Smosh

Smosh (or purposely Smesh on FBE's WikiMEdia show ) is a sketch comedy YouTube channel founded by Ian Andrew Hecox (born: November 30, 1987) and Daniel Anthony Padilla (born: September 16, 1987). Ian and Anthony, from 2006 to 2014, would occasionally add actors to their videos but, the content was mostly by themselves. In 2015, they permanently added actors in their videos. On June 14, 2017, Anthony left Smosh to pursue his solo YouTube channel due to a "lack in creative freedom", which actually because due to the way Defy Media (Smosh's past network) was handling the Smosh brand and treating their employees unfairly.

Smosh is currently acquired by Mythical Entertainment, a company, and network owned by Rhett and Link, the co-hosts of Good Mythical Morning. Smosh is currently operating out of Mythical Entertainment's Los Angeles office.

Summary
The original Smosh channel was created in 2005, but now multiple other Smosh-related accounts exist to include gaming, animations, French-subtitled, and Spanish-dubbed videos. They also have a presence on other social media, including their website, created three years prior to the Smosh channel.

Since 2002, Smosh has been one of the most popular media empires, most known for their main YouTube channel which has over 25 million subscribers as of April 2019, making it the 21st most subscribed channel of all time. Excluding topic channels, companies, and music artists, they are the 9th most subscribed user-generated channel in the world. The channel also has over 7 billion views, making it the 75th most viewed channel of all time.

2002-2005: Beginning
Smosh was formed in 2002 by Anthony Padilla. He came up with the name "Smosh" because a high school friend mispronounced "mosh pit" as "smosh pit". Since it was an inside joke for their group of friends, he later created a website with the name where he would talk to his peers and upload Flash animations, a hobby he enjoyed then, for his friends to see. It soon became a site for not just his friends, but the entire school, and shortly afterward teenagers all over California, where they still live.

In the summer of 2005, Anthony and his closest friend, Ian Hecox graduated high school and were bored. They spent much of their time together in Anthony's bedroom and decided to make silly videos to have fun. They created videos of them lipsyncing to theme songs from popular children's television shows and movies such as Power Rangers, Mortal Kombat and Pokémon. Anthony uploaded these videos on Smosh.com and received many views. Due to the traffic on the site, Anthony had to pay a considerable amount of money from Smosh.com, Newgrounds.com and outdoor jobs just for people to view the videos.

Anthony eventually got tired of paying for people to see the videos on his website, so on November 19th, 2005, he created a YouTube account and posted the videos there. People could then see them on a major site which supported videos without charging the creator. Their first video was the "Power Rangers Theme".

2006-2010: Popularity
The particular video that made them famous was the "Pokemon Theme Music Video" which, from March 12, 2006 to May 19, 2006 was the most viewed video on YouTube. It became the first YouTube video ever to reach 5 to 10 million views. It received over 24.7 million views before being taken down for copyright infringement by Nintendo's Pokemon Company.

Although discouraging for the duo, they started to create sketch comedy videos and on occasion homemade music videos. The characters in their videos have included themselves, self made personalities (some being friends and family, however, their family to play themselves in a more amplified role, such as Ian mom's as a guest star in Smosh videos), famous fictional characters (Ian Hecox playing Batman for example) and celebrities (Anthony Padilla playing Canadian pop star, Justin Bieber for example). The Pokemon theme video can still be seen today on YouTube accounts that archived it. There used to be many copies of the original on YouTube having tens of millions of views between them, however, most were eventually deleted. There are now only a few on YouTube. The original video can also be seen on other sites, including Anthony's Newgrounds account under the name "Smosh" (no longer used).

In late 2005, YouTube launched Subscriptions. In April 2006, YouTube displayed the most subscribed list, and Smosh had the most with nearly 3,000 subscribers.

On June 7, 2006, Smosh uploaded a video titled "The California Stereotype Experiment" where Ian asked random people if they lived next to a celebrity and if they surf. All of them said yes but in 2015, it was later revealed by Ian and Anthony that the video was rigged and they asked the participants to say that. This is the first video including Smosh's infamous "Shut Up!" intro, which was used from 2006 to 2017.

Smosh quickly lost most subscribed to Judson Laipply on June 12, 2006, as his "Evolution of Dance" propelled him to the top of the subscriber ranks. Despite this, Smosh received outside media attention such as being on the evening news in the Summer of 2006, which paved the way for future interviews on TV, the radio, and online, being featured in the "Person of the Year: You" issue of Time Magazine, published December 13, 2006, and on Time.com and getting the nickname, "Saturday Night Live of the Internet". In the same year, Smosh received an award for comedy of the year, the first of various awards, and one of the first YouTube events they attended.

Due to their popularity on the internet, Smosh opened up their P.O. Box and have recieved much mail. Ian also then uploaded vlogs of Anthony and him on his personal channel, IanH, now called Smosh Pit and at one point, Smosh’s Second Channel, so fans can them besides their characters on Smosh. 2006 was also when they had some of their most famous script lines and trends such as "Okay!" and "Bitch!" and their first of many photo shoots from Smosh but at this time, only them taking the picture.

