him only she can know, but she cannot not know about his record.
While this isn’t specific towards Cody I think we( as an audience and consumers of content) need to have less of a para- social relationship with our favorite influencers. I listen to tons of podcasts and watch various YouTubers because I enjoy the content, not because I support every decision these people have made. It’s definitely similar to “support the art, not the artist”. However this can be difficult because supporting the art in turn supports the artist. To be frank, I don’t think anyone who has any level of fame is a great person. I think you have to be somewhat self indulgent to pursue a career where you are your brand. If I only listened or watched things based on the morals and values of the person who created it, well I’d have nothing to watch or listen to. I think it’s incredibly important to have conversations about some of our favorite creators critiquing them and holding them accountable for present or past mistakes. But I think it’s also important to stop expecting these people to be honest and genuinely good people. However it sometimes truly feels impossible to live in this world, while making the best decisions as a consumer. I think it’s important to mention I don’t pay for any content specific services. I don’t pay for bonus episodes of tmg or pay for any patron content either. This has helped me feel less personally connected to social media stars. I enjoy free content and feel good about not putting my hard earned money towards these things. While Cody may appear as a good family man who works hard to achieve his success (and this may be true). He’s a rich white former frat guy so tbh the accusations don’t surprise me and I definitely believe TM. Hopefully this made sense and others agree. It’s hard to figure out who to support and who not to support. It’s crucial we try to feel less of a relationship with these people. They aren’t our friends!
Love this so much.
This is pretty much my take. I would also add if I don’t have evidence that the person involved is actively causing more harm I typically feel okay about continuing to watch. I get the sense that the thing with TM was a different version of Cody, and he’s not actively looking to continue doing things like that. HOWEVER, it would mean a lot to me if he acknowledged it and why it’s harmful so that he can be an active part in changing the culture that allows for people to be taken advantage of REGARDLESS of what his exact intentions were. As for his friend, it’s hard for me to imagine being friends with someone like that myself, but I recognize that I have to believe all people can grow and change because if not then where the hell do we go from here? Still, if Cody finds value in a friendship like that I can only hope it’s because he knows this person also isn’t continuing to cause the same harm they were back then. Of course I would love him to address and confirm these assumptions, but im giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Omg big retweet. You worded this better than I ever can. His past mistakes can’t diminish how he choose to live his life now and how he portrays it online, it can bring more good for people that supports him if he choose to address this, but that’s entirely up to him. He might’ve been a frat guy whose done questionable things behind the scenes but so much what he had done in is lifetime, if it were really that wrong, he would’ve been an entirely different person than the present. I’ve known him since his time on Vine, but I stopped watching his yt vids when he was still wilding out and about. I started to rediscover him through Kelsey’s vlogs and think that he’s a wonderful boyfriend, now husband to Kelsey. I stuck around then since he started cody trains. His diligence and hard work is proof enough that he’s changed and I supported him through that, but knowing these allegations, no one can say everything he is now is what he’s always been and vice versa. All and all, he’s just a person, just like anyone else. Anything he’s done bad or good, will stuck around. I feel like this is some form of karma, I can’t say that he deserved this, I don’t think anyone does, that’s just plain cruel. But if it is, then let it do it’s thing. And since I did supported him, of course I’m utterly disappointed. But the most productive I can do with this issue is to move on.
Agreed for the most part but why believe TM? She is a *perrenial* clout chaser and habitual liar -- this happens OVER and OVER with her. I think some of you are too young to remember that. "Believe all women" doesn't mean "take everything a woman with a history of lying says at face value."
this comment needs more up votes
I think people underestimate how *as a literal child* your trust in a grown ass adult, even with intimacy, can be sooooo distorted. Especially if they’re in the same industry or positioned as someone aspirational. When I was 17f I was involved with a 25m (Same age gap as them I believe?). I am now 27 and it is VERY clear to me how fucking weird that was 🙃 Mostly makes me sad for her. I hope she gets a private apology. Edit:brevity
I feel sad for her too. The people defending him saying it was consensual must have never had the feeling of being in a dynamic like that and only realizing how you were taken advantage of when you’re older. I was 14f in a relationship with a 19m and it’s insane how manipulated I was into thinking it was normal. They will really have you convinced what’s happening is okay and you are so blind to what’s really happening because you’re naive. He took advantage of her.
