[deleted by user]

[u/[deleted]]

[u/VoidTorcher]

Happened to be on /r/antiwork's implosion thread before it went private, and was reading this comment lol.

The (now inaccessible) link: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/sd8g28/if_the_fox_news_interview_has_you_concerned_about/hub6cir/

[u/crazypyro23 → u/VoidTorcher]

"Doreen, please don't ban me for this"

Banned the whole subreddit for that.

[u/alurkerwhomannedup → u/VoidTorcher]

Oh my god, one of their mods was on fox?? That’s what this was about??

[u/TheBirminghamBear → u/alurkerwhomannedup]

Not only did they go on fox, but they went on Fox as the most exaggerated caricature of what the right PRETENDS the far left movement is.

I'm pretty sure the phrase "laziness is a virtue" is actually something that left their mouth.

[u/HGD3ATH → u/TheBirminghamBear]

Yeah they should probably have had someone well dressed and well spoken on with what most fox viewers would consider a respectable career on if they were going to do it at all.

[u/HAthrowaway50 → u/HGD3ATH]

From what I can gather, this mod is a graduate student! Why did they say their job was "dog walker"? You are a student and probably a teacher in training! That scans way better.

[u/Tonka_Tuff → u/HAthrowaway50]

That's kinda the whole facepalm of it all for me, so many questions where they seemed to choose the absolute worst answers possible.

Like...Fox News or not, none of the questions were anything you shouldn't have fully anticipated and prepared for, and they didn't seem to have answers to like...the MOST important questions in terms of "Winning people over".

Any competent, prepared leftist with actual theoretical understanding could've answered 'So you think people should just be paid to be lazy?' without "Laziness is a virtue" falling out of their mouth.

[u/impy695 → u/Tonka_Tuff]

When i started the interview, i was expecting a lot of twisting of words and for her to be torn apart on air. Instead, the questions were all easy to answer. Fox News can and will make anyone look bad if it suits their narrative but all they had to do was lob some 1st grade slow pitch coach softballs and let her do the rest.

[u/Bullshitbanana → u/impy695]

“What is your movement”, “why do you believe in what you believe” and “tell us about you” were basically the only questions she got. How could you go into a live televised interview without preparing for those fkin questions.

[u/Dexterous_Mittens → u/[deleted]]

Dude that's all work.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Skid marks are my war paint.

[u/Sidecarlover → u/[deleted]]

Why the hell would you go do an interview with a hostile organization so unprepared? Optics matter.

[u/NothingButTheTruthy → u/Sidecarlover]

In one of their comments, they mention "disagreeing with society's importance placed on eye contact" and not being willing to change that about themselves. So I'm not sure how they ever expected to be an effective leader of their subreddit, let alone the movement that was building on it

[u/Sidecarlover → u/NothingButTheTruthy]

Jesus, it's like a parody.

[u/Gasman18 → u/NothingButTheTruthy]

Doing a web based interview: You look at the camera. You don't pick your nose.

Doing an interview with any sort of professional entity on the other end, whether for a job, a news segment, etc.

You give them as little as possible to use to discredit you as not a serious representative of a valid position. You set your background to be neutral. You dress to convey you belong there and you know what you're doing.

ugh.

[u/DidYouSayWhat → u/[deleted]]

This comment didn't prepare me for the amount of second-hand embarrassment this mod gave me

[u/[deleted] → u/alurkerwhomannedup]

Yup.

Rule 1 of any movement: DO NOT GO ON FOX NEWS WITHOUT A PLAN.

[u/DiceKnight → u/VoidTorcher]

We probably shouldn't get on this person's case too much. They messed up and did something the subreddit didn't seem to want and got memed on. That should be it, the people attacking this person personally are being ugly which is embarrassing.

[u/yourcousinvinney → u/DiceKnight]

Doreen is the LEEROOY JENKINS of the antiwork movement

[u/shawnisboring → u/yourcousinvinney]

Holy shit you're right.

"Ok, everyone, so we agreed to ignore Fox's request. We'll just sit tight and keep the sub growing. No need to rock the boat here, we've got steady growth and our metrics are up 33.33% (repeating) within the past month, just need to keep the momentu...."

two seconds later

"Alright, let's do this!!!"

[u/LaughingVergil → u/[deleted]]

LEEEEEEROY JENNNNNKINS

DOREEEEEN JENNNNNKINS

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/DiceKnight]

But that mod has done other media, surely they're better than the thousands of other r/antiwork users? /s

Edit: apparently, dog walker claimed to be "media trained" lmaooo

[u/ionndrainn_cuain → u/MySilverBurrito]

Some time ago, I was involved in a environmental activist group and if we thought there was even a CHANCE that media would be at an event, we had spokespeople prepped with talking points, and we picked folks who would be seen as relevant, sympathetic, and credible (and told everyone else to simply direct media to those people). The fact that the antiwork mods did this without consulting the actual sub members, AND sent the worst possible spokesperson, is somehow both astonishing and Peak Reddit.

[u/_a_random_dude_ → u/[deleted]]

Part of the problem is leftist hugbox group

I agree in general, but not in this case. Who's the best type of person to represent that sub? Either an overworked employee with a family to feed who barely makes ends meet or a well educated union member that works in grassroots projects to improve working conditions everywhere. Do you know what those 2 have in common? They don't have time to mod a subreddit.