In early 2007, Smosh lost its most viewed channel title to CBS. However, the Smosh channel became the most subscribed YouTube channel for a second time on April 26, 2007, and became the first channel to reach 100,000 subscribers on or around May 15, 2007.

Due to YouTube being bought by Google in late 2006, YouTubers were allowed to be paid using Adsense. Smosh had the biggest following on YouTube and was one of the first ten video creators on the site to benefit. This inspired Ian and Anthony to continue YouTube as a career, now not only being friends but long-term business partners. Shortly after, they both dropped out of college after 2 years to do YouTube full time.

In 2008, Smosh made an infomercial parody, promoting a self-made fictional product called "Beef N' Go", which was a bottle made for you to eat beef on the go. The video has over 100 million views, being their most viewed video ever, likely due to the thumbnail consisting of Britney Spears' censored genitalia, subtly and briefly talked about in the video. The video is age-restricted due to this and is slightly difficult to find. Since 2017, the video's thumbnail has changed to just Anthony's face. It is unspecified whether Smosh or YouTube itself did this.

In July 2008, Smosh had its account suspended due to a YouTube bug. They got it back shortly afterward and continued making videos.

Despite the consistent effort and increasing popularity, Smosh again lost its most subscribed crown, this time to Nigahiga on September 24, 2008. During their second reign as the most subscribed channel, Smosh was not only the first channel to reach 100,000 subscribers but the first to reach 200,000 to 500,000 subscribers.

Santa Monica-based digital studio entertainment company, Deca, invested in Smosh for the purpose of handling ad sales, business development and distribution. Deca also wanted their company to flourish by doing this.

Around this time, Smosh started shooting most of their videos in a studio house, referred to as the "Smosh house" by fans. Previously shooting in Anthony's house as well as other homes, buildings and outdoors, this house remained one of Smosh's most recognizable figures. Ian and Anthony started living there together.

In late 2008, Ian and Anthony hired a production crew from their Adsense money, which saw their content feature more advanced editing and HD quality by mid-2009 and has improved ever since. The team has expanded and had also helped with its content and its uploads to YouTube. This change had a lot to do with Deca now being part of Smosh. As a result, Smosh has been posting videos on their channel every Friday and, as other videos have intertwined in their schedule over the years, they currently post 2 videos a week, occasionally posting a special video any day of the week but almost always 3:00 PM eastern time like their scheduled videos. In 2009, Smosh started to promote companies and products which they still do on occasion. Throughout its history, Smosh has made commercials and uploaded them on their channels and Smosh.com.

2009 was also when Smosh started to collaborate with other YouTubers. They had done it a few times previously, but since then, Smosh has collaborated with dozens of YouTubers from different genres and subscriber counts. Additionally, 2009 was a year where many video series first appeared on their channels such as "Worst of 20--", "Best of 20--" and "If --- Were Real". In 2010, Smosh made a video roasting the Pokemon company for deleting their "Pokemon Theme" video while in the tune of the "Pokemon Theme" song. This video was also made because it was the five year anniversary of the Smosh YouTube channel.

The same year, Smosh released their debut album, titled "Sexy Album" which consists of the music they created and uploaded on their YouTube channel from 2006 to 2010. This album and the ones after featuring the uncensored versions of the songs uploaded to their YouTube channel due to most of their videos censoring bad language and to give an exclusive aura.



2011-2015
In July 2011, Smosh's channel first partnered with Alloy Digital/Defy/Break Media, a YouTube network. Smosh saw their view and subscriber count skyrocket since, especially from 2011 to 2015. Smosh had already broken off from Deca Media but was the #1 content brand for the company. The company helped Smosh expand and appeal to a larger audience. In 2011 and 2012, Smosh expanded by having animation, French and Spanish channels, and gaming channels. Smosh also released two albums, "If Music Were Real" in 2011, and "Smoshtastic!" in 2012.

In October of that year, Smosh uploaded a video titled "ULTIMATE ASSASSIN'S CREED 3 SONG [Music Video]". This is currently their second most viewed video on all of the Smosh branded videos, their most viewed music video and the most liked video on Smosh, with over 940,000 likes as of June of 2017.

On January 12th, 2013, Smosh became the most subscribed YouTube channel for the third and final time, this time surpassing RayWilliamJohnson at around 6.780 million subscribers. Two days later, Smosh was featured on Ray's "Equals Three" show as congratulations from Johnson where they took over most of Ray's reacting to viral videos on that episode. The same month, Smosh announced their magazine. It first became available in July 2013, in 40,000 retailers across the USA and Canada. It cost $6. There was an app for digital download. The magazine received many sales.



Earlier in July, Smosh was one of the guest hosts of Internet Icon, an elimination contest show for aspiring YouTubers. On August 15, 2013, the current most subscribed individual on YouTube, PewDiePie surpassed Smosh to become the most subscribed channel on YouTube when both channels were at around 11.9 million subscribers. Smosh collaborated with PewDiePie a day afterward to congratulate him.