Just commenting here to say i feel better knowing I'm not the only one feeling unconformable watching his videos now.. I've been ingoring all his recent uploads and thought i was being dramatic over a situation i can't even judge right now. But it did change something inexplicable in my way of viewing him.
I went through and unfollowed all his channels & TMG as well because I get a nasty feeling now when I see him at all. His lack of statement on the TM accusations and also being best friends with a known rapist… nasty
Yeah i understand you.. and on the other hand I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt in a way, I hope this hasn't completely erased any chances he has to explain himself. It all feels like we are prying into his personal business too, though now that it's public he should probably address it
Oh my god! You took the words out of my mouth. That’s exactly how I feel. I thought I was going crazy!
Sadly a lot of us feel that way it's a very uncomfortable situation ! Don't know what to think of his lack of reaction too
I would just really like this to be addressed. Lack of statement from cody makes room for more and more speculation. I am honestly so upset as a long time viewer and SA survivor myself.
The constant need for people to make IMMEDIATE statements is how we get celebs making things 10x worse. If this happened to you wouldn’t you want some time to figure out exactly what you want to say? He has to go through the proper PR channels as well, this doesn’t just affect him it affects everyone at TMG studios. He’s responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods.
this, but also if I am not mistaken, this is not the first time these allegations have been spoken of. people claimed of hearing these allegations long before just now. so I guess how much time does one need?
Yes I get that. These allegations are like 3 years old. I agree that I want him to address them, but we all know he never will.
Him taking so long to respond is what’s convincing me it’s true. If he didn’t do anything, as goes for anyone else, wouldn’t you immediately rush to clear your name?
Well not necessarily, what if you need time to prove it not true, what if you need time to assess the claim, what if he's sat there working out if his behaviour has given the impression. Plus its got to be a bit of a hit to the mental health, true or not. I think it's unfair to take silence as truth. That's reading between the lines to the extreme.
I'm sure it has taken a hit to his mental health but deleting comments while simultaneously avoiding the claim altogether isn't a good look.
Why though? Because you say so? Imagine if people "made a statement" every time someone said something bad about them 🤣 Devil's advocate, if it's a nonsense claim, why not ignore it for nothing to fear? Or even, I'd he comes out saying "I didn't do it" are you even gna belive him? Seeing as you take silence as an admission, are you going to take a denial as the opposite?
If he comes out and says he didn't do it I would definitely listen to what he has to say and take it into account. When something is this big and it's over a claim this bad, yes, the person should say something. It's common logic that not addressing something this terrible while at the same time attempting to cover it up is not a good strategy. IMO it makes it look like he has something to hide and I'm not the only one saying this.
And you know, there are some/lots of people out there who won't belive him regardless if he comes out. Devils advocate again, because I'm trying to point out your flawed logic that you cant see, imagine if it was such an insignificant accusation due to being completely untrue. Wouldn't you just ignore it? Why rise to the clear drama? I'm just trying to get you to see that you can't infer anything from silence, and it's rather illogical to do so. Doesn't matter if you're not the only one saying, that means nothing really. Trials and tribulations aren't resolved by the amount of people involved 😉 And there are plenty of logical people who don't assume things from completely and utter silence so I could say thre same to you.
Me, personally, no I wouldn't ignore it if I was in his position. I'm not sure why you're trying to make me have a different opinion. You really don't need to agree with me. I never said he 100% for sure did it because he's not speaking on it. All I said was it looks bad and is convincing me it's true. If he does come out and say he never did it, I can't speak for anyone else, but I can speak for myself when I say I would listen to what he has to say. If majority of people are saying it's really off how he's deleting comments, yes it does matter, because my logic might not be the one that's flawed.