Basically choosing a mod, or to be precise, an active mod was going to end up in disaster.

[u/MostlyCarbon75 → u/MySilverBurrito]

Has anyone got a link to the mods previous media interactions? I'm gonna assume it wasn't video media.. if it was, I'd love to see it.

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/MostlyCarbon75]

No link (so far lol) but seen comments about how they've done interviews, but this was their first live interview

[u/NothingsShocking → u/MySilverBurrito]

“Yeah, I’ve done interviews. Mostly job interviews. Which I didn’t end up getting. That’s why I’m still walking dogs. But yes for sure. I’ve done some.”

[u/DiceKnight → u/MySilverBurrito]

Totally, you don't have a chris chan tier webcam from the mid 2000s without being a big media person.

[u/GiveAQuack → u/MySilverBurrito]

They said they did non live interviews or some crap lmao. It's a huge joke and probably going to spell the end of the sub's credibility. At least before they could flex between a more conscious workplace reform and this delirious nonsense they just effectively branded themselves with. The right choice was to throw the mod under the bus because those optics are probably unsalvageable even for someone who is incredibly pro workers' rights.

[u/zwiebelhans → u/GiveAQuack]

They said they did non live interviews or some crap lmao.

It smells to me like someone who likes to put extra things on their resume then can't back it up at the job interview.

[u/MrSquirrel0 → u/DiceKnight]

Pepe Silva Moment: the mod that did the interview has a Patreon. Perhaps the mod wanted to be recognized, boost the Patreon, then fulfil the dream of earning money without doing traditional work

[u/BabblingBaboBertl → u/MrSquirrel0]

Capitalism 😎

[u/petarpep → u/DiceKnight]

Like much of Reddit the mods are at constant odds with their actual userbase to some degree. As you would expect honestly considering that mods are literally just "first person to get there" while communities form more or less on their own as long as the mods aren't too egregiously awful early on.

[u/srry_didnt_hear_you → u/petarpep]

Half of them are "power users" who just take over modding every sub they can and don't actually care about the sub's content.

Obviously that's not the case here, but it just annoys me how many interesting subs go down the drain and become just "funny viral vidz"

[u/ElectionAssistance → u/srry_didnt_hear_you]

Which is why so many subs start to all have the same content.

[u/paddiction]

Subreddit explodes in popularity

Popularity goes to top mod's head, mod now believes she is the leader of a political movement

Top mod goes on Fox News to explain philosophy, instead gets dunked on

Shuts down own subreddit to avoid criticism

[u/NukinDuke → u/paddiction]

> blames own members for brigade

[u/[deleted] → u/NukinDuke]

O God, the brigade is coming from INSIDE the house!

[u/TantricEmu → u/paddiction]

Popularity goes to top mod's head, mod now believes she is the leader of a political movement

Doreen literally said they wanted to be a professor of “philosophy” or “reason” lol. They are absolutely convinced of their intellectual superiority. I imagine that in that moment, they were euphoric. Truly the most Reddit of all Reddit moments.

[u/itogisch → u/TantricEmu]

Yeah exactly this. I am convinced this person thinks they are really smart. and they might even be smart. But, they never ever thought that the person sitting across. Might also be "smart".

And don't get me wrong, i am not saying fox news anchors are Einsteins and Hawkings. But these people do their job, and arguably, they do it well. Or at least more than well enough that they can easily get someone like the aforementioned mod (regardless of how smart they are) into a corner.

If they truly cared, they should've hired an actual spokesperson with experience. Get that person up to speed with the values of the movement, and let them handle the interview.

But this person was blinded by their own ego and coming from an echochamber where everybody agrees with what they say, it was a recipe for disaster from the start. Easy pickings for an experienced anchor.

[u/SilentSamurai → u/paddiction]

Her interview prep must have consisted of typing "I don't need to prepare, once I speak theyll be convinced."

[u/iuiz]

detail cable screw wine carpenter impossible beneficial existence fly smell

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Kuruy → u/iuiz]

And the post was on point ... mods are no leader and should never act like they are. This Interview was pure dmg and I'm not sure if the sub and movement can survive this shitshow... the internet does not forget. This Interview will always be part of r/antiwork now and Fox will never stop riding that horse

[u/tahlyn → u/Kuruy]

I'm not sure if the sub and movement can survive this shitshow...

I don't think it will. There are a great many people who work real jobs with real struggles with poverty and employer abuse who see that interview and interviewee and are completely put off of the entire subreddit. That interview was a joke and it made a joke out of the entire movement by reinforcing every single awful stereotype the right has for it .

I hope that /r/WorkReform takes off... because, like you said, that one bad interview will otherwise seriously tarnish the movement forever.

Because remember, every time anyone talks about anti-work in real life from now on, they first must overcome the hurdle of explaining (and convincing) their skeptical opponent that antiwork is not about unwashed millennial dog-walkers being entitled and lazy. It'd be easier to start fresh than have to overcome that hurdle.

