Why did Anthony leave Smosh? The independent comedy sketch improv production company gained a considerable fan following under the leadership of Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. As the channel soon became one of the most popular channels on the site, Smosh boasted a whopping 10 billion views and over 25 million subscribers in 2022.
The regular cast also included Courtney Miller, Shayne Topp, and Damien Haas. Ian Hecox explained that they created Smosh as just a way to make each other laugh and how it eventually turned into a business, which they never planned to have happen in the first place.
Despite the popularity of the independent production company, people were taken aback when one of the CO-founders, Anthony Padilla, made a decision to leave the company behind. Ian Hecox admitted that by the time Anthony left Smosh, their friendship was not really that good. Let us find out why did Anthony leave Smosh?
Why Did Anthony Leave Smosh?
While Anthony Padilla took everyone by surprise as he left Smosh that he started with his best friend, Ian Hecox, Anthony has addressed his departure in an early interview, saying that he left because he was looking forward to a fresh start after working on Smosh for almost more than a decade and was contemplating some change.
When Anthony left the company back in 2017, he assured fans that the content on Padilla’s channel was going to be different from Smosh. He further added that People maybe know him for comedy, and that will be there, but he is going to do a lot of different things.
Also read: Why Did Jake T. Austin Leave Fosters? Explained
Anthony Padilla Talks About His Exit From Smosh
Anthony Padilla admitted that he soon realized that he hadn’t been as creatively excited about things recently and pointed out that when he first started, it was just him being excited about creating things, and it was not specifically about numbers. Padilla also revealed how when he broke the news to Hecox, it was surely a tough conversation to have. The two have been friends since they were in grade school.
Padilla also revealed that he thinks Ian kind of understood about him leaving, based on his intuition. Padilla admitted that it was so tough to tell his friends this thing that they made together was going to change now but also credited Ian for being extremely supportive as he understood where he was coming from.
We sold Smosh.
Ian & Anthony, the original founders of Smosh, have reunited and bought back the wildly popular brand they founded 18 years ago! We are extremely proud of everything we and Ian accomplished during our time working together, and will continue to be fans and… pic.twitter.com/TbAnEsVA2X
— Rhett & Link (@Mythical) June 20, 2023
Padilla also addressed the rift in his and Ian’s friendship, saying how their communication style was kind of stuck at the age of 17, and when they reconnected, they both had done a lot of growing, which improved their friendship.
Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox Make Shocking Announcement!
Fans are in for big news as Anthony Padilla and co-founder Ian Hecox have recently announced that they have purchased the ownership of their original channel Smosh from Mythical Entertainment!
In the much-awaited announcement video, Padilla and Hecox revealed how the two friends have reconnected and admittedly were missing their sketch comedy roots, so they came up with the totally random idea of what if they bought Smosh!
The duo admitted that they didn’t even know if this was even possible! Hecox also admitted that he felt that it was kind of freaky how well the reunion had all fallen into place as their friendship had to end to be able to come back together.
All this happened after the parent company eventually filed for bankruptcy and, to cover the financial crisis, laid off all of their employees, which left Smosh with very limited options, and they were searching for a new owner.
Later, Rhett and Link eventually purchased the company back in 2019. It is now, four years later, Padilla and Hecox have returned as the official majority shareholders in Smosh. Not only that, but the duo’s first sketch video is coming soon as it is set to debut on June 30 on their YouTube channel.
Also read: Why Did Mclean Stevenson Leave M*A*S*H? The Actor’s Tragic End On The Show
