NEWS
Anthony Fantano the music critic behind the YouTube channel, The Needle Drop. The channel has amassed over 3 million subscribers and each review of a popular artist sparks plenty of online discourse.
In the mid-2010s, Fantano ran a side channel called thatistheplan. There, he made surrealist, meme humor videos in a similar vein to other popular creators of the time. Those videos became the subject of an article by The Fader. In 2018, they published an article attempting to paint Fantano as a member of the alt-right in a defamatory manner, leading to Fantano pursuing legal action against the publication.
After, the two parties reached a settlement, and The Fader deleted the article. Now, clips from that era of Anthony Fantano's career are once again resurfacing. He addressed them in a new video uploaded to his self-titled second channel and X.
In the new video, Anthony Fantano mainly addresses two clips. The first is of him using the N-word and the F-slur. Fantano stated that he did not use the phrase to be offensive, and that he was quoting a different creator.
"Early on in my YouTube career, I had some pretty lax views when it came to quoting the language of others," he said in the video. "My point of view was 'what does it matter? It's not me saying it. I'm relaying a lyric or sentiment or point of view expressed by someone else.'" He admitted that quoting the other creator was "in bad form and unnecessary."
"All I can do is take ownership of having quoted these words in this way. And obviously say that I'm sorry. Which, I am, in fact, sorry about this," he said
The second clip circulating was one that caused people to suggest that he was laughing at the death of Trayvon Martin, the Black teenager who George Zimmerman fatally in 2012.
"The way this clip has been presented is a lie," he said. He also conceded that the clip did look bad. "It's been heavily edited, too. In this clip that you saw, I am reading a super chat that was sent by a viewer, and the reason I'm jumping into reading it, is partially it is a dig at me. It's not exactly a secret that I'm an openly liberal vegan." He then presented the clip without alterations, where Fantano calls one of the hosts a moron for mixing up Trayvon Martin with YouTuber Tre Melvin.
To conclude the video, he took a shot at DJ Akademiks. His AkademiksTV page (which fans operate but still falls under his umbrella) helped spread the clips. He said that he would not appear on platforms that present ideas he does not agree with.
"People might understandably think I endorse the idea of sexual conversations with underage boys, and I don't," he said, presenting a clip of the controversial personality verbally sexually harassing a young boy. "I'm gonna continue to do my best to make sure that I'm not sending across the wrong idea. Especially considering a lot of the music I review and endorse on a regular basis deals in some heavy and serious topics. Topics I would be completely in opposition to were I a bigoted weirdo."
NEWS
Oliver Tree’s team has provided a new update following the singer’s death in a helicopter crash on June 14, confirming that a new artist grant will soon be established in his memory to help creatives secure funding, a plan he had detailed in his will before his passing.
Accompanying a collection of photos highlighting Tree’s performances, travels and creative work through the years, a post shared Sunday (June 21) on his Instagram account revealed that the musician’s remains have been brought back to California, the state he called home and where he will be laid to rest. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the caption reads. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing.”
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the statement continued, adding that “the constant love, support and positivity” shown by fans throughout the past week has helped his “family, friends and collaborators make it through these extremely difficult times.”
Tree was among six people who lost their lives in a helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro. The musician was in Brazil for his The World’s First Tour run and had performed what would ultimately be his final concert on June 6 in São Paulo. The other victims of the crash were identified as passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim and Lucas Brito Chaves, along with pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.
Just months before his death, Tree discussed his plans to direct his fortune and future earnings from his music toward a grant program for artists during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I take no credit for anything I’ve ever done,” he said during the April interview. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that any of the wealth or things that get made from it is mine. So when I die … my will is set up so that when I pass, my family, nobody is going to get a penny.”
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a penny,” he added at the time, explaining that the initiative would focus on helping artists create work rather than funding education. “I’ll get my kids through college, that’s the agreement, but there’s not gonna be a silver spoon. All the money is going to go back to artists.”