A week later, Smosh raised 250,000 dollars for one of their first games, "Food Battle: The Game", which was available on IOS and Android. It was based upon a famous annual video series called "Food Battle" produced by Smosh from 2006 to 2016. Nearly 10,000 dollars more was added to the wanted amount. The concept of the series was Ian having his "favorite food", a pink frosted sprinkled donut (not really his favourite donut) and Anthony's favourite food (which changed every year, but was typically in the shape of a stick as a sexual reference with his and Ian's food) do everyday tasks and the food and person that survives the battle wins. The game, however, was an animated 3D single-player adventure game where Anthony would go in unique worlds, unlocking and equipping all of his favorite foods to compete against the baker's evil hordes of pink frosted sprinkled donut minions. The final level required all of the weapons/food combined to beat the final donut boss. It took slightly less than a month to raise the money. The fundings went to Indiegogo, but there was controversy surrounding the funding. Smosh asked their fans to donate a quarter million dollars for the game, and that sparked negative attention from various people asking why Smosh needed to ask for $250,000 when they were practically millionaires and could fund it themselves. Moreover, many asked why Smosh needed $250,000 for a small mobile game in the first place. Some people referred to the comedy duo as "scammers" and two guys who were deliberately taking advantage of their fanbase by "stealing their money".



In September 2013, the last edition of Smosh magazine was released. The magazine was going to be issued every two months but for an unknown reason was canceled. The last magazine also gained a lot of customers. The app on iTunes was erased due to the discontinuation of the magazine.

In December 2013, Smosh released a fourth album titled "The Sweet Sound of Smosh".



In 2014, Smosh expanded its YouTube channel by having more celebrities appear in their videos. Some of the celebrities that appeared that year were The Rock, Stan Lee, and Emma Watson. They have had a large variety of celebrities on their Smosh branded videos and other media projects, such as movies which include actors, music artists, professional wrestlers, famous chefs, and video game creators. They have also met celebrities, including YouTubers, in their history but have not featured them in videos.

New apps became more common throughout 2014, especially Food Battle: The Game which came out on November 19, the Smosh channel's nine-year anniversary. They donated 10% of the fund to charity. Merchandise and Smosh products (calendars etc.) became more prevalent this year and every year since. Smosh has since taken part in things outside of YouTube and gained more recognition, such as getting rated the most popular people among US teens in 2014 by Variety, being temporary presenters in the Teens Choice Awards, being on Nickelodeon's Awesomeness TV show, TMZ and MTV's Ridiculousness, along with being guests on several radio shows.



In 2015, Smosh introduced actors because they wanted to create more content and have more personalities to make their videos more interesting. The Smosh crew now just didn't involve Ian and Anthony, but also Keith Leak Jr, Olivia Sui, Courtney Miller, Shayne Topp, and Noah Grossman. All of these actors have had acting experience in prominent roles before, whether on TV or the internet. They have also done so after getting hired from Smosh, such as Shayne appearing on ABC's "The Goldbergs" in March 2017, along with the whole cast collaborating with other social media stars outside of YouTube. Due to the increased number of cast members and crew supporting them, Smosh got their own office.

In May of 2015, Smosh started "Every Blank Ever", their first series of videos which came at a specific schedule. In the series, they poke fun at stereotypes of a subject. Examples of some of the videos include, "Every Bird Ever" and "Every High School Ever". This series is currently one of their most popular.



In July 2015, Smosh became one of the first channels to receive YouTube's diamond play button, an award for YouTubers that reach 10 million subscribers, at Vidcon.



Also at Vidcon, Smosh released their first movie, titled "Smosh: The Movie". This was the gala world premiere of the movie, which is primarily about Anthony and Ian trying to erase an embarrassing video of Anthony from High School just in time for his 5th high school reunion. His crush, Anna, (played by Jillian Nelson) would be there. The world premiere was also live streamed on their YouTube channel on July 22 at 6:00 PM. The gala featured many stars, including YouTubers, some being guest stars in the movie. There were also wax figures of Ian and Anthony. The wax figures were constructed by Madame Tussauds, the most famous and received wax figure company of all time. It was the first time the company made wax figures for YouTubers. Ian described it as the "weirdest and most validating thing Smosh has ever done".



The screening took place in Weidham, California. The movie received many negative reviews from movie critics, but also many positive ones, especially from fans. The movie was ranked #1 on the iTunes comedy chart and #2 on its movie chart overall at the time.



The movie featured many guest stars. Lionsgate issued the movie internationally. 20th Century Fox issued the movie in the U.S and Canada. The movie became available on DVD a month later.

2015 was also the first time where Ian or Anthony wasn't on an original Smosh video, as "Every Blank Ever" is mostly reserved for Keith, Noah, Shayne, Olivia, and Courtney. In late 2015, they celebrated their 10 year anniversary by having a week's worth of content relating to the anniversary on all their channels. They also had a party where everyone was welcome.

Around the same time, Smosh put out their fifth album and their first album in 2 years, "Shut Up! And Listen!" which featured two never before heard songs.

2016-Present
From January to May 2016, Smosh created two seasons of a YouTube Red sitcom titled "Part-Timers". It was based on Ian's first job at Chuckie Cheese's. The series also was on Smosh's main channel every Monday at 3:00 PM eastern time during that time period. The series was about the workers' adventures in a kids' play place called Pork E Pine's.