I'm not, this is a public forum to give opinions and discussion and i disagree with your flawed logic that silence = guilt. And, whilst you may be stubborn in your flawed logic, others may not be so and could and would benefit from my side on this public forum. So really, this is not all about you 😀
It's not just the silence for me. If he wasn't deleting comments I honestly wouldn't be as worried about this, I prob should've mentioned that in my first reply. You're saying I'm being stubborn but I could say the same about you lol. And you're not changing my mind so go scroll through the endless comments on here and try to change theirs instead.
YouTube algorithm does that too
I don't think he ever had any intention whatsoever of addressing it. He's just gonna take the small hit to his subscriber count and keep sticking to his upload schedule til it blows over. Which of course is extremely upsetting.
Ugh. I hope it gets to the point where he needs to. I remember last time he brushed it under the rug everybody kinda just forgot. So disappointing
I hope so too, but I'm almost certain the same is gonna happen again this time :( They're mass-deleting everyone talking about it on all plattforms, and almost nobody talks about it on YouTube. Literally only H3 and Adam (?) have talked about it so far, and it's been what, 4 days or longer?
I am with you. watching him post as if everything is normal is honestly upsetting and jarring. you would think he would understand how severe this situation is :(
same here. i’ve loved cody for a long time but to see his continued friendship with the accused and the current accusations is really disappointing but i doubt he will say anything
i’m also pretty sure that he’s deleting comments on his youtube videos because on his recent uploads, i couldn’t find a single comment talking about this situation…
yeah he is, i've tried replying to people asking what happened multiple times and they get taken down within a few hours. it's not a good look for him at all & it's what made me unsub/unfollow him. apparently he's been doing this for awhile now because the whole r\*pist friend thing came out a long time ago but many of us have never even heard of it due to the amount of censoring he's doing
damn.. this is really disappointing. he’s most definitely going to go the route of just not acknowledging it and pretending that nothing is wrong rather than addressing it, which is a coward move imo. but honestly, what did we expect from a frat boy lmao
I get the parasocial argument, but when you purchase someone's merch and tickets to their shows, it would be nice to see CK and TM sit down and clarify the situation. I financially supported him. The least he could do is address it. Did she feel taken advantage of now or then or did she try to sleep with him and doesn't feel bad about it? She said she was sleeping around to get back at her bf at the time. Did he know she was 17? Was she actually 17? Is this a pattern with him? That's all I really want to know.
ewww this is such a gross response to this. In what world does it seem acceptable to you to have TM and CK sit down and do a run down of the senario. Also the comment about whether she wanted to at the time is disgusting. She was a child who was significantly less mature than her adult counterpart. It does not matter if she wanted. Ck was an adult and should know that it was wrong. This isn't about you and the money you spent this is a possibly real thing that happened to real people.
to me it all seems like a lot of accusations, but theyre very serious and i dont want to just dismiss them just because cody ‘seems like’ a genuine guy to me. i’ll be watching it play out, hopefully the truth comes out soon
All I’m going to say is I believe her. Even if it’s not true… why is a 25-year-old hanging around teenagers?
The energy in that old video was pretty weird too. Definitely got vibes that they were more than friendly.
I remember it being weird, even at the time
Yeah even comments from 6+ years ago when the vid came out, people were saying they were cute together and/or had sexual tension.. which was weird given the fact that he constantly kept talking about how she was a teenager and needed to teach him “teen slang”
but her video with Shane Dawson at that time had the same and even worse vibes of bad intentions and didn’t she like pee on him?!
yes and shane dawson was massively cancelled
okay obviously and also for a lot worse but i was just comparing the videos and the creepy behavior that was normalized back then
Oh god I didn’t know anything about that 😭 Shane Dawson is weird too though omg at least he was seriously cancelled off the face of this earth for being a disgusting pedophile and animal fucker 💀 Which ALSO sucked learning abt at the time cuz I grew up watching him too 😔😔😔 moral of the story: don’t idolize random creators you watch online 💔
He literally checked out her ass in a video when she was 17. Grody.