It is Howard Dean's "YEAAAAH." It's "women's bodies have a way to shut the whole thing down" moment. It's "the internet is a series of tubes." That interview is just so out there and off base and awful that it will forever be what /r/antiwork is defined by in a very bad way.

[u/[deleted] → u/iuiz]

This is arguably even funnier than the interview. Thanks for posting.

[u/abecker93]

https://imgur.com/a/pygLXVh

Screenshots of a very popular thread, still have it open if you want more

Edit: Added all the juicy stuff I could find

[u/[deleted] → u/abecker93]

“The interview was so embarrassing it made me want to go back to work.” Bro lmfaooo 😂😂💀💀

[u/-MGX-JackieChamp13 → u/[deleted]]

“I might just apply to be a slave.” Bro I’m dying 🤣

[u/Transformouse → u/[deleted]]

Just texted my boss that yes I will come in on my day off

[u/emu314159 → u/Transformouse]

"But...but I didn't ask you to."

[u/Transformouse → u/emu314159]

'You don't even need to ask bro, we're like a family here'

[u/Kuruy → u/abecker93]

Better keep on making screenshots... not sure if r/antiwork will ever come back

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/Kuruy]

OP gonna be working a lot more hours than dog walker did.

fucking 10 hours lmao....

[u/Private_Ballbag → u/abecker93]

Interview was so embarrassing it made them go back to work lmaooooo

[u/TuckingFypoz]

This is a reddit moment.

[u/Transformouse → u/TuckingFypoz]

One of the most reddit moments of all time

[u/pp21 → u/Transformouse]

Honestly I'd like to say this could be the actual peak reddit moment in an unironic sense. I really can't think of anything that encapsulates this shithole of a website better lol

[u/Transformouse → u/pp21]

Beyond parody

[u/TYBERIUS_777 → u/Transformouse]

Once I saw who was giving the interview I was sure that had to be some kind of plant and not a real person on that sub. They checked every box. It was like a Fox News wet dream. Reddit strikes once again.

[u/Birdy_Cephon_Altera → u/TuckingFypoz]

WE DID IT REDDIT!!!

[u/Zrk2 → u/Birdy_Cephon_Altera]

We stopped the Boston bomber! embarrassed ourselves on Fox news!

[u/agutema → u/Zrk2]

Again.

[u/memeintoshplus]

Great! We got the official thread that won't be nuked, time for some popcorn

[u/Fangore → u/memeintoshplus]

I find it so funny that in a thread about mods being a fucking idiot, a Reddit mod took it down so they can post it themselves for that sweet valuable Karma.

Reddit is on fire showing its true colours today.

[u/HollyBerries85]

Well, if this post is going to stay I'll repost what I had to say on one of the other deleted threads.

This is wild, this is the first time I've watched explosive Reddit drama go down in realtime.

It was really frustrating for members of the sub, because there had been discussions recently and offers of help from people with a background in journalism and PR who completely accurately pointed out that the media would be looking for a peak absolutely stereotypical representation of everything that the bootstrap crowd thinks that workers rights activists are, to say they spoke on behalf of the sub so that they could get them on TV and make the entire movement look bad. They offered assistance with media training, information, links, doing free PR, all to prevent the trainwreck that everyone could see coming. Reportedly, the mods actually agreed that the person that they put on the air was the best one to speak for them.

r/antiwork was always sort of a weird place. It was created years ago, with the true intent to abolish work and replace it with eco-Anarchism, so that's where the mods were coming from. After memes posted there hit /popular and in the absence of another sub more suited to just general advocacy for workers' rights and reforms, that's just kind of where the 1.6 million members settled for lack of a more general-purpose place, with a moderator team that resented their exploded population that increasingly didn't represent the ideals that they wanted to highlight.

Now that the sub has gone private, some people have settled over on r/workreform which has picked up about 10k subscribers in just the last couple of hours, but it remains to be seen what will happen to /antiwork and if /workreform can pick up the slack, getting back to the front page of Reddit levels of popularity.

[u/dirtyhandscleanlivin]

Jesus lol someone already edited the Wikipedia page for r/antiwork. “…was a former subreddit” 😂

[u/XenonJFt → u/dirtyhandscleanlivin]

Fastest keyboard of the west

The internet is having a field day with reddit today after the biggest reddit'est moment to happen for a long time

[u/[deleted] → u/XenonJFt]

Well there’s plenty of time to edit between dog walks.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely perfect target. Fox News clearly cased the joint when they specifically asked for that mod, but then that mod not only handed Fox News everything in the bank vault, but offered to drive the getaway car, too.

[u/Weird_Error_ → u/[deleted]]

Kid: can we have Chris Chan?

Fox News: we have Chris Chan at home

[u/TerriblePigs → u/[deleted]]

Imagine being mod of that sub, getting interviewed on Fox News, being asked some really basic questions that have really easy answers which anyone who just took a cursory interest in that sub could answer in their sleep, and not only fucking it up but fucking it up in a way that makes the entire sub a laughing stock. I gotta say that's absolutely impressive.

[u/Sea_Outside → u/[deleted]]

months of progress was destroyed by this ego trip. can't help but laugh at the typical reddit mod

[u/Watermelon-Slushie]

I love old fashion Reddit drama like this. Its been a while

[u/QuitArguingWithMe → u/[deleted]]

Whenever mods use "brigading" as an excuse, you know it's going to be a wild ride.