During that time in February, Smosh's roles as Freddy (Anthony) and One-eye (Ian) for the 3D movie Arctic Adventure: On Frozen Pond were featured in the film. In May of that time period, Ian and Anthony's roles as Hal and Bubbles for the Angry Birds animation movie were also featured in the film.



This time also saw Smosh moving away from having Ian and Anthony as the faces. They changed their YouTube profile picture from a picture of them in 2013 to the Smosh logo. Even Smosh's latest album at the time didn't feature Ian and Anthony on the cover.

Around the same time period, they released a comic book consisting of them and with occasional Smosh character, Stevie. Titled "Super Virgin Squad" it was about the three men using their virginity for good.



A few months later, they produced their first live show in front of a studio audience, Smosh Live, with the rest of the Smosh squad. Sponsored by 5 Gum and hosted by sketch comedian, friend, and producer of Smosh, Joe Bereta, it was live streamed on Smosh's YouTube channel at 3:00 PM eastern time. It also featured commercials and an aftershow which featured the Smosh cast answering fan questions live, something Ian and Anthony have also done at Vidcon.

The next month, Smosh's channel was anonymously hacked. The hacker uploaded a video, basically acknowledging they hacked Smosh in writing. The video was up for an hour or two and received over 100,000 views before the crew got hold of their channel and deleted the video. There are no updates on what happened next.

Smosh got rid of the "Smosh House" around this period. Over the years before 2016, Smosh started to feature the house less,eventually completely abandoning it. Since its departure in 2016, Smosh has resorted to filming outdoors as well as in other homes and buildings.

Later in 2016, Smosh created a new video series, such as "Smosh Animated" and "The Big What If" for the month of October. This month was named "Smoshtober" by the channel's crew. Smosh, however, expanded the series to exceed a few months. Ian and Anthony also created a second movie, exclusively on YouTube Red, titled "Ghostmates". This movie also received good and bad reception in December. Due to the movie, Smosh wasn't able to appear in YouTube's annual YouTube Rewind video, ending their four-year appearance streak in the videos. In the same month, Smosh ended the "Food Battle" series after 11 years.

In May 2017, Smosh issued a second season of "The Big What If". Similar to "Every Blank Ever", the series started with Anthony and Ian taking part, but then transitioned to Keith, Noah, Courtney, Olivia, and Shayne, along with guest stars at times being the only members of the set of videos.

Anthony Leaves Smosh
On June 14, 2017, the original duo announced that Anthony Padilla would be leaving Smosh for good. In a video uploaded to their YouTube channel, as well as Smosh.com, the duo went on to state that it wasn't because they had a disagreement or argument and it was Anthony's idea to leave the channel. Two months prior, Anthony started to appear less in Smosh videos, with Ian taking more of an initiative for being in their videos and thumbnails. Ian stated that they had been talking about Anthony's departure for some time. In the video, Anthony went to thank Ian for being supportive of his endeavor to leave the channel to focus more on his personal channel and his life in general. He also went on to thank their fans for supporting them since their YouTube debut, their big break, in 2005.

Anthony admitted his nervousness of moving on from Smosh and creating videos on his personal channel and expressed sadness, happiness, and anxiousness. Ian also seemed sad in the video but maintained composure. Also, Ian said that they had been friends for 19 years at that point and that they will remain friends. However, without Anthony, he will continue Smosh with the Smosh squad. Ian Hecox asked to keep the comments positive, although it featured mixed opinions. The video then ended with Anthony and Ian saying their goodbyes and thank you's for the good memories they had.

The topic of Anthony leaving quickly trended on Google, with many articles reporting it, as well as fans on their social media sites heavily discussing the matter. That day, the Smosh channel started to lose subscribers rapidly, but their subscriber count slowly built back up as tension between the viewers and Smosh eased.

Anthony's personal channel saw a big subscriber boost, gaining over 200,000 new subscribers that day, although the channel's average subscriber was slightly over 200 subscribers a day at that time. This was the biggest subscriber jump on Anthony's channel as well as one of the biggest subscriber gains for that day and one of the biggest subscriber gains in YouTube history. This 24-hour subscriber gain is also a feat the Smosh channel had never done before.

The same day, Anthony uploaded a video by discussing why he left Smosh again but in more detail. He expressed similar emotions in the video he and Ian were in. He opened the video saying that he assumed that many watching were confused and upset, so he decided to make the video address them, so they could understand the circumstances better. Anthony reminisced to having good times with Ian, and how no matter what they went through, it was good to know that they were always by each other's side. Anthony admitted that, since joining Alloy Digital/Defy/Break Media in 2011, he wanted to make Smosh what it was before they were a brand owned by a company, which was Anthony and Ian uploading videos for amusement and being fully in charge of its content. He went on to explain that since Smosh was now owned by a company, his creative decisions were filtered into what was deemed appropriate by the company. Anthony proclaimed that he wanted to create whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and be creatively happy again, and that being an independent creator would fulfill his needs. Anthony then said that he was scared that he was walking away from something he created as a teenager, which became a large media empire, as well as leaving Ian. He said that he never made anything without Ian by his side. Anthony added that he was also excited to work hard consistently in making his own content, which he also pointed out on his other social media. Lastly, Anthony said that he was grateful to his fans for supporting him, making Smosh have as big of a following as it does and that he hoped his fans would support him. Anthony's video garnered over 8 million views in just a week, holding the #1 spot on trending on YouTube.The Smosh uploaded video peaked at #2, and gained over 5 million views in a week.