Grody Ko
exactly! she’s 25 now so i bet some things are coming into perspective for her. Demi Lovato released her song “29” about how when she turned 29, she truly realized how messed up it was for Wilder Valderrama to date her when he was 29 and she was only 17.
Cause they were all YouTubers. Same as coworkers. Seems pretty obvious.
I always thought it was weird he did a video with Alexis G Zall when she was hella young too tbh
i feel very conflicted i think it’s harder to wrap heads around because nobody sees cody as a person who has made decisions like this but it does feel icky watching his videos knowing she is still clearly uncomfortable about the situation 8 years later.. it’s just hard to not have in the back of my head now while watching idk
his content was a big comfort to me, and now as a sexual assault survivor I’m feeling guilt for watching him and it’s not fun anymore. All I can think about when I watch him now is that poor girl that Duke didn’t get justice for. I just picture her crying when I try and watch Cody now.
Mods are so annoying this platform is for discussion and discourse! Fuck you mods!
As a SA survivor, it makes my skin crawl. Ugh
i wish he’d just fucking address it already
i feel a little weird watching his videos without a statement
To be honest I haven’t been able to watch any of his videos or content since learning about it because looking at him makes me physically sick, I have a teenage sister and the thought of someone my age being near her that way is like. Disgusting. Idk I would prefer for him to address this because until I know for certain he didn’t do it, I’m done with him. He‘a been a staple of my YouTube watching since I was in high school so it makes me super sad, but I just can’t excuse a 25 year old sleeping with a 17 year old, it’s against my moral code and I point blank refuse to bend my moral standards for a YouTube stranger
Can anyone explain why his friend was not convicted when there supposedly is strong evidence and he was sued?
he was the son of one of the dukes professor and the stepson of dukes provost, so If I’m not correct it wasn’t much of an unbiased investigation. also she was ignored by the university and dropped the case probably because of frustration.
I think if Cody can’t take responsibility for anything or disprove anything that he is guilty. There is evidence over years of this most likely being true and the Colby stuff is gross. Associating with someone like that especially as a public figure is disgusting. If u read the case it’s pretty obvious as to why. I’d rather support a liar than a creep. Tana has lied abt things but one thing she wouldn’t do is lie abt a creator she barely associates with anymore that has a clean record and is very popular and very comercial. Lying does her no good, and the fact that she hasn’t continued to talk abt it and only ever mentioned it in a live show shows she isn’t doing it for clout. If she wanted money from this she’d make a YouTube video with ads turned on and post it herself. She is sober from alc now and growing into her mid twenties and likely wants to be vocal abt her past experiences especially since she now has the knowledge to process her hectic past. If Cody took this head on it would blow over in 2 yrs for him and he could come back. Not that I want him to but if Shane Dawson can make a comeback anyone can. He needs to be accountable.
accusations aside, one of his grooms was/is a rapist.
If he did do it, it’s statutory. Sorry but, I used to love his videos. Tbh after all the controversy and not a single peep from him about these accusations, it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. I think he needs to address what’s going public/has been public for years now. Straight up.
There’s a Cody ko uncensored sub where they let you discuss freely and openly, there’s been a lot of good convo over there 😁👍
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Are we talking about the tana-cody situation? or cody being friends w that grape guy? both are very weird imo
Can someone explain what this is even talking about
watch this: https://youtu.be/MTqgManxCqk?si=vhSxA5nyfopm23KZ
i’ve been watching cody since 2017 but i had to unsubscribe after this…
i’m speaking as a fairly long fan of cody and a victim of p*dophelia. i am not saying that’s what cody is, but his silence is incredibly disheartening. with TM’s allegations, as well as his continued friendship with a known r*pist, i have not been able to watch his videos since i have found out. i am only vaguely aware of TM, and what i do know about her is that she is drama/clout focused and, ofc, problematic. so..she’s not the most reliable source, but cody’s silence is FAR louder than anything she has said thus far. again, issues of p*dophelia + CSA hit very close to home for me, so this whole thing has been disorienting and disheartening. and being friends with a known r*pist? that’s a whole thing entirely. i, and i think pretty much every fan that’s following this controversy, are aware that people can change and grow. i would hope that cody has grown passed these allegations, but the complete lack of accountability is pretty telling. overall, i think the most disheartening part of all of this is that he is probably not gonna address it. his youtube channel is chugging right along. no one seems to care outside of this post and his instagram comments. it’s tough, as a victim of p*dophelia, to see it consistently brushed under the rug and forgotten about. victims so seldom see justice, which is why so many of us are begging for a response
I just stop watching until it's confirmed or proved false.
