Misc

In Memoriam 2: Remembering Those We’ve Lost at TWiT

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For better quality watch the video fullscreen.

This is a follow up to HelloWorld’s inspirational video about the great men and women who worked hard and gave their best every day but were still fired in the end.

“Who da’ f*ck is Johnny Jet?”

The latest firings came only days before Leo Laporte and Lisa Laporte ditched TWiT to go on yet another luxurious vacation.

I’m not saying the timing is suspicious but three employees are fired and a week later they are jet-setting to somewhere new. TotalDrama reached out to Robin Leach for comment and his only words were “Shieeeeet these gangstas are legeeiittttt”.

But even though countless employees are now wondering how they are going to make rent this month, every cloud does have a silver lining. For Leo and Lisa, this is that the vacation fund is safe once again. Our sympathies go out to Tony, Kara, Frédérique and the countless other employees who have lost their jobs because of this financially careless waste of money.

Dearly departed Curtis Franklin, who didn’t even make it into the video

Late Update: After the video’s creation, we became aware that Curtis Franklin aka “the swamp monster” has recently gone missing from twit.tv/people.

We aren’t sure if he’s been fired or has simply returned to the Florida swampland to reunite with his own.

Full list of those fired (including the first In Memoriam) and escapees:

Justin Robert Young Iyaz Akhtar
Lamarr Wilson Amber MacArthur
Shannon Morse (Snubs) Gina Trapani
Chad Johnson (OMGChad) Brian Brushwood
Tom Merritt Dane Golden
Evan Brown Sarah Lane
Joe Panettieri Jason C. Cleanthes (EffenDunn)
Myriam Joire Tonya Hall
Frédérique Louis Tony Wang
Kara Kohl Mike Elgan
Jeff Stewart Curtis Franklin(?)

77 thoughts on “In Memoriam 2: Remembering Those We’ve Lost at TWiT”

    1. I wonder if this trip is a scam like his trip to Anarctica where is was just ripped off big time. I hear a lot of trips the Galapagos are scams too, targeting dummies. To really get on the island you need to be a researcher.

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  10. Hah. Weren’t Tony and that French chick one of his oldest employees?

    I think they are winding down this steaming pile of turtle shit Leo calls a netcast network.

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  12. This site is probably the best thing about TWIT now. Thanks for the laughs.

    Great montage production value was more than anything I’d seen from TWIT back when I stopped watching it.

    TYFYC

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  15. And again, good information ruined by a terrible video, stupid images that are the product of a simple brain and an unreadable article. You can bet Lecia spent a lot of time on this one, he used what I think is a new fake name and he did a quite a few fake comments. DUMMY: Fake commentators need to say “priceless” less and stop talking about the parts you like, you do that crap all the time. No one watching the video will do that. The video could have worked if you didn’t cram your shit jokes in there, the unfunny ones. Random thoughts of your scatter brain.

    Leo is firing all the people making over 60,000. It looks like Alex will run interns now. This is sad, I shed a tear. Truly the end. He is keeping Kirsten and the bald guy? Seems superfluous. One of them is done soon.

    Is this verified? The people page is always wrong!

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  16. I’m still waiting for Ray Maxwell (a pre-2014 firing) to return, as Leo promised. Of course, it was unlikely he’d ever be back – an early sign back then that Leo was full of crap.

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  17. The morph of Tonya is fucking shameful. From an attractive young women to a morbidly obese fat ass is sickening. Obesity is a national health epidemic. It is causing illnesses, disease, and death, and costs the taxpayers plenty. There is NO excuse for being overweight. None. Tonya the PIG.

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    3. Kidrick:
      The morph of Tonya is fucking shameful. From an attractive young women to a morbidly obese fat ass is sickening.Obesity is a national health epidemic.It is causing illnesses, disease, and death, and costs the taxpayers plenty.There is NO excuse for being overweight. None. Tonya the PIG.

      #NotFatJustScarves

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    1. I agree. But the real slide began when Leo re-introduced the Screen Savers thinking that he could do TV with no talent to help, figuring doing it on the cheap would not be noticed.

      JCD was kicked out after the Screen Saver was underway.

