Overshadowed by Controversy has several examples, particularly under the Fan Works, Webcomics, and Web Original folders, that don't fit the trope as described. The controversy is supposed to overshadow the work, so if it doesn't do that it shouldn't count as a valid example.
The media folders, such as Anime or Western Animation, could also use a look, as some entries deal with shows, while others deal with actors, fans, or creators. Additionally, some of the entries are not controversial anymore or are not known enough to overshadow the show completely, and others seem closer to Never Live It Down.
Some examples even point out that the controversy was debunked or died down eventually, which doesn't fit the trope, as well as examples saying things like "time will tell if [x] can recover." I originally tried the Real-Life cleanup section, and then a TRS thread, but I hope this is the right section to help us clean up this trope's examples. ^^
MOD NOTE: For something to be overshadowed by controversy; it has to have a significant, arguably overwhelming impact on that work/creator/thing that’s provable by pointing to actual evidence beyond social media likes or a news report. The controversy has to be bigger than the thing for it to overshadow the thing.
For a work, did it bomb directly due to the controversy? Was it pulled from shelves or streaming services? Nothing like this? Then it most likely doesn’t count.
For a creator, did they lose their job/get banned or lose all of their sponsorships or are unable to get any work directly due to the controversy? Did they at least retire directly because of the controversy? Nothing like this? Then it most likely doesn’t count.
Valid examples would be people like Gina Carano or Louie CK. As they were both fired and black listed for their controversies. Or Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are now more known for those controversies than their actual careers. Clearly being overshadowed by it.
If only chronically online people like us are going to be aware of something, it definitely doesn’t count. The controversy has to be so big that even people who are rarely online or know very little about something, would still have heard of the controversy.
Edited by kory on Oct 4th 2025 at 10:21:54 AM
Maybe. I just think most of them probably haven't had the required impact.
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My impression is that the Mewtwo example might be misuse as it's legit contention about the work rather than out of of work controversy, unless OBC is about the being remembered for the fan backlash rather then the decision in work. But by that argument maybe the Kalos League should be added back to OBC as more know for the fan backlash it received rather than the writing behind it? Still fuzzy on the new rules.
OvershadowedByControversy.Web Original:
- ONLYUSEmeBLADE is a YouTube streamer nowadays better known for being a severe alcoholic who has groped women, abused animals multiple times (including a moment in a livestream in April 2019 that prompted Keemstar to end their friendship, where he threw a dog off of himself), and has dropped the N-word on livestreams multiple times, not to mention the fact that he has an immature attitude, which gained him a reputation for being one of the most hated content creators on the platform. It wasn't until November 2020 that his channel was terminated.
This seems misuse/bashing if multiple controversies rather than one overshadowing one, and doesn't even say what work they had to overshadow. Given the new stricter criteria I wonder if other web creator and fanwork examples need reevaluation or scrutiny (given most lack the overshadow enough to be commercially hurt criteria, unless I'm wrong about that being a thing now).
My understanding is that when it comes to web creators, the closest comparison to the "directly impacts their career" criteria would probably be the creator in question ceasing to make content altogether, either because they remove themselves from internet activity or have their accounts terminated. This would probably require a deep cleaning of the page and I could go through the current examples on it myself, provided there's better clarity on the criteria when it comes to web creators.
But with that in mind, I agree the example you brought up isn't valid. It doesn't say what's being overshadowed (Beyond that he was a "YouTube streamer", which is very vague) and is framed like a List of Transgressions. My impression is that ONLYUSEmeBLADE was just a very controversial creator, with no single overarching controversy to qualify for OBC.
Edited by lowbal_mcgee on Oct 12th 2025 at 2:40:20 AM
One thing I've been wondering at this point is if with the new criteria Overshadowed by Controversy isn't overlapping with Role-Ending Misdemeanor a tad.
''There's no magic in tuning; yet, it's something that tends to escape from any logic."Probably a bit, but the entire point of OBC when it comes to creators is that their work got impacted. So it isn't juat about the creator, say, losing their job or something (and obviously the trope doesn't just start and end at creators)
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallSo now OBC is now like Audience-Alienating Premise, requiring some objective proof the controversy negatively impacted the work, in addition to only applying to out of work controversies? (Difference from Role-Ending Misdemeanor being not just limited to being removed from work.)
Basically
Also the Pokémon thread suggested that the Orange Islands box set would probably be better served in an entry about the racical contraversy regarding the Jynx species and its ban from the anime.
