When did Anthony Padilla leave Smosh?
YOUTUBER Anthony Padilla has devastated fans with his decision to leave Smosh and end his friendship with fellow streamer Ian Hecox.
However, on June 20, 2023, Padilla announced on social media that Smosh is officially back and better than ever.
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Who is Anthony Padilla?
Daniel Anthony Padilla was born on September 16, 1987 in Sacramento, California.
The 35-year-old is known for co-founding the YouTube channel Smosh with Ian Hecox in 2005.
For over 10 years, he co-produced and starred with Hecox on the network’s sketch comedy videos.
Padilla made his film debut in 2014’s Smosh: The Movie and had a voice acting role in 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie.
What is smosh?
Smosh is a YouTube comedy brand started 18 years ago by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox – who first met in sixth grade.
The idea originated in 2002 as Padilla’s website called smosh.com, but was transformed into a popular YouTube channel three years later.
“We created Smosh to make each other laugh,” Hecox told Variety. “It turned into a deal we never planned.”
As of June 2023, Smosh has over 25 million subscribers.
When did Anthony Padilla leave Smosh?
Padilla decided to start his own business and parted ways with Smosh back in 2017 after citing a loss of creative inspiration as the reason for his departure from the YouTube channel.
He told Variety at the time, “I realized I wasn’t that creatively excited about things lately. When I started, I was just excited about creating things. It wasn’t about numbers.”
Of her retroactive split from Variety in 2023, Hecox said, “When Anthony left Smosh, our friendship wasn’t really good,” Hecox said.
But a year ago, the two got back together, “and we hit it off really well.”
Hecox added, “It’s kind of spooky how well it all worked out. Our friendship had to end in order to get back together.”
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Is Smosh coming back?
Padilla took to Instagram on Tuesday, June 20th, 2023 to announce some big news, writing: “IAN AND I BUYED SMOSH! CLASSIC SMOSH IS BACK!”
The pair have reportedly resumed writing, directing, and starring in comedy skits together.
According to Variety, “Their first collaboration in more than six years will debut on Smosh’s main channel on June 30, and they plan to release a new comedy video every two weeks.”
Padilla told the outlet, “I really want to go back to our roots, and that includes owning the company so we can really take Smosh in any creative direction.”