Many fans made videos expressing their opinions on Anthony leaving Smosh, as well as YouTubers such as Lazercorn (a member of Smosh Games) who reacted to the Smosh uploaded video, and Onision who made a parody of Anthony's video titled "Why I left Smoosh". Many YouTubers supported Anthony's decision, including PewDiePie liking Anthony's uploaded video. Alloy Digital/Defy/Break Media wished Anthony the best on the new chapter in his life, and the company along with Ian expressed their will to continue Smosh, in a new and fresher state. The president of Defy Media, Keith Richman compared Anthony leaving Smosh to a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live leaving the show. He said that the company has been preparing for this day for a while, the day where a prominent member of Smosh was going to leave for good. He said that the company's intention is to make Smosh a long-running foundation, one that can capitalize on the departures of its founders, and continue its legacy, as well as evolving, which is why they have been equipping for situations like Padilla's departure. He stated that most people cannot continue a brand that they created after they leave it. He went on to say that burnout is pretty common before departing from YouTube, which means it is not unusual that Anthony left Smosh. The Smosh squad (their newer cast), the Smosh Games crew and production team supported Anthony in his new passion.

Anthony expressed his excitement and support to Ian and the rest of the Smosh crew in making Smosh different, but hopefully better than it ever was.

In an interview by Variety, the same day as the announcement, Anthony revealed details about the conversation he had with Ian several months before leaving. He said that it was a very difficult conversation to have, as this was going to be a big change for the creation they made a long time ago, which would be unusual. Anthony said in the interview that he thought Ian sensed it based on his intuition beforehand. He also said he was surprised by the support of his former Smosh partner. In the interview, Anthony also said that the initial purpose of Smosh for him was to be excited to make original content for his fanbase, but it had turned into a numbers game. Anthony said his plan was to upload videos every Monday and Friday on his channel, and besides vlogs and sketches, he was also looking forward to talking to his audience about his personal issues, such as social anxiety, to help people going through problems, and to have his fans connect with him on a level they have never been on before. He also expressed his desire for more voice acting roles, and to get in the television business, as he was in the beginning stages of writing several television pilots. He also told the interviewer that many of his fans supported his decision, but there are many who were upset and urged him to change his mind. He then said that his coming back wouldn't be the same, shooting down the possibility of him returning.

The day after Anthony's announcement, the Smosh channel saw an increased subscriber and view gain, especially Padilla, who gained subscribers every day, along with 1 to 3 million views on average. He gained nearly 900 thousand subscribers in the month of June, something the Smosh channel has only done twice and something the Padilla channel had never done before. Padilla collaborated with YouTuber IISuperwomanII the same day. The video gained over 2 million views on the first day of it's upload and as made it on the trending page of YouTube.

The next day, Smosh uploaded a video. Every Friday at 3:00 PM eastern time, Smosh uploads a regular sketch to their YouTube channel, but this video was a special regarding Anthony no longer being present. The video started with Ian, saying that the week was an "interesting" one regarding Smosh and that he was making this video to explain Smosh without Anthony. Afterward, he said for a long time, Smosh hasn't been just Ian and Anthony, and that they have a crew that helps them. He introduced Ryan Todd, their producer and director, and his crew, Smosh Games; the writers; the video editors; the producers who make sure that Smosh content is distributed properly; the group of people that control everything behind the scenes of Smosh to make sure it is stable and doing things that Ian said he would most likely forget to do, and lastly the Smosh cast. Ian finally introduced himself and said that his role is doing everything he used to with Anthony, whether on or off camera and that the fans' encouragement pushes him, so he can be a better comedian and creator. He then said it is what he enjoys, and what he is passionate about, and that there will be many new and entertaining things coming from Smosh's YouTube channel and other social media. He then said that he is excited about the future, and he promises that Smosh will continue with its humor it has always acclaimed. He then walks off half-naked as a joke. The video received about 3.5 million views in its first week of upload, and like previous videos uploaded by the broken up Smosh duo and Anthony himself, made it on YouTube's trending page.

On June 19, Anthony uploaded a video on his channel featuring Gabbie Hanna, HolaSoyGerman, IISuperwomanII, Joey Graceffa, Anna Akana, Daniel Howell, and Paint. The video was Anthony's first sketch since leaving Smosh, and surrounded Anthony interviewing the YouTubers on how to be a successful YouTuber in 2017, what he could expect now that he left Smosh, asking the interviewers for favors if they subscribed to his channel, and jokes surrounding him, Smosh, and the interview. This video almost instantly became popular on YouTube, along with people discussing it online. Just like the Smosh video announcing his resignation, and the last previous video, it gained many likes and comments in a short amount of time. He then transitioned into making videos about each YouTuber's advice.