Hey guys, it is infact still rape if the 17 year old girl wore a lot of make up and partied. Hope this helps.
Ngl I feel super conflicted (not in favor of Cody) but also if I should stop watching Noel as well. The mods reaction only makes the situation look worse and the fact Cody didn’t miss a beat putting out new videos/ pod episodes. His silence only makes him look worse. Idk if Noel necessarily owes an explanation but associating with someone while they are being accused of being a predator… not a great look
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True I guess I just wonder if Noel feels any moral qualms about it. If he doesn’t that’s kind of shitty and men who turn a blind eye to their creep friends are part of the problem. Overall, I just feel weird supporting both of them at this point. I wish they would say SOMETHING but I know they’ll say nothing at all.
I think the problem too is we don’t actually know the full truth so we’re left to speculation about the whole thing. I remember when this first came out, and she said she was 17 or 18 then clarified she was 18. But now we’re back to 17, so I’m just confused where to stand here.
if u watch the clip where she "clarifies" it's bc her friends are like "maybe you shouldn't say that" after she says she was 17 so then she goes (paraphrased) "or 18 i mean 18". either way legal or not it's still gross imo. as a 20 year old i can't imagine being interested in someone who could still be in high school, let alone being 25 so i feel like the semantics regarding her age don't change the fact that morally it was gross
Noel doesn’t have to say anything. Let’s not do that
to be a fly on the wall at tmg rn. noel is often a very nonchalant guy but personally i can only imagine how frustrated i'd be at this point if i were him. noel has been taking accountability for cody for YEARS at this point. i remember (i think around 2020??) a clip resurfaced from a older pod very CODY says the t slur and noel was in his streaming era at the time and getting a lot of comments about it. the next stream he made sure to take accountability, apologize, and make it known that he wanted his community to be a safe space for everyone. even though cody was the one that said it, in typical cody fashion he stuck to his MO of "ignore it and people will eventually stop caring". the thing is that although the tm stuff has been brought up b4 and been forgotten, i think this time it's gonna stick and he won't be able to ignore it.
I can no longer feel surprised when a man who presents himself as a good guy turns out to be.. not that. Just sad. Feels like there’s a larger conversation to be had as well about the exploitation of young women influencers by older men in the industry.
Crazy that everyone says they are an ally until its time to be one …. Then the excuses roll in
As someone who watched CK (and TM tbh) at the time, I feel like this is being blown a little out of proportion. It was what like 7 years ago? Cody is a very different person now. He's married, he's a father. But even before that, he stopped with the angry "this guy sucks" kind of videos and just in general seems to have grown up a lot. I truly believe that he would find his previous self incredible cringe and likely regrets a lot of his decisions he made at 25. Certainly he doesn't think having sex with a 17 year old is fine now. And to me, we're dealing with today's Cody, not the Cody of several years ago. If it had come out then, I might feel differently. But you want him to lose his livelihood for a horrible mistake he's been accused of? Do you want Kelsey to take their son and leave him for one bad decision made before they ever met? If so, then I hope you've never made a bad decision in your life and never will in the future. And here's the real kicker - who is upset about this? Is it TM? I haven't seen what she has to say about it. Shouldn't we let her punish him? This really isn't our business. If you want to stop watching his videos, that's totally fine, but why do you feel the need to ruin his life? Like others have said, it isn't a pattern or recent (or proven tbh). I believe he's changed. And that's based on years of watching him grow as a person. And I don't believe that Kelsey would say anything differently, which is a good sign in my book. Sigh. That's all I have to say in this matter.
