Smosh
Smosh is an American YouTube sketch comedy-improv collective, independent production company, and former social networking site founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flash animations, and he was later joined by Hecox. They began posting videos on Smosh's YouTube channel in 2005 and quickly became one of the most popular channels on the site., the main Smosh channel has over 11 billion views and over 26 million subscribers.
Initially making lip-sync videos to cartoon and video game-based songs, Smosh garnered virality for their "Pokémon Theme Music Video"; reaching 24 million views, it became the most-viewed video on YouTube until it was removed from the site due to copyright infringement. Smosh pivoted towards comedic sketches geared towards pop culture media, with Hecox and Padilla portraying various characters. Making series such as Food Battle, If X Were Real and Every Ever, Smosh continued to garner online popularity throughout the 2010s. Their sketches progressed in production quality as they included more cast and crew members.
Owned by media company Defy Media starting from 2011, the brand expanded to consist of multiple channels, including a variety channel, animation, and gaming content. In 2017, Padilla left the channel to pursue independent ventures and focus on creating solo content. One year later, Defy Media abruptly closed without warning, leading the Smosh cast to become temporarily independent. They subsequently joined Mythical Entertainment after their company was purchased by Rhett & Link in 2019. After four years of ownership under Mythical, Padilla returned to the channel in 2023, and alongside Hecox had bought the company back from Mythical, re-establishing Smosh as an independent entity.
Considered one of the earliest YouTube personalities and content creators, Smosh has achieved various records and accolades. The Smosh channel has experienced three different spans as the most subscribed YouTube channel. Hecox and Padilla were included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and were often included in lists of the highest-paid YouTubers. The Smosh brand has won Webby Awards, Shorty and Streamy Awards.
History
Formation and lip sync videos (2002–2006)
The franchise began when Anthony Padilla built a website in 2002, smosh.com, and made several different Flash animations, with the name "Smosh" coming from an incident where he mistook a friend explaining a mosh pit as a "smosh pit". Padilla created the website's logo through juxtaposing a fast-forward sign and the letter "S" from a Linkin Park-based text font.Later, his friend, Ian Hecox, joined the venture; Padilla and Hecox first met in the sixth grade. They became friends, and quickly discovered their knack for comedy. In 2005, the duo created lip sync videos of the theme songs to Mortal Kombat and Power Rangers, which were created in Padilla's bedroom at his family's home in Carmichael, California. They initially hosted the videos on smosh.com and their MySpace page, but discovered YouTube after finding their Mortal Kombat video uploaded on the website, where it garnered several thousand views. They officially joined YouTube on November 19, 2005, uploading three videos on the same day: the Power Rangers and Mortal Kombat videos with The Epic Battle: Jesus vs Cyborg Satan sketch, with the former being their first video uploaded.
One of Smosh's earliest videos, "Pokemon Theme Music Video", was released on November 28, 2005, and followed the same style as their other earlier videos, featuring the duo lip-syncing the original English theme song for the Pokémon anime. The video's creation followed an audience poll the duo posted on MySpace for their next video, where Pokémon won. However, the video instantly became much more popular than any of their other videos. Over the course of its lifetime, it gained over 24 million views, and briefly became the most-viewed video on all of YouTube. This held that title until being dethroned by Judson Laipply's "Evolution of Dance". The success of their Pokémon video and other videos led Smosh to be featured in the "Person of the Year: You" issue of Time, published on December 16, 2006. The video was later removed from the site in 2007 due to a copyright infringement claim. Due to the channel's continued success, and Smosh's partnership with YouTube, the two recreated the video in November 2010, this time changing the words to be critical of The Pokémon Company taking down the Pokémon theme video.
Initial YouTube success and early expansion (2006–2011)
Over the course of the next few years, Smosh began to diversify. Barry Blumberg, former president of Walt Disney Television Animation, discovered Hecox and Padilla's videos in 2006, and came in contact with them to become their manager. Blumberg helped the duo obtain a spot among YouTube's Partner program in 2007, allowing Smosh to monetize their content. He also persuaded the duo to develop a schedule for video creation. Blumberg's involvement in Smosh was credited by several outlets as pivotal for the brand's diversification.By 2006, they transitioned to making original comedy skits, which were primarily filmed in and around a house in Rosemont, California. During this time, they created various series such as Food Battle, That Damn Neighbor, and If X Were Real. Smosh also launched a second channel based on Hecox's individual "IanH" account that he created in 2006, which contained behind-the-scenes footage and extras. Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel from May to June 2006, and from April 2007 to September 2008. The Smosh website would also see expansion as well. It hosted their videography alongside bloopers and exclusive footage from their sketch videos. The website also provided additional revenue for Smosh via advertising and merchandise. In January 2010, Smosh launched the "Smosh Pit" feature, a blog that consists of various pieces of pop-culture trivia, and written comedy. They hired Mariko "Mari" Takahashi in 2011 to host the Smosh Pit Weekly series on their second channel, which summarized content from Smosh Pit.