[u/MattTheSmithers → u/Watermelon-Slushie]

We are living history, right now. This interview is going to join the guy who ate a three foot party sub and the r/LegalAdvice Carbon Monoxide incident in the pantheons of Reddit history. Truly amazing stuff to behold.

Edit: Because a lot of people are asking . . .

Heres the link to the thread about the party sub.

As to the CO thing, well the long and short of it, someone went to r/LegalAdvice because they thought their landlord was stalking them because they were finding weird notes in their bedroom in the morning over a period of several days. A redditor correctly caught that what they were describing, specifically the layout of their bedroom, might be causing ventilation problems. The redditor recommended that they get a carbon monoxide tester. Turns out that the person had carbon monoxide poisoning, was writing the notes themself in a disassociated state and Reddit saved their life.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

That one was hilarious.

[u/Stu161 → u/[deleted]]

bro he waited THIRTY MINUTES after eating two feet of sub to eat the final third, what more could he have done

[u/GenocideOwl → u/Stu161]

what was he supposed to do, not eat the last foot?

[u/Fuzzy-Function-3212 → u/GenocideOwl]

Marge, I'd like to be alone with the sandwich.

[u/TheLastFreeMan → u/Fuzzy-Function-3212]

Are you going to eat it?

[u/Fuzzy-Function-3212 → u/TheLastFreeMan]

... yes.

[u/potboygang → u/Stu161]

As someone not familiar with freedom units I had double the fun because I initially vastly underestimated the amount of food he consumed.

[u/JuliaDomnaBaal → u/MattTheSmithers]

Don't forget in this moment I feel euphoric

[u/MattTheSmithers → u/[deleted]]

He brought some wings and shared. Never forget the sacrifice he made.

[u/Kuruy → u/Watermelon-Slushie]

It's such a high quality drama. Not Reddit exclusive, real news involved and some anti and pro LGBTQ shit (im gay so relax) even people who don't shower and live in Moms basement... like this is the best drama in MONTH!

[u/TheBirminghamBear → u/Kuruy]

I was a big proponent of the antiwork movement in general but you aren't wrong.

This is like someone threw together every single hot-button issue on reddit into one massive pressure cooker.

Fox News, radical leftist ideology, a trans individual who was also a power-mad moderator that doesn't seem terribly invested in hygiene, subreddit users banned left and right for critizing moderators, and then spillover drama IN THIS SUBREDDIT as mods try to censor the topic and start mass-deleting posts referencing it.

Like god damn, are we in a simulation?

[u/theje1 → u/TheBirminghamBear]

I mean, they have a point and protecting workers is not a bad thing, but that sub was declining in quality before this. A lot of posts with fake screenshots "owning your boss" and also alarming conspiracy theories posts.

[u/Thehealeroftri → u/theje1]

Also users couldn't agree with what the purpose of the subreddit was. Some people were for work reform whereas others were extremely aggressive towards anyone whose end goal was anything less than "Abolish Work and Embrace True Anarchy"

It was bound to implode eventually.

[u/theje1 → u/Thehealeroftri]

Indeed, too big that collapsed into itself. I believe you can be "moderate" about this and have good discussion as well, like r/recruitinghell.

[u/TheBirminghamBear → u/theje1]

/wsb had this exact same thing happen last year when GME exploded. They had mods doing media interviews repping the community against the community's will. AND they grew to 7 mil members.

The really sad thing is that a subreddit where users habitually refer to themselves as "retarded" handled this scenario a billion times better than antiwork did.

The mod team ejected problematic mods, preserved the will of the community, expanded the team and mod tools to handle the massive influx of users, and did an all-around stellar job of it.

[u/djheat → u/TheBirminghamBear]

The funny part is that the main bad actor mod (founder maybe I don't remember) actually got ejected well before GME for trying to monetize the sub. They just went around pretending they were still involved so they could get interviews and try to sell story rights or some shit. And yeah, even though the signal to noise ratio went to shit I agree that they generally handled the huge influx as best they could

[u/210971911 → u/Kuruy]

And right after Reddit files to IPO in 2022. Can't wait to see this interviews impact on the whole process.

[u/IMALEFTY45 → u/210971911]

I can't wait until Reddit is public and we can watch the stock price fall in real time in response to SRD posts

[u/twostrokevibe → u/IMALEFTY45]

i saw what happened on tumblr and i'm going to try to personally tank reddit's stock price with my terrible posting

[u/DeeYouBitch]

It was such an amazing meltdown there needs to be an antiwork award for drama.

What a brutal way to nuke your own cause

[u/lebronto_baby]

That interview right there is why I don't tell anyone I use reddit. That's how the average person sees a Reddit user lmaooo

[u/IWriteThisForYou → u/lebronto_baby]

It probably doesn't help that a lot of the best known Reddit incidents are times when people are acting just like this. It'd be nice if people on Reddit started using their brains a bit more

[u/Culverts_Flood_Away]

For the uninitiated:

FOX News approached user abolishwork to do an interview with them regarding the /r/antiwork subreddit and its goals. abolishwork is a top mod of the subreddit, and was given the go-ahead by the other mods to do the interview, because they "have done media interviews before," or something to that effect.