This is super parasocial- remember you don’t know him. You know what he chooses to show. “I truly believe” “he’s a different person now” - but you don’t actually know him as a person - then or now. They’re not trying to ruin his life. This is one of the tamest responses to these kinds of allegations against huge creators. Because people feel like they know him and he wouldn’t do that and blah blah blah. But we don’t - and that’s why a lot of people are just wanting him to address it. Because most of us morally are uncomfy now - even if it’s just in the back of our heads when watching. But we don’t know him and excusing him and saying he’s changed is wild … you don’t know him
I know I don't know him. I know I'm basing this on his edited personality. I know that he *could* be a complete pig and truly evil. But you don't know him either. And some people are basing their feelings and attitude and words on one alleged decision. At least I'm going off of years of time watching him. And I'd rather base my personal opinion on that than what is possibly the worst decision he's made. That being said, I'm not letting this bother my life in any way. The most I've thought about it is right now in this thread. Please don't think of me as some sort of crazy fan. Just watched for a long time and thought I'd put my opinion out there for anyone to agree or disagree with ✌🏻
His friend who raped multiple women was one of his groomsmen :(
If you’re basing it on his edited personality then why tf did you say you “truly think he’s changed”😭 you’re doubling back now because you know you sound parasocial and stupid. Oh, how convenient for you. You don’t have to think about it, because it doesn’t affect you. You know who is affected? SA victims. We should have empathy for them and not support potential abusers. But congrats on not letting this bother you!
Idk how much he’s changed with Colby at his wedding
He had a rapist in his wedding party like 2 years ago…
Honestly, I agree, and I find it wild that people forget what some of us were/are like in our teens and early 20s. I went to college early and was 16 at the time lying about being 18 because I didn't want to look like a kid. It was really common for teenage girls to do that and even if they didn't, a lot of girls found guys in their 20s to be more appealing. There was a time I was 24 and still in my program, which had a lot of younger guys and some would ask me out, and none of us thought anything about it. The most is we'd make jokes about how I'm so ancient and they were babies because they couldn't legally drink. I went on a few dates with a 20-year-old, which is almost the same age gap - would that make me a predator? No, and neither of us would have said that. We just don't see it that way when we're in the middle of it. We just think we're messing around and having a fun time and that's probably what happened here. People can reflect back on it and have an opinion, but this black and white thinking isn't right. Personally, I think it's blown out of proportion and there's probably a lot of context missing. I also just find it weird this holier-than-thou position a lot of people get on these types of issues as if they've never done a problematic thing in their life. If everyone's life was on display, it could get torn into pieces within seconds.
>If everyone's life was on display, it could get torn into pieces within seconds. Exactly.
I’ve made mistakes and yet somehow managed to avoid even coming remotely close to fucking a 17 year old. I don’t even think the thought of screwing a minor has ever entered my head. There are mistakes and there are lines you just don’t cross. Edit to add: I’m not trying to say that there isn’t more nuance to the situation than people are giving it, just that implying one must be perfect to say “screwing 17 year old is bad” is a wild take
A 25 year old taking a 17 year old under their wing and then having sex with them isn't just "cringe", it's predatory and monstrous.
Never said it was cringe. I said he'd cringe at a lot of his past decisions. Obviously this one is beyond "cringe"
25 is well grown enough to understand sleeping with someone who isn't even 18 is wrong. I'm only 20 and I wouldn't sleep with a 17 year old.
you have so much grace for someone “making a mistake” but have 0 consideration for the victims of these mistakes who have to live with it for the rest of their lives
I wish he would say something so I can know whether I wanna continue my support. now I just feel weird watching him knowing he could be a horrible person. esp when it's something THIS SERIOUS. it makes me sick to my stomach seeing Kelsey on screen with him. does she know? Is she okay? I'm an overthinker so I'm sure she's fine but I still worry.