Smosh changed their channel background picture from Ian and Anthony to their logo and schedule.

Then on Friday, Anthony made a video that attracted nearly 2 million viewers that day, double Smosh's. Due to Anthony leaving, Smosh not only stopped promoting Ian and the Smosh squad as their faces, but started to delete or alter things, such as finalizing their cartoon channel's "Smosh Babies" and "Super Smosh" series' and adding different captains to their Smosh Summer and Winter Games series to replace Anthony.

Shutting Down of Defy Media
On November 6, 2018, it was announced that Smosh’s parent company Defy Media was shutting down, sparking fears that Smosh would also shut down. However, Ian Hecox announced they will find a new home to continue Smosh. In the meantime, they will be uploading several already filmed videos and some independent videos, similar to the ones Smosh made in its early years, as Ian has complete access to all the Smosh channels and they are able to do it without a crew.

Acquisition by Mythical Entertainment
On February 22, 2019, it was announced that Smosh was acquired by Mythical Entertainment, a company owned by popular duo Rhett and Link. This led to changes in the Smosh casts and crews, with some former members returning, while others have departed. In line with the relaunch of the brand under a new parent company, they launched a new podcast named SmoshCast, and limited-edition "i helped." shirts became available on their online store. Under Mythical Entertainment, they were given creative freedom to produce new content on their channels, which was contrary to Defy Media where creative decisions were decided and controlled upon by the company.

Public Image Of Smosh
"Ian's got yuge testes. However Courtney Miller, the hottest of the smosh cast, has the most defined and muscular testes. Noah's testes, on the other hand, are adequate. Keith. i like keith. love u keith!!!1!!"

- As added by Ian & Courtney on FBE's WikiMEdia Show Ian and Anthony have been regarded as some of the first YouTube stars, and have influenced people to make their own videos. Additionally, their comedy has been said to improve the lives of many of their fans, especially kids and teens. Many of their viewers grew up watching them, some have drifted away to other entertainment, but many stuck around. They have been respected for staying relevant on YouTube nearly since it's inception. In 2017, Tubefilter called them the "most consistently successful YouTube channel". Whether YouTube's algorithm changed in their favor, they have remained one of YouTube's top channels, whether through forums, discussions in real life, videos or articles.

People are fond of how the duo have been friends for nearly 2 decades, and have been on many adventures together, from dropping water balloons from their school roof to having their own movie. This is why some people think Ian and Anthony are related, most of them thinking they are either half or full brothers. Ian and Anthony's friendship has been compared to Spongebob and Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants and Mordecai and Rigby from Regular Show. In a 2006 New York Times article, the writer(s) referred to them as being the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck of viral video.

There are thousands of photos and videos on the internet highlighting the duo's nearly 20-year friendship and nearly 15-year career, from not just them but from the media. There are also many pictures and videos highlighting the actors and crew who have joined Smosh since 2006.

They generally move away from YouTube drama and are professional but examples of exceptions include their Food Battle: The Game funding controversy and Anthony expressing that he no longer enjoyed being on Smosh. They are very private and do not express or show certain things to their audience, unlike YouTube Vloggers for example, who make a living putting out their lives and opinions to their audience.

Smosh though have engaged with their audience by going to Vidcon every year, content creators' biggest convention to meet fans and sign autographs or take pictures of them, and meeting up with the highest Food Battle: The Game donor. Smosh has also been to events that have no affiliation with them, such as MTV's 2014 Music Awards, still getting some people to recognize who they are.

Many love their "Shut Up" intro, which is used in the vast majority of their Friday videos. In 2006, Smosh briefly abolished their "Shut Up!" intro but, due to much uproar, they adopted it back permanently and it is still loved today. The “Shut Up!” intro was abandoned after July 2017. Smosh has uploaded mostly sketches, some being episodic, along with fan interaction videos (rarely, but videos such as Food Battle: The Game live stream, subscriber milestone thank you videos and pranks on fans; Smosh has been apart of "Prank It Forward" since 2013), pranks in general (ex. Prank It Forward, April Fools videos), parodies (ex. Pokemon Theme Song, infomercial parodies such as Beef N Go, and My Strange Addiction), announcements (ex. Food Battle and album announcements, The TRUTH about Smosh), and music videos (ex. FireTruck song and Parents Suck! Song). The times where Smosh videos get the most views and the channel gains the most subscribers is if they capitalize on an old idea (the last Food Battle for example) or do something drastic (examples include the Smosh: The Movie trailer uploaded on Smosh's main channel, the month before it's release got over 2 million views the first day of its upload and Anthony announcing he had left Smosh increased the channel's subscriber gain and the video received many views).

Their humor has since been more mature and slow, rather than fast-paced and inappropriate in the past, but still value stupidity and at times crazy, dark humor. They also feature more self-made characters, and characters other than themselves and do more compilations in their skits rather than them doing a thorough sketch before. Moreover, Smosh does the same amount of video game related videos which comes every so often, as well as doing videos based on other things in popular culture, and at times random sketches, something they used to do more often.