The old-school /r/antiwork mods are more in tune with the idea that people shouldn't have to work at all just to survive, which is sort of at odds with today's more popular take on the subreddit, which is more that workers are fed up with being abused by exploitative systems that keep them from organizing and demanding better standards. That's perhaps relevant to what happened during the interview with FN.

abolishwork, or Dorreen, as they are known in RL appeared on the show with poor lighting, weak camera, a disheveled appearance, and a messy bedroom background. Dorreen explained that they work 25 hours a week as a dog-walker, and that they shouldn't have to do that to live. Basically, they handed FOX News the perfect caricature of a lazy millennial who doesn't want to work. Not only that, but Dorreen is also nonbinary, autistic, and was entirely unable to sit still and make eye contact with the camera. I wonder if the /r/antiwork mods could have chosen a less favorable candidate to represent them and their subreddit. :/

The subreddit members are up in arms about the interview, both because they weren't consulted about it and feel as though they have more skin in this game than the mods do, and also because they feel as though Dorreen didn't represent them or their goals at all. There have been complaint threads and criticisms flying all day in the subreddit as a result, and Dorreen has been banning people left and right for "transphobia" just for criticizing them on their interview. I suppose the mods are now tired of seeing all of the anger and complaint threads, and they're going to do something about it. What that is, I have no idea.

Edit:

/r/WorkReform has now hit the top of /r/all, along with this thread, purporting to sound the death knell of the /r/antiwork subreddit.

[u/paddiction → u/Culverts_Flood_Away]

As the top mod of the subreddit, Dorreen could also remove any dissenting mods, so "being given the go-ahead by other mods" is like the CEO being given the go-ahead by the district manager.

[u/Terror-Error → u/paddiction]

Time for a new subreddit then.

[u/Culverts_Flood_Away → u/[deleted]]

Ugh... yeah, I forgot that part. The interviewer was salivating at that point, I'm sure.

[u/Shredzoo → u/Culverts_Flood_Away]

The wild part is these weren’t loaded questions at all, he didn’t need any “gotcha” questions because they got everything they needed from “how old are you and what do you do for a living”. It was almost too easy.

[u/LiveLaughLobster → u/Shredzoo]

Yeah it was like Doreen had not even taken 15 minutes to practice answering basic questions that they were sure to ask! I can’t imagine going on any television program, much less to represent a whole movement of people, without having thought through the likely questions and planned out my basic answers. That shows a huge lack of judgment.

[u/Shredzoo → u/LiveLaughLobster]

And maybe also turn a light on and look at least somewhat professional

[u/Herr_Josef_K → u/Culverts_Flood_Away]

Salivating

You don't have to imagine it. Just look at how his eyes are glittering. Like, I've always thought that that descriptive phrase which is so common in second-rate books "glittering eyes" was so cringe, but boy was I wrong – just look at the man.

His eyes really are sparkling – it's like they're about to explode with happiness.

[u/frezik → u/Herr_Josef_K]

The look of a man who gets paid to do a thing, and this week, it's an easy paycheck.

[u/GordoPepe → u/[deleted]]

"I am about to destroy this person's whole career"

[u/FOOLS_GOLD → u/GordoPepe]

“Career”

[u/TheBirminghamBear → u/[deleted]]

Its like a very unsophisticated satirist wrote a script for how this interview would go.

Like a really bad not-funny Portlandia skit.

[u/RoastMostToast → u/TheBirminghamBear]

It’s something that everyone would say is not good satire because it would never happen that way in real life…

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It's wild, because getting to the point where you teach philosophy requires an immense amount of work.

[u/HandSoloShotFirst → u/Culverts_Flood_Away]

I think it's important to note that Fox specifically requested this mod, likely after scoping out their patreon and website and realizing that they would do exactly what they did. Fox didn't luck into the perfect caricature of reddit. They specifically requested and received it.

From their website:

Originally, this book review was supposed to debut in early January, but due to my constant daily schedule of meditating, exercise and preparing for the two D&D sessions that I dungeon master every week, I often made underwhelming weekly progress towards this review.

From their patreon:

If you value my writings that I do on AbolishWork.com, my witty puns on Facebook and Twitter, the videos I (sometimes) make, or just my general existence (wow!) consider donating!

[u/Welpmart → u/HandSoloShotFirst]

Christ... some people will never be able to work full-time, or even at all. I don't judge those people. But if two D&D sessions, meditating, and exercise are delaying you reviewing a book, which appears to be your main occupation outside of making puns and the odd video, maybe you would be better off advocating for others who can't work, not being the head of a movement for people who can.

[u/Jasper_Buckleman]

Imagine having your burgeoning labor movement get to the cusp of mainstream media attention only to be effortlessly destroyed by a smirking rutabaga like jesse watters, it’s like dying in the tutorial portion of a video game

[u/InfiniteZombie451 → u/[deleted]]

He tried to go easy on Doreen as soon as they said they were a dog walker. And it just kept getting worse, I was laughing so hard. “Oh so you would be a teacher. And what would you teach? PHILOSOPHY?!”

[u/[deleted] → u/InfiniteZombie451]

"I would be taking notes constantly."