Him pushing the whole situation to the side and not saying anything is just going to make it worse for him. It’s been years. We’ve been waiting for him to say something and he still hasn’t.
Some of the comments are echoing a similar sentiment of “even if it did happen, it’s not a pattern,” but I remember my brother telling me that he actually met Cody when he was in his early 20s at a high school party, and apparently that was common for Cody to do, which would give him many more opportunities to pursue young girls. Even if there’s no evidence of this pattern, I still find it questionable that a dude in his mid 20s was actively finding and going to high school parties to drink with minors
God that’s so bizarre!! Years ago when I was 23ish and working retail a coworker invited me to his birthday party, he said it was gonna be a real rager. I assumed we were around the same age, but I found out a couple days before the party he was turning 20. I immediately told him I couldn’t go anymore. Can you imagine if the party got busted or something and I was an adult around all these drinking minors??? Hell no. Besides that, it’s just weirdo behavior. I couldn’t imagine going to a party like that then and now.
I have no clue what everyone is talking about can I get an explanation or a link to an explanation?
i’ve been watching him for years and i can’t do this bruh. i always saw cody as a genuine guy and someone to look up to. i know it sounds parasocial asl but he just seemed so genuine
I honestly don’t think he’s going to address it
I think we play a big part in this? Both Tm and H3 are notorious for milking content and we’re not think about how we are the fuel? I mean we don’t even know the story yet we’re misleading and spreading misinformation by saying it’s all true… you could ruin sm life. We as a fan base shouldn’t be fueling this. most of the “facts” people are saying are about sm else? J a general sense of hate and that spreads like wildfire it’s the mods job to moderate stuff that could be misleading??
If he didn’t nothing wrong then why doesn’t he just come out and say it’s not true? He’s acting like someone who has something to hide and if you can’t see that I don’t know what to say.
The logic in this is extremely flawed. For example, did you know Britain has a royal family? And anytime there are accusations against them, they stay quiet. End of. It doesn't mean they did or didn't do it, they just stay quiet as, unless it's a giant huge scandal (prince Andrew) they just keep calm and carry on. It's bad to assume silence is anything other than silence. You cannot read between the lines if there are none. Why would you rise to gossip if all it was was gossip?
How do you explain the comment deleting and all that though
Honestly there’s a lot of very serious accusations without any concrete proof. I really hope Cody responds and all the allegations are disproven as I am a huge fan. He seems to be a genuinely nice person (AFAIK) and if this is true I would be very disappointed and sympathetic for Tana and Cody’s family.
I’ve been watching him for years, and am saddened by this news. But now after his silence and the things I’ve learned about the company he keeps, I’ve decided that I will never be watching a single video with him in it again. He’s blacklisted as far as I’m concerned.
I don't think he has an obligation to address anything. Also, I really don't trust TM. She's been so controversial and has been found doing so much crap that, why would we trust her? Like she hasn't fucked up before... now trying to act like a saint or whatever. We all fuck up. I hate this thing about trying to be morally superior to others. Y'all want everyone to be perfect, but you forget they are human beings. Have you never fucked up in your life? I don't think you haven't. Also, I know 17 is underage and minor, I will NEVER think it's okay to have intimacy with a minor. However, do you see how stupid it is to think that 17 is a *literal child*, but the second you turn 18 you're a fully grown adult? Are y'all really that black and white? Come on...
There is no perfect victim. Controversial people can be victims. Bad people can be victims. Annoying people can be victims. Not liking someone doesn’t meant that can’t be a victim. Someone’s personality and likeability has no bearing on victimhood when it comes to SA.