      Once Screen Saver began, Leo let his cash cow, Twit, slide into mediocrity preferring to put his eggs into the Screen Saver basket. No effort was put into Twit which is now just garbage.

      This is almost textbook mismanagement. Hello Lisa.

      When Leo looks back on the missteps it will be interesting if he figures it out.

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    2. It was already speeding downhill. Banning JCD simply added grease to the skids so now its careening faster and with less control.

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  20. I’m sorry me and Tony wAng broke your sex swing while he was house sitting for you. But you didn’t need to fire him over it. We offered to fix it for you.

    That was just plain low to fire him after he covfefed the hot tub for you.

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  21. Veronica Belmont. JCD? Are we also talking about contributors?
    Just how far down the rabbit hole are we willing to go here? One could theoretically build a (brick) wall of names…

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    1. Didn’t that drunken debauchery night help kill that… and Justin Jackson sitting in king shit’s mini-me chair didn’t help. Twit was half-way fun then! Haaaaa!

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  25. The memoriam list is missing Dr Kiki Sanford (two shows).

    Damn! That Northside Studios tribute was funny.

    Condolences for Tony Wang. I’m really shocked people aren’t complaining about video screwups left and right. I guess he was more expendable than I thought.

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    1. The production values are just going to get worse. I’m thinking Leo is going to phase out video and perhaps drop the New Screen Savers, which is a turd floating in the bowl. Why get rid of Tony anyway? Getting rid of old-timers tells me that they have budget problems and have to hire on the cheap.

      The end is near suckers.

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    2. Once Leo’s affair with Dr. Kiki was over, she had to go. If you can find their SXSW videos, especially with Leo obviously wasted on E, you knew something was up with those two. It did not last and she was off the network for good. I’m guessing she got demanding and wasn’t giving Leo the oral attention he needed.

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  27. I was stunned to see Steve Gibson on DTNS with Tom. Will his head roll for that perceived disloyalty?

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    1. Black Knight Sir Lineman of the Net:
      I was stunned to see Steve Gibson on DTNS with Tom. Will his head roll for that perceived disloyalty?

      SN is TWiT’s top show these days as the other shows have faded in recent years (actual Steve Gibson quote!). Could Steve be keeping options open in the event of a TWiT implosion? Could Steve and Tom be reunited at last? Has Hilton A. Goring been reached for comment? I’m giddy with the possibilities!

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  28. Leica is not the only one here. Granted he keeps the site alive. If a person can not see the downfall of TWIT and the loss of staff and talent what else do you miss?
    If you like TWIT as well as Leo good for you enjoy. Do people go too far with their comments? Sure, but I will always defend their right to do so.
    I see changes to a company that produced some of the most informative podcasts out there. That’s changed.
    But why? Leo had the tech show business by the ass and let it slip through his fingers.

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    1. Milton Bradley:
      Leica is not the only one here. Granted he keeps the site alive. If a person can not see the downfall of TWIT and the loss of staff and talent what else do you miss?
      If you like TWIT as well as Leo good for you enjoy.Do people go too far with their comments?Sure, but I will always defend their right to do so.
      I see changes to a company that produced some of the most informative podcasts out there. That’s changed.
      But why?Leo had the tech show business by the ass and let it slip through his fingers.

      #NailedIt

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    2. Milton Bradley: I see changes to a company that produced some of the most informative podcasts out there. That’s changed.
      But why? Leo had the tech show business by the ass and let it slip through his fingers.

      I think it’s obvious what happened. The web exploded with content and Google became the easiest way to find that tech answer/story in 5 minutes instead of having to listen to a two hour-long show from a panel of egotistical windbags.

      And it’s a great fallacy to think Leo actually cared about educating people about tech. After ZDTV and TechTV failed he didn’t try to launch a great resource like ArsTechnica or AnandTech. Instead he copied a broadcasting model that had already failed twice and was no longer pragmatic. He then re-branded himself as a “tech pundit”, which was nothing more than a facade so he could fill his shows by stealing other people’s hard work.

      He adds little or no value on top of that. When he’s not cracking jokes and derailing interesting discussion (which is happening less and less these days because of the poor choice of panelists), what he does end up saying is uninspired and completely unoriginal. Since there are not enough new tech stories all shows are basically the same stories over and over again. To further lower the value they add speculation to the mix which is a completely useless waste of time. This is why TWiT is sick and dying. The euthanasia of this company can’t come soon enough.