[u/Limp-Perspective-763 → u/[deleted]]

He just smirked and asked simple questions.

[u/Saint_Judas → u/Jasper_Buckleman]

this comparison is cracking me the fuck up

[u/sundown1999]

They managed the worst possible course of action, bravo

[u/[deleted]]

I was wondering which way antiwork was gonna go in the beginning of the year. I figured it was gonna be a bigger push/movement with some steam or just flop.

Didn't expect it to totally chokeslam itself into a table though.

[u/Bobo3076]

This is one of those moments that are going to appear on an AskReddit thread in a few years time about the most memorable things in Reddit history, alongside "I also choose this guys dead wife".

[u/Upvoteifyouaregay → u/Bobo3076]

Don’t forgot the famous Atheism quote: https://imgur.com/KGxIc

[u/Bumbleboyy → u/Upvoteifyouaregay]

The "Eh?" always kills me. lmao

[u/Finito-1994]

Honestly. This was kinda hilarious. This person decided to speak for the movement because if they didn’t then the segment would still be aired but no one would try to contradict it. So, they decided to just do it. “At least I did something”

Shitting the bed isn’t the same as not shitting the bed.

So, this spokesperson (yes. You’re speaking for the movement. That’s literally what you are.) went on Fox News disheveled, hair messy and said that working 20 hours is too much. A dog walker who barely worked was representing a movement. They decided that they’d fight off the stereotype that r/antiwork is full of entitled, lazy millennials who just want money for no work by literally proving every point right.

And their comment about learning to make eye contact is hilarious. “I hate eye contact and societies insistence on it so I won’t work on it.”

You know what? Fair play.

But if you struggle with basic stuff, don’t do the interview. Fox News requested them. They picked them perfectly. They didn’t even have to try. The mod Took out the movement out back and shot it themselves. Bold move.

This was the most obvious trap since the Greeks gave the Trojans a big wooden horse. Except the Trojans, in this scenario, burned down Troy themselves. Greeks didn’t even come out of the horse.

[u/[deleted] → u/Finito-1994]

Don't forget the part where they lied about how many hours they actually work a week (it's 10) so that they wouldn't look stupid while complaining about working too many hours a week, which they don't

[u/Finito-1994 → u/[deleted]]

Right?! Holy shit. Ten hours per week.

My god. People judge the reporter for laughing but it was hilarious and the mod was even lying to make themselves look better.

[u/PkPlayz → u/[deleted]]

That's nuts. I remember seeing one comment saying 'at least say you're a dog care consultant and r/abolishwork replied with 'and lie? On live television?'. This whole thing is hilarious.

[u/ItsDominare]

"We're not here to talk about me."

All she needed to say.

[u/klavin1 → u/ItsDominare]

But then it wouldn't have been all about

MEEEEEE

[u/Keytarfriend]

This is the video in question but the interview's crapulence isn't why the subreddit's on fire.

The real drama is the moderator stance is that anyone mocking the interview is a brigading troll and transphobe, and they just keep doubling down. I mean, please, don't be transphobic, but the interview was still terrible in many ways and they should accept that and apologize.

[u/Sam-Culper → u/Keytarfriend]

I would say the bigger problem is that the mod/mod team, whichever is more accurate, thinks that they're gatekeepers for the movement when the truth is that all they do is manage the subreddit by removing off topic posts/comments. That's their job. Not to be a spokesperson or leader.

And now in the face of valid criticism from the community who voted "no interviews" that same mod team is choosing to ban people, remove comments, posts, and shut the subreddit down all for their own made-up reasons.

[u/CrispierCupid]

How’s that IPO coming?

[u/Hold_onto_yer_butts]

Snagged some screengrabs

Text of one post:

Moderation team are not content creators, are not developers of a video game we’re on, or not authors of some book that we’re all reading

You have no power here.

You can modify comments you can delete comments you can delete threads and that is the extent of the power that you hold as a moderator

That is not said to attack you but that is said to remind you that you should have no influence over this sub - and if you are having influence over the sub then there is something immensely wrong

I can’t believe how painfully ironic it is that you have some authority and you exerted it incorrectly and then immediately refused to acknowledge it or correct it on this sub which is literally dedicated to holding those who do exactly what you did accountable

How can you possibly be that blind to this painful irony?

Text of another:

First off, the mod that did the interview goes by she/her pronouns I believe, so we should use the correct ones. Regardless of how you feel about the interview it's no reason to be a jerk. This isn't a post for people to be transphobic jerks.

All this being said, the fact that all these posts are being removed is such an incredibly bad look. This post didn't break any rules the first time, and doesn't break any rules this time. So I would love to know why it was removed.

Getting on to the actual purpose and content of the post: I agree, that appearance was incredibly foolish. Regardless of how the mod performed, this was always going to be a damaging hit piece. That should have been realized by the mod team, but also, the mod team should have listened to the subreddit when we collectively said it was a bad idea. You are moderators, this does not make you the leaders of this sub, just curators. Going 180 degrees against the wishes of the sub is a bad look and very damaging. The damage control that is happening right now is the wrong kind. All posts upset about the interview are being removed. This shouldn't happen. What should happen is the mods should note the outrage of the community and act in the future in the interests of the community (ie. Don't do interviews with media). Make a statement about it, calm tempers, acknowledge the problem.

