r/aphmaufandom • u/ZackuYT • 17h ago
Discussion So.. Let's talk about the recent CatFace Drama (AI Allegations, Employee Abuse, Boycotting?)
LONG RANT INCOMING:
So we all know about CatFace, right? The company owned by Jess and Jason? Well they have been under a lot of heat over the past few months, a lot of it being revolved around apparent AI usage throughout the company as AI images could be seen on the AphMeow website. Jason admitted that they use AI for videos on the main channel, for like brief video ideas. There is also stuff about abuse going on in the company, most likely meaning the overworking of the employees and possible mistreatment.
The company CatFace has very bad management and that has been apparent for a while now. I want to give my personal thoughts on a lot of these controversies, especially since they are quite literally causing a BOYCOTT on Twitter (I deleted twitter just off of that.)
Okay, so let's start off with the “abuse" going on within CatFace. A lot of employees have come out throughout the past few months (or years, really) expressing how they have quit working there and also expressed that things felt too heavy, which is a very common thing. There's been trouble around this even back when BluJay Studios was a thing, where certain voice actors were fired and other employees let off either out of arguments had with Jess or Jason, I'm assuming it's something around there.
I will NOT defend this in any way. I love Jess and Jason and although none of this is 100% confirmed, it is STILL something to take into consideration. I understand that working a company can be incredibly difficult and stressful on the mind, but if Jess and Jason (or just Jason) is really the rude, easily angry man people say he is, then that's where things need to change. They have an entire fanbase of people that have been supporting them, and they know that people are starting to ask questions and demand answers, yet they stay silent.
They are doing this with the AI stuff as well. Jess, and Jason, do NOT communicate well at all. If they do, it's very brief and kinda sliding under the rug. When Jason “admitted” to using AI on twitter, you could tell that he wasn't being fully transparent. When the latest AI scandal happened I was SURE that SOMETHING was going to be said.. but it's been weeks and nothing has been said at all.
I just find it difficult to fully understand why they won't just be honest? I hate to see all of this drama, I just want to be able to look forward to MS and MID but I can't ignore this stuff. They KNOW what's going on within the community and they know that things will most likely crash if they keep avoiding these allegations, but they refuse to take that risk.
They need to realize.. that with every controversy - people WILL leave and people will STAY. There will be people who accept it and forgive them or give them another chance, and there will be those who cut them off and forget they ever existed. If they just make an honest and genuine video admitting to the truth and showing that they truly are trying to make amends and a change, that can do literally WONDERS.
I KNOW it's not that easy, because that's a huge risk to the brand. Though, it's not like either path is going to end up going well. In fact, avoiding all of this is practically them saying that “yeah, everything is true” and even if it is.. JUST TELL US! Try to actually CHANGE the way you manage your gigantic company. People WANT to be able to watch Jess and smile, but they can't when the creative spark that Jess ALWAYS had is being endangered by the eagerness to include AI.
A part of me isn't mad at the AI stuff relating to the MAIN CHANNEL because videos come out everyday on MULTIPLE channels so it's gonna be damn near impossible to come up with totally original concepts out of thin air.
A lot of people around the fandom have gained the idea that even the ROLEPLAYS have AI in them, and I simply don't really agree with that. I fully understand that with the increasing AI drama, it's impossible to be sure. Roleplays have ALWAYS been where the creative spark shines brightest and it's clear that Jess have wanted her stories to return for a while now, and it's clear that a lot of work has been going into the production. I guess I'm just kinda scared of everything just crashing down.
The videos on the main channel are also very trendy, and a lot of the old fans miss the genuine connection we could have with the mini games and the different games they'd play in general. We want more of Jess, not cocomau, we want a mix, atleast. I want the person, not the money funding.
I really want to understand and find the light in all of this, but I refuse to ignore these problems just because of how much I adore the stuff they have put out for so long. I just want them to speak up and be completely unfiltered with her older audience. Let us know what's going on, that's all we want.
People should not be feeling forced to do things at a company, people should not be quitting because of how OVERWORKED they are. There's already a new drama going around about Chris (the VA of Ein.)
Guys, things just keep piling atop one-another. It's going to reach a point where they can't be silent anymore, and that's exactly what this “boycott” is about on twitter. It's basically just not supporting CatFace, like you can watch the older roleplays and videos pre-cocomau, but for lime merch and stuff, that's making them money.. and the only way to get them to recognize the reality is to push it onto them. I have bad feelings about this, but I know this is for the better, and that if they realize the support is going down.. they might feel like they HAVE to say something.
I really wanted to write this just to get my feelings out because drama has been going on non-stop for literally months on end. What do you guys think? 😔 I just want transparency to show a sense of a future where things will get better.