However, while the contraversy started with anime Jynx originated from the games, and the 2024 Terraleaks revealed Jynx had a planned evolution scrapped from Gen IV due to the bad press the species had gotten. So should Jynx be mentioned on the anime page, the game page, or both pages?
Edited by Mariofan99 on Oct 13th 2025 at 8:29:20 AM
YMMV.Homestuck Beyond Canon has this:
- Overshadowed by Controversy: Ever since its inception, Homestuck^2 has been marred by controversy, beginning with it taking place following the highly-contested epilogue. Things only got more contested from there, from the lack of communication between the authors and fans, to the contentious writing decisions and handling of representation, to the writers' questionable reactions to criticism, most notably exemplified when What Pumpkin threatened to sue
Sarah Z over her video on Homestuck, despite the team acknowledging they hadn't even watched it. The fact that many fans still had a bad taste in their mouths over the Schedule Slips and lack of communication regarding Hiveswap did no favors for the comic's controversial reputation.
This reads more like a plain controversial work than Overshadowed by Controversy.
Homestuck and the team involved have been mired with controversies since like what, 2013? I agree the series in general is controversial (even down to there being a sequel to Homestuck). The notes about SarahZ could be moved to trivia under Can't Take Criticism, and I think the other controversies are mentioned under other reactions.
That would be Dear Negative Reader. Can't Take Criticism is not a trivia trope.
I think Jynx can probably be mentioned on both pages, with the anime focusing on specific episodes that featured it getting banned or pulled, while the games can focus on how Jynx had to undergo a redesign that changed its skin-tone that carried over into re-releases of the older games (such as the Virtual Console release of Yellow or Stadium), as well as Gamefreak being reluctant to give it a Mega Evolution out of fear of reigniting the controversy.
Edited by chasemaddigan on Oct 17th 2025 at 9:36:51 AM
I’m questioning this addition to the Completionist entry
- Jirard Kahlil, better known online as The Completionist, suffered a tremendous blow to his reputation in late 2023, when YouTubers Karl Jobst and Mutahar "SomeOrdinaryGamers" Anas released videos revealing that his family's charity, the Open Hand Foundation, had never made a single donation to any organization and was keeping all of the money, despite Jirard's repeated assurances during streams of the opposite. The videos also exposed numerous other lies, such as claims to be working closely with certain groups or individuals, some of whom had in fact left before the foundation was even created, as well as various financial irregularities, such as the totals in tax filing forms they found not matching up the amounts of donations Jirard claims to have collected, and the golf tournament his father ran for the foundation seeming to be absent from said forms. Because the money had sat unused in a bank account essentially for up to a decade, it had lost much of its value due to inflation. Jirard took weeks to respond to the allegations, finally doing so after publicly donating $600,000 to a research organization (which was still less than the $655,000 the foundation had in reserve according to their tax filings). Jirard's video response failed to answer most of the questions raised, and some of his statements were contradicted when Mutahar and Karl released a recording of a Discord call they had with Jirard prior to the first video where they tried to have his side of the story. He also ended his video response by angrily threatening legal action against Karl and Mutahar, which drew strong criticism and was seen as contradicting his perceived intent to apologize. In the aftermath, most of his friends cut ties with him, his viewer rate sharply declined, and he was eventually forced to fire most of his employees and move the studio back to his house due to a loss in revenue. Following this, Jirard had gone silent on social media and uploads slowed to a crawl, and comments that aren't hidden make it very clear that most people are more interested in the charity controversy than the videos themselves. Jirard would finally re-emerge in September 2025, nearly two years after the incident, to fully apologize and give a full explanation of what happened (very short version: big-dollar charity donations have more red tape than you might think, and Open Hand and Jirard were well-intentioned but made some severe mistakes in the process) and why it took so long to give a proper response.note The responses in the comments section seem to be generally accepting of the apology, and Jirard said he intends to start making videos again, though what comes next remains to be seen.
There’s a fair amount of evidence that Jirard is deleting any comments that disagree with him or say they don’t accept his apology
so I’m not sure if that last section should belong. Even if this was a one time scenerio the entry as written implies people have moved on which would indicate he’s no longer eligible
Ngl, this all seems to coincidental with Karl Jobst and Mutahar getting exposed a few months earlier. I recommend waiting a few more months to see if he manages to shake off the controversy or not.
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Long story for both. Karl Jobst filed a lawsuit against (former) arcade champion Billy Mitchell
for cheating to get high scores on games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Mitchell filed a counter-lawsuit for defamation back at him. This is because in actuality, Jobst was accusing Mitchell as having caused the death of YouTuber Apollo