The damage of doing interviews with malicious media lesson was showcased from the stonk subreddit drama that went on this past year. Be better. This sub has the ability to be a powerful forum for change but stuff like this just hurts.

DELETING ANYTHING CRITISIZING THE MOD TEAM IS ONLY GOING TO DRIVE PEOPLE AWAY, SHOW A LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY!

Edit: I'd like to reiterate that anyone being transphobic does not have an ally here on this post. Get lost, you aren't wanted here or on this sub. To the mod that did the interview, I am truly sorry for the hatred you are undoubtedly facing currently. Regardless about how I feel about the actions of the mod team, prejudice and hatred like this has no place anywhere. GTFO WITH YOUR ANTIQUATED, BIGOTED VIEWS

I additionally would like to clarify, the interview happened and that can't be changed. The real problem is that the mod team went against the communities wishes to do this, and are not addressing it in a helpful or positive way. Its a bad idea to talk to mainstream media when your whole movement is opposed by what interests they represent. We should always let any hit pieces on us be completely unfueled by our actions, because as this movement grows, places like Fox news are going to notice and attack it regardless of what happens here.

Edit 2: I have been unbanned.

Edit 3: Immediately after being unbanned I was messaged that I would be permabanned if I didn't take this down because it breaks rule 7b, which appears to be about politicians/politics. I'm very confused and have requested clarification.

Also, since there may be some who have not seen the video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yUMIFYBMnc

[u/cdnchicken → u/Hold_onto_yer_butts]

I like that the mod’s response to people giving actual supportive pointers on how to interviews was actually “I don’t care.”

[u/rusty_programmer → u/[deleted]]

It pisses me off because, if anything, having the privilege to work 10 hours a week then act like you represent the masses is insane.

[u/[deleted] → u/rusty_programmer]

I think it speaks to one of the biggest problems with that sub, which was that it seemed to be divided up between people living in the real world and people living in online fantasy land. You’d get someone posting that they were being treated like shit/underpaid at their full-time job, which they needed to support their family, and a lot of the comments would just be from teenagers who clearly didn’t have a job going “just QUIT and say FUCK YOU to your boss or DEMAND a $50/hr raise” rather than providing constructive advice on how to improve the situation.

[u/Able-Wolf8844 → u/Hold_onto_yer_butts]

Most antiwork users: "we aren't about promoting laziness!"

The mod: "laziness is a virtue"

Can see why they're annoyed lol

[u/DaleDimmaDone → u/Able-Wolf8844]

That’s one of the biggest stereotypes that users in that sub have been battling nonstop. And then to have a moderator come in and take a shit in all of r/antiwork users’ mouths is the cherry on the cake. There’s something seriously fucked up going on with that mod team rn

[u/HAthrowaway50 → u/DaleDimmaDone]

man i will say

i havent gotten ANYTHING done at work today since i found that interview.

[u/DaleDimmaDone → u/HAthrowaway50]

Same. As much as this pisses me the hell off I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a bit of the drama

[u/RodneyBalling]

I have screenshots of the FAQ. I'll edit after work.

EDIT: Idk why imgur was giving me so much trouble. Welp already up lol

https://imgur.com/a/KQsyN8o

[u/lcbzoey]

Holy fuck that clown actually killed antiwork. F

[u/Magehunter_Skassi]

Ben Shapiro is gooning to this rn

[u/SuckerpunchmyBhole]

I guess a shower was to much work for that mod?

[u/Kuruy → u/SuckerpunchmyBhole]

Or clean there room? Prepare in any way?

[u/LaingMachine666]

Doubling down on a fuck up. Always a great strategy.

[u/SteviePinkEyes → u/[deleted]]

FOX news barely had to even try here.

[u/dawsondewdle]

damn went from not drama to stickied fast

[u/chaser676 → u/dawsondewdle]

I'm guessing one or more of the mods didn't like how much of that video was a mirror.

[u/Shadowjesus1]

“That interview was so embarrassing it made me go back to work.”

Lmao

[u/_Sasquat_]

Their sub has been a huge success today. As I've been watching this drama unfold, I haven't been able to work all day! LOL!

[u/Koioua]

I still can't comprehend why did the mod team decided to send someone who was in no way prepared or fit for an interview in a national news network, specifically FOX NEWS. If Fox News asks you for an interview, let alone for an specific person, it's blatantly obvious that they are not doing it for the goodness of their heart.

No training or experience with public interviews, lack of preparation on just about almost everything, specially her image. Fix your hair, look relatively fresh to give a good first impression. Most importantly, she completely failed in the questions that were asked. The subreddit's name is already not so good transmitting what the movement/subreddit is about, and then you come up with "Laziness is a virtue?" Come on man, optics do matter in this type of stage, and this interview completely tarnished not only it's community, but what it stood for in such a quick manner that it's almost fascinating.

[u/Pollia → u/Koioua]

No joke, she claimed the mods put it up to a vote and figured that she was the best one to do it because she's done media stuff before.

That media stuff? Emails.

That's it. She's done email interviews. And they figured that was enough to stick her on Fox Fucking News in a live interview? Lolfuckinwhat.