Defy Media, further expansion and Padilla's departure (2011–2018)
In 2011, Smosh was acquired by Alloy Digital, while also enjoying a 40% boost in viewership. Blumberg would also become the chief content officer of Defy Media. The duo created three new YouTube channels throughout 2012: ElSmosh, with Smosh videos dubbed in Spanish, Shut Up! Cartoons, their animation channel, and Smosh Games, with gaming-related content. In January 2013, the Smosh channel surpassed Ray William Johnson in subscribers to become the most-subscribed YouTube channel for the third time. They held this position until August 2013 when they were surpassed by Swedish Let's Player PewDiePie, who also collaborated with the duo shortly after reaching the position. By December 2014, the Smosh website had accumulated over 60 million page views, and according to Alexa Internet was ranked among the top websites in the world.In 2015, Smosh began hiring cast members for their videos, including Noah Grossman, Keith Leak Jr., Olivia Sui, Courtney Miller and Shayne Topp. They began appearing in sketches such as the Every Ever series, which started in May 2015. In January 2016, a web sitcom was launched on the main Smosh channel. Part Timers is a comedy-drama which takes place at a fictional children's arcade and pizza place called Pork E. Pine's, which takes inspiration from Hecox's first job at Chuck E. Cheese's. Also that year, the Smosh cast streamed a live sketch show on YouTube on August 26. Compared to Saturday Night Live, the 90 minute show featured improvisational sketches and fake TV commercials, which Hecox and Padilla stated was an adjustment from their typical scripted comedy. Regarded as the first live sketch show on YouTube, the stream reached around 58,000 concurrent viewers and over 1.3 million views within several days. Smosh also launched several short-lived web series in the fall of 2016, which was dubbed "Smoshtober"; the programming block succeeded Defy's raising of $70 million during the summer.
On June 14, 2017, Padilla announced he would be leaving Smosh to pursue independent video ventures due to a "lack in creative freedom". Hecox stated he would remain with Smosh, adding "I'm really looking forward to taking Smosh to the next phase, and we can't wait for people to see what we have coming up". Blumberg also resigned from his position at Defy earlier that year in March. Following Padilla's departure, Smosh expanded their second channel into Smosh Pit while adding multiple series. The Smosh Pit Weekly series, which had ended in 2015, was revived with Takahashi hosting once more.
Under Mythical Entertainment's ownership (2018–2023)
On November 6, 2018, Defy Media abruptly announced they were shutting down and laying off all its employees. On November 12, Smosh released an update video reaffirming that Smosh was searching for a new owner, and that in the meanwhile, content would continue to be released independently by the Smosh team. The cast clarified that they still had a significant amount of content from before Defy Media's shutdown in post-production. They also did not rule out the possibility of filming new content and releasing it independently, calling such an idea "old school", alluding to YouTube's early days when content was less commercialized.Padilla released a video the following day explaining in further detail his departure from Smosh, alongside his issues regarding Defy's ownership of the brand. Declaring Defy as "evil and shady", he revealed that he and Hecox sold Smosh to Defy for stock, which had no monetary value because the company never went public. Padilla also expressed dissatisfaction with Defy's treatment of its employees and stated the company exploited them financially, took over his Facebook page, tried to take over his Twitter account, and prevented him from joining the Screen Actors Guild. He also revealed that Defy had pressured them into starting a fundraiser for Food Battle: The Game before it had even been conceived, something that had at the time led to accusations of exploitation being levied against himself and Hecox. He also explained that he had not previously shared this information because of worries that it would threaten the job security of his friends. Hecox later revealed in a March 2019 interview with TheWrap that throughout the brand's ownership under Defy, they suffered through "aimless and poor leadership", and that had they not found a suitable company to buy the brand that he "would not continue with the brand."
On February 22, 2019, Smosh was acquired by Mythical Entertainment, a production company founded by fellow YouTube comedians Rhett & Link. A majority of the Smosh cast and crew returned to the company following the acquisition. Smosh also created a new weekly podcast, "SmoshCast", following the announcement. During this time, Smosh operated out of Mythical Entertainment's Los Angeles office, though later moved into a specially built studio space in Burbank. Smosh subsequently joined the Studio71 network in April. They later hired several new staff following the acquisition: Daniel Tibbets as their first CEO in October 2021; Lesley Wolff as their director of on-air talent in April 2022; and Joel Rubin as their Executive Vice President of Programming and Content in July 2022.
In October 2019, Smosh announced they would go on their first live tour in February 2020 across five cities: Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego and Phoenix. The tour is based on their "Try Not To Laugh" web series, which involves the cast members performing improvisational skits towards an individual member in an attempt to make them laugh. Smosh created another live show in a similar manner as their 2016 stream, named "Under the Influence". The stream featured the cast performing sketches alongside reenacting several of their segments, including "Try Not To Laugh" and "Eat It or Yeet It", while under the influence. The stream aired on June 30, 2022. They hosted a similar event on December 15, 2022 called "Under the Mistletoe."