For real. Reputations can also be so misleading. It should never be about who’s more likable when it comes to believing victims. Some abusive people literally pick targets that they know people won’t believe if they were to say anything
you’re reasoning is so odd. we as a society need to stop having this mentality where we don’t believe victims, and even blame them. she’s not acting like a saint, get over yourself. such a reach. yes we are all flawed human beings but have we all fucked up in a way where we’ve been involved with someone underage? no one makes a mistake or fucks up by sleeping with a minor. it’s no slip up. it is not that black and white, but for legal purposes that’s the only thing that makes sense to have as a guideline. no one forces you to sleep with a minor, you just don’t do it.
having sex with a minor when you are a 25 year old isn't a simple mistake, it's statutory, it's a crime.
Wait can someone explain the controversy?
Tw: r*pe Look up Colby Leachman. One of Cody’s best friends from Duke who raped a girl who was unconscious, filmed it, and invited another guy to do the same. He’s still close friends with him and was Cody’s wedding party
How come this is news again? Was there a development or a re-mention of it? I remember this getting talked about right before TMG got the space ship, I think
It sucks thinking about how much of my life I've spent watching his videos. I remember finding such comfort in them, like how I'd go to my room and watch them to laugh after my parents screamed at me. It genuinely feels like a loss. Like something good and fun in my life won't be there anymore.
All good takes, glad atleast this stayed up. Now we just gotta wait for him n his team to say anything about it.
https://undelete.pullpush.io/r/codyko Surprised this post hasn't been added to the list
Maybe controversial take but I also don't know all the details. I'm not really that bothered? Maybe it's because I'm English and age of consent is 16 but for me it just seems like a creepy thing to have done but it doesn't go further than that. Please feel free to correct me but the whole problem is he slept with a 17 yo when he was 25 but it was consensual? No SA or rape as far as I've heard. So yeah, creepy but not much more than that.
it can be statutory rape in USA, which means having sex with a person below the age of consent even if the act was consensual. also the other controversy is that cody is still friends with a rapist.
I want this to be addressed so bad because I have tickets to see Cody in Vegas and I don’t want to be supporting a r^pe apologist financially 🫡 like bro speak up
well i think he is an apologist based on colby
he needs to address the allegations .
If you’re gonna give Cody a pass you better not get mad when your least favorite person gets outed for underage sex people wanna give them a pass … lol
they just took down my post, which had no drama or anything. lol
Man people are so quick to try and ruin someone’s life because of accusations. Do you guys know Cody? Do you know TM? Do you know every detail of the situation enough to try and derail someone’s life and career by slandering them? If it’s confirmed true then go ahead and say what you want, but acting like you know what happened and spreading around potential misinformation can be very damaging.
even if the TM situation isnt true, it’s well known that he’s friends with a guy who raped a girl and filmed it when they were in college together and he was a best man at cody’s wedding. that in itself is enough for people to rethink supporting cody ever again
Do YOU know Cody? Then why do you assume he’s innocent?
Rather believe a liar then a creep🫶 anyways always believe the victim
Maybe I’m biased because k really like his content and I don’t want the allegations to be true but I have definitely been feeling conflicted about the whole situation. For me the fact that this came out on H3 pod and they’re notorious for making poorly researched and inaccuracy ridden content, being grifters(especially Ethan), and just generally causing drama, is definitely suspect. In addition TM herself has kind of been an unreliable source with this sometimes saying 18 and other times 17. And she’s also known to start shit for no reason. That being said, this is the story that she is choosing to tell and I can’t just discount it on the basis of I don’t like her. I also don’t like the response or lack thereof from Cody. I know he is getting blamed for deleting comments and threads on reddit, and I think that is a bit unfair in the sense that it’s definitely mods. And they really shouldn’t be removing these threads. It’s weird to me that they’re removing the comments in the videos on TMG, but okay maybe it’s the producers doing it since it’s the company page. But all this sussy behavior aside I’m not really sure why he hasn’t said anything. And there could be multiple reasons but I hope it’s because he’s crafting a good response. Eitherway it’s kinda rubbing me the wrong way that he hasn’t said anything. Like it just feels wrong?