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      1. King Leo Laporte: I think it’s obvious what happened. The web exploded with content and Google became the easiest way to find that tech answer/story in 5 minutes instead of having to listen to a two hour-long show from a panel of egotistical windbags.

        And it’s a great fallacy to think Leo actually cared about educating people about tech. After ZDTV and TechTV failed he didn’t try to launch a great resource like ArsTechnica or AnandTech. Instead he copied a broadcasting model that had already failed twice and was no longer pragmatic. He then re-branded himself as a “tech pundit”,which was nothing more than a facade so he could fill his shows by stealing other people’s hard work.

        He adds little or no value on top of that. When he’s not cracking jokes and derailing interesting discussion (which is happening less and less these days because of the poor choice of panelists), what he does end up saying is uninspired and completely unoriginal. Since there are not enough new tech stories all shows are basically the same stories over and over again. To further lower the value they add speculation to the mix which is a completely useless waste of time. This is why TWiT is sick and dying. The euthanasia of this company can’t come soon enough.

        Spot on analysis. Leo’s biggest problem with adopting the old model is that he has frozen out new talent. Any young up and comers will do their own thing or work in a city, never for Leo.

        Netcasts you love, from geriatrics you trust. I bet that Nate OG kid is losing his mind working there.

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      2. King Leo Laporte: I think it’s obvious what happened. The web exploded with content and Google became the easiest way to find that tech answer/story in 5 minutes instead of having to listen to a two hour-long show from a panel of egotistical windbags.

        And it’s a great fallacy to think Leo actually cared about educating people about tech. After ZDTV and TechTV failed he didn’t try to launch a great resource like ArsTechnica or AnandTech. Instead he copied a broadcasting model that had already failed twice and was no longer pragmatic. He then re-branded himself as a “tech pundit”,which was nothing more than a facade so he could fill his shows by stealing other people’s hard work.

        He adds little or no value on top of that. When he’s not cracking jokes and derailing interesting discussion (which is happening less and less these days because of the poor choice of panelists), what he does end up saying is uninspired and completely unoriginal. Since there are not enough new tech stories all shows are basically the same stories over and over again. To further lower the value they add speculation to the mix which is a completely useless waste of time. This is why TWiT is sick and dying. The euthanasia of this company can’t come soon enough.

        SPOT ON!

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    1. Bettany hit it big ($$$) with her photography app, and I recall Leo making subtle snarky comments about her after she left – he could never keep a lid on his envy and jealousy.

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  35. Kara Kohl in twitter has responded to MNailey about being “fired” saying she (Kohl) is utterly grateful for Leo and TWIT for all they have done for her career.
    I don’t understand it. If TWIT is a bad place to work why would these people, as others who were seemingly wronged in the past, defend a guy like Leo and TWIT. It seems like they are concerned about future job prospects and want to avoid negative references from Leo or avoid a perceived image to a potential employer as being unemployable , a complainer or not a team player. Am I wrong?
    My heart almost goes out to people like Kohl and the others who were fired but if they praise a bad (evil is more like it) person like Leo and TWIT then I do not feel so bad for them. It’s their bed, their choice so let them lie in it.

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    1. Its called being professional. You get jobs based on your reputation and “connections”. If one wants to keep moving onto new jobs in the field, you maintain good relations with your old employers (& coworkers).

      This is why it may not be such a great idea to whistleblow, particularly with sexually inappropriate actions or other SJW sort of issues. For many of them, it ends up being the last job they hold in the field. If there wasn’t already such a dearth of females in the venture capital/startup field, KP/reddit would have been Ellen Pao’s last job.

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    2. Leo does indeed bad-mouth anyone not working there any more. He is very consistent about it. “They were never any good.” “It didn’t work out.” “They weren’t team players.” “They stabbed me in the back.” etc etc

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  36. I give it another couple years before Leo packs it in. What’s left as shows that actually draw an audience? SN, TWiT, Macbreak? The turd doesn’t give a shit and is wringing the last few drops of profit out of it before he calls it a day to settle his bloated ass in his hot tub permanently.

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