AxaMonitor

Deleted YouTube video: You may never see episode 8 of Alec Peters’ YouTube show, Reel Trek. That’s because Peters tried to use his 76,000-subscriber platform to further his vitriolic crusade against his rival, scandal-plagued Star Trek Continues star Vic Mignogna.

And it didn’t go so well. Peters and his girlfriend, Crysstal Hubbard, wanted to counter the narrative pushed by influential YouTuber MechaRandom42 that Mignogna, a noted anime voice actor, is the victim of a witch hunt surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct. In a 30-minute rant rebutting MechaRandom’s video, Peters said:

“Today, this whole thing with MechaRandom blew up, and I had people coming at me left and right on Twitter, and it’s the same old crap. And you know what? It’s not about me. All right? I don’t want to make it about me.”

• Peters tried to recruit for his crusade: MechaRandom42 was one of several people AxaMonitor found who Peters tried to enlist in publicly condemning Mignogna.
• Pushback: The iconoclastic YouTuber wasn’t buying what Peters was selling. And she made sure her viewers knew it. Her video has tallied nearly 35,000 views.
• Video rant: MechaRandom posted direct messages she received from Peters in which he aggressively chided her for not taking his side (“YouTuber Goes to War Against Peters and Axanar”).

Reel Trek episode 8: Peters and Hubbard recorded this episode to counter MechaRandom’s defense of Mignogna and respond to her charges against them after they confronted her on her YouTube live chat Sunday night; they were banned.

• Unlisted and unliked: Peters posted a link to the Reel Trek episode on Twitter. It instantly came under fire from fans of MechaRandom and Mignogna. An hour later it was gone. Here are some clips:

Why it matters: Peters appears to have stirred a hornet’s nest of angry YouTubers he had bee courting; MechaRandom is one who hates Star Trek: Discovery and CBS, especially for the studio’s 2015 copyright lawsuit against Axanar.

• Turning on Peters: Some of these YouTubers were surprised by Peters’ aggressive treatment of MechaRandom and declared they were no longer inclined to support him.
• Flatlined Patreon: After MechaRandom’s criticism, Peters’ effort on Patreon to get fans to pay the rent and expenses for his suburban Atlanta warehouse went into negative territory.