Smosh has said in an interview that they will stick with YouTube and not explore other media platforms to take over their brand. They said they will make content that they find funny and hope their audience does too. They have also made fictional creations for their videos as well as featured famous set locations such as the Smosh house and its park next to it. Since 2016, they haven't used these places anymore.

There are some people who despise Smosh. They have been profiled by many as money grabbers, constantly looking for every way to get money from their fans, whether from their thumbnails, apps, merchandise, and other projects. Even YouTuber Onision has made accusations that Smosh stole his content for their videos back in 2012. Other YouTubers have also bad-mouthed or written negative opinions of Smosh, although most do not. Others say they are jerks and hypocrites, and that they say they care for their fans but really don't. They have also been seen as being lazy, and not as hard working and passionate about their comedy, reminiscing and begging for Smosh to make the content they did similar to their earlier days.

Anthony's name is sometimes purposely misspelled as Anthony "Padildo" by fans, due to that joke being in a Smosh video in 2012. Ian's last name is also purposely misspelled as "Hecocks" due to the joke being used the same year in a video titled, "Smosh On The News!" Ian and Anthony have been accused of being secretly gay, especially with each other. There is no evidence to prove this, and both men have female partners. In 2006, when the Smosh channel started to feature vlogs of each other, much of the fanbase thought they were drug abusers, specifically using weed on a persistent basis, due to their quirky personalities. There is no evidence of this and the rumors died down as Smosh got older and reached to more people.

Anthony has generally been described as being the "hottest" and most youthful looking of the original duo. He is also seen as nice and inspiring by many of his fans, and talented in comedy. He was also known for his "emo" hair for the first 8 years, before cutting it off for good. He has been criticized for this. He has also been ridiculed for being a vegan. Anthony left Smosh in June of 2017. He has been judged for leaving the brand and viewers have begged for his return. But he has also been congratulated for moving on with his personal channel. Some say that his content is better than Smosh's and is similar to the type of humor Smosh used to display. Some even say it was right for him to leave the "failing/dead channel" with some saying he seemed sad when with Smosh for the last couple of years.

Other Channels In The Smosh Brand

 * Smosh Pit, initially Ian's personal channel "Ian H" is their second channel. The original purpose was to put stuff that he thought shouldn't be on the main Smosh channel but should still be on YouTube. It became Ian and Anthony's vlogging channel and was renamed "Smosh's 2nd channel" and eventually "Smosh Pit". Nowadays, it's where you see the Smosh cast do things other than sketches.
 * Smosh Games - Here, gaming entertainment videos are posted with an entirely different crew. Ian and Anthony do appear on Smosh Games sometimes but not as much as in 2012.
 * Smosh Games Alliance - This is the second channel of Smosh Games where aspiring YouTube gamers and fans can be featured to get exposure. They also answer fan questions.
 * AskCharlie - They posted episodes of Ask Charlie from May 2010 to December 2011. Since the last episode, the channel has become inactive.
 * WatchUsLiveAndStuff - Anthony and Kalel's channel where they vlogged their lives together. Anthony is no longer a part of this channel, due to him and his ex-fiancee Kalel breaking up. The channel was renamed to Kalel.
 * ElSmosh - Smosh videos dubbed in Spanish. First, they were dubbed by two guys called "Antonio and Juan".Due to people saying the voices were weird, they are now dubbed by Patricio Maulen (a Chilean Youtuber) who also has a channel called Patrick NeluaM.
 * ShutUpCartoons - A cartoon channel featuring shows like Smosh Babies and Super Smosh.
 * Smosh France - Videos subtitled in French.
 * Smosh Keith - Channel owned by cast member Keith Leak Jr. He hasn't uploaded any videos yet.
 * Smosh Olivia - Personal channel owned by cast member Olivia Sui. She has posted vlogs, vine compilations, challenges, story times, and fan exclusive videos.
 * Courtney Miller - Here, cast member Courtney Miller has posted her vine compilations, vlogs and stories about her personal life, fan exclusive and interaction videos, and music covers such as Justin Bieber's "Let Me Love You" single.
 * SmoshShayne - Owned by cast member Shayne Topp. He has 2 vine compilations as of 2017.
 * AnthonyPadilla - Personal channel of Anthony Padilla. Here he posts vlogs, comedy sketches, and stories about his life. It's now his full time channel.

Website
Since the debut of Smosh's YouTube channel in 2005, Smosh.com has shifted from being a site where teenagers can converse to a site where millions of fans can buy merchandise which includes some of the props Smosh has used in their videos over the years. They can also read articles, generally, for entertainment purposes, see Smosh videos along with extras, and check out Smosh news.

The site currently gets tens of millions of views a month, and tens of millions of visitors, the website having more activity than Smosh's main YouTube channel. There is also a contact section. The Smosh team does reply sometimes, as well as replies or comment on their YouTube channels occasionally.

