Popular YouTubers The Fine Bros. are currently the subjects of a major controversy on the video-sharing site, after it was revealed that they were looking to license their React format, a move which started to have negative implications on other channels housing reaction videos. Hundreds of thousands of their subscribers are now abandoning the channel, with their subscriber counts on their respective channels rapidly decreasing.
The announcement was made on the video makers’ YouTube channel, in which they revealed that they were starting up a brand new venture titled React World, in which creators using their React format (it still remains to be seen exactly what they believe their React format is) would share ad revenue with The Fine Bros. The duo compared the new program as the America’s Got Talent to their Britain’s Got Talent, in which other YouTubers from across the world would be able to use their format on their own channels legally. Of course, channels posting reaction videos prior to this announcement weren’t doing so illegally until The Fine Bros. stepped in and acquired the React licensing.
The video, which you can watch below, was met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction (pun obviously intended).
Addressing the backlash, The Fine Bros. posted another video simply titled ‘Update,’ in which they claimed that they wouldn’t be handing out takedown notices to channels (despite this having already happened to a few channels in the wake of their initial announcement), and that they would let YouTubers keeps posting their reaction videos outside of the React World license.
However, many have pointed out how at this point YouTube content creators can only take The Fine Bros. on their word, and with the pair still skirting around the legalities of what they’re attempting to achieve with React World, many are dubious that they aren’t simply trying to prevent other channels from muscling in on what they deem to be their turf. A since-deleted Facebook update posted to their official page certainly suggests that this is the case, with them calling upon their fans to bombard a video posted by The Ellen Show, which featured Ellen DeGeneres introducing kids to old technology, with negative comments.
The post on The Fine Bros’ page read: “Wow. The Ellen Show just did a kids reacting to old technology, didn’t mention us, didn’t do it with us. Not cool. Need you to go to their Facebook and blast the Kids React link. Even if they didn’t realize, even more important to tell them.” This certainly doesn’t read like two people who are comfortable with other people posting reaction videos.
The negative backlash against The Fine Bros. has led to a live stream being set up of the channel’s subscriber count, which is steadily declining in numbers. Prior to this controversy, The Fine Bros. had around 14.1 million subscribers, but that number has since dropped to around 13.9 million within the space of a few days. The number of subscribers on their separate React channel has also dropped.
Check out the live stream below:
It remains to be seen whether The Fine Bros. will manage to bounce back after this, with their name having now been dragged through the mud across the Internet. It’s also questionable whether other YouTubers will want to have their names linked to the duo as part of their YouTubers React video series, which has seen the likes of PewDiePie, Jenna Marbles and Rhett & Link take part in the past.