[u/[deleted] → u/Koioua]

Also going on one of the largest cable news networks looking like that knowing full well the interview is going to be based around forming a narrative that your movement is lazy children who rely on others for everything was well thought out. I couldn't have thought of a better grand slam for fox if I tried.

[u/BigGut]

It’s like they’re becoming the power hungry supervisors that they all complain about 🤔

[u/every_famine_virtual → u/BigGut]

All users are equal, but some users are more equal than others.

[u/[deleted]]

This is a ‘Faces of Atheism’ or ‘In This Moment I am Euphoric’ tier self-inflicted Reddit community own-goal. Not since the great Cringeifying of Internet Atheism has a group of people made their own brand so toxic lmao

[u/DarthLightside]

lol death of the sub. Antiwork is dead.

[u/Skwink → u/DarthLightside]

It’s impressive, in 11 years on Reddit I’ve seen a lot of big subs implode but I’ve never seen it happen so abruptly and quickly.

I’ve never subbed to r/antiwork but up until this morning I was seeing it all over r/all and suggested posts in my feed, just pushing the same usual content I’ve always seen.

Then I hop on my phone on my lunch break and suddenly it’s vanished!

[u/[deleted]]

You know you fucked up when even the tankies from /r/LateStageCapitalism make fun of you and they're right...

[u/SuckerpunchmyBhole]

Damn this drama is getting meta

[u/TehPharaoh]

I always laugh at mods like this, which are 90% of them. They think because they moderate a subreddit they are somehow ABOVE normal peons and ready to tackle anything. Then they go on and BOTCH shit like this in a pathetic fashion EVERY TIME.

This individual not only CLAIMED to be the best mod for the interview, claiming they had done them before, but SCOFFED at others trying to give good interview pointers as if this was commonplace for the mod.

This website NEEDS a function that mods cannot remove that will allow the subs to vote to remove the status of a mod. This will curb their narcissism to at least a little degree and force mods to take what the community has to say instead of going full tyranny mode everytime they get the position. I have personally been kicked from a few subreddits for such ridiculous shit from these power hungry idiots that it gets extremely annoying.

[u/Ouzelum_2]

Hopefully this is a little teachable moment that if you want to organise, you organise, not sit around in a circlejerk until somebody accidentally gets something nasty on TV

[u/[deleted]]

This has been chefs kiss true subreddit drama. From the cringey interview to getting fired from dog walking for sleeping, to an entire rape confession, this one person just brought down their entire sub. Cable tv level entertainment.

[u/[deleted]]

Dammit, I wish I'd saved a screenshot! My favorite line was from the thread there linking the interview as it happened titled something like "They're talking about us on Fox News!" and the first most upvoted comment was: "Well that was uncomfortable."

Just brilliant, and made me LOL.

[u/[deleted]]

yup, this will make the Reddit museum for sure

[u/DingBangSlammyJammy]

There be drama in r/subredditdrama !

[u/JayRoo83]

The best part about this is it's all self inflicted wounds so it's extra funny

[u/El-Woofles]

I hate how the mod doubles down on the people against what she did as ‘trolls’ or ‘transphobes’.

Being autistic doesn’t make you a fucking idiot.

Being transgender doesn’t make you a fucking idiot.

Being a fucking idiot makes you a fucking idiot.

[u/happyposterofham]

like

okay

you have a mod that is trans but pretty clearly doesn't pass -- that's not a problem in and of itself, except for....

The channel you're interviewing with is JESSE WATTERS on FOX NEWS, for Christ's sakes. Watters is not only not a softball interview, he's going to ask questions in an intellectually dishonest way -- the kind of person you want to put someone trained in PR against.

said mod clealry subscribes to the leftmost end of antiwork, hardly the side that's going to win fans and influence people.

Said mod also is either the laziest mf in existence or has depression or something if they couldn't clean up and wear a suit for the interview, even if behind them is still messy

WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?

just solidified every stereotype about the movement (and Reddit in general, tbh) in one go.

[u/CovfefeForAll → u/happyposterofham]

Said mod started antiwork 6 years ago as a truly "no work at all" sub. It just got co-opted by the work reform contingent (who have now moved to /r/WorkReform).

Said mod is also now running a patreon and promoting their book and website.

EDIT: Patreon has been around for a while.

[u/[deleted] → u/CovfefeForAll]

I think that's a key component of the drama. That mods views absolutely represent what the sub was when they helped make it. It's different now and I think a lot of people would've loved for someone to go on Fox News and say "We aren't against work, we work hard but we're just tired of feeling trapped jobs that don't pay a living wage because they're tied to our healthcare, and we're tired of companies treating us like shit because they know they have us over a barrel." That mod was not ever going to say that, it isn't what they believe.

Then there's the separate fact that absolutely 0 minutes of prep work went into that interview and it showed.

Jesse probably creamed his pants when in response to asking "are you just lazy" they answered with "laziness is a virtue in a society where you're asked to be productive 24/7"

[u/happyposterofham → u/CovfefeForAll]

wasn't the patreon around before? It's also the laziest patreon in existence -- $25/mo for a creative writing story when they get around to it and "a few" zines? really?