Trivia

 * Smosh is considered the first number one most subscribed channel on YouTube.
 * Some say YouTube Channel FilthyWhore is the first, but there is no physical evidence proving it.
 * Smosh has been the number one most subscribed channel on three occasions.
 * The first was in May, 2006, where they are recognized as the inaugural holders. They were overthrown by Judson Laipply less than a month later.
 * The second was when they surpassed Lonelygirl15 in April, 2007. They would be overthrown by Nigahiga in September 2008.
 * The third was in January 2013 when they surpassed RayWilliamJohnson. They would be overthrown by PewDiePie in August the same year.
 * Smosh is one of five channels to be number one most subscribed on more than one occasion. others are Nigahiga, PewDiePie, YouTube Spotlight & T-Series.
 * Only Smosh and PewDiePie have held the title on 3 different occasions.
 * Ian and Anthony met in their sixth-grade science class. They were assigned a project and became friends because they had the same sense of humor. They have been friends for nearly 20 years.
 * Ian and Anthony went to Middle School, Del Campo High School (where Ian ran track), and River American College together.
 * Ian and Anthony lived together for nearly 5 years but separated because Ian was too clean and Anthony was too messy.
 * Ian and Anthony have kissed in their "Kiss Currency" video in 2016.
 * Anthony is 5'11. Ian is 5'8.
 * Ian and Anthony's favorite video they made was The Legend Of Zelda Rap, in November 2011.
 * Ian and Anthony both have mild ADHD.
 * When Anthony was 15 years old, he falls asleep after masturbating. The next morning, his mom went to wake him up for school but saw him naked. Anthony has revealed this in an interview on Shane Dawson's podcast in 2014, and several Smosh videos. He labels it as one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.
 * Anthony is 25% Filipino. Some people think he is East Asian or Mexican.
 * Anthony used to have panic attacks, once on the set of Smosh. He hasn't had one since 2014
 * Ian has a phobia of bees. This is due to bees attacking him when he was on the swings as a child.
 * Smosh used to have a Vine account.
 * Ian and Anthony are the third youngest people to become the most subscribed personalities on YouTube, doing so when Anthony was 18 years and 8 months old and when Ian was 18 years and 5 and a half months old in May 2006, behind Nigahiga at 18 years and 3 months old in September 2008, and Fred at 15 years and 2 months old in October 2008.
 * In 2012, Ian and Anthony made it into the Forbes "30 under 30" list.
 * Ian is the one who says "Shut Up" in the regular sketch intros.
 * Smosh's net worth is estimated to be 6 to 10 million dollars.
 * Smosh is one of the few YouTube channels to get their own movie. It wasn't anything difficult or new due to them already producing videos similar to movies on their channel since 2010.
 * Smosh's Food Battle The Game live stream is their first live stream, and their longest video.
 * Ian has never been in a fight, but was accidentally hit by Anthony in an action movie scene in their "If Movies Were Real" video back in January 2014.
 * Smosh has had its "How To Hide A Boner" video flagged three times. Ironically, the uncensored version isn't age restricted, but the censored version is.
 * Smosh was the first channel to ever become most subscribed with fewer than 3,000 in 2006. Coincidentally they were the last channel to be most subscribed before PewDiePie.

Subscriber Milestones
'''Note: The following dates are according to SocialBlade.com. The dates may vary by about 1 day, and if you live outside of North America the dates may vary by up to 2 days due to the Time Zone Difference.'''
 * 1 Million Subscribers: August 24, 2009.
 * 2 Million Subscribers: December 4, 2010.
 * 3 Million Subscribers: July 20, 2011.
 * 4 Million Subscribers: December 28, 2011.
 * 5 Million Subscribers: July 5, 2012.
 * 6 Million Subscribers: November 25, 2012.
 * 7 Million Subscribers: January 21, 2013.
 * 8 Million Subscribers: March 2, 2013.
 * 9 Million Subscribers: April 11, 2013.
 * 10 Million Subscribers: May 25, 2013.
 * 11 Million Subscribers: July 6, 2013.
 * 12 Million Subscribers: August 20, 2013.
 * 13 Million Subscribers: October 24, 2013.
 * 14 Million Subscribers: November 30, 2013.
 * 15 Million Subscribers: December 30, 2013.
 * 16 Million Subscribers: January 28, 2014.
 * 17 Million Subscribers: March 7, 2014.
 * 18 Million Subscribers: June 18, 2014.
 * 19 Million Subscribers: October 11, 2014.
 * 20 Million Subscribers: March 21, 2015.
 * 21 Million Subscribers: August 11, 2015.
 * 22 Million Subscribers: April 15, 2016.
 * 23 Million Subscribers: May 6, 2018.
 * 24 Million Subscribers: January 26, 2019.
 * 25 Million Subscribers: October 23, 2019

Video View Milestones

 * 1 Billion Video Views: November 13, 2011.
 * 2 Billion Video Views: January 8, 2013.
 * 3 Billion Video Views: February 16, 2014.
 * 4 Billion Video Views: January 22, 2015.
 * 5 Billion Video Views: November 21, 2015.
 * 6 Billion Video Views: October 20, 2016.
 * 7 Billion Video Views: January 30, 2018.
 * 8 Billion Video Views: January 6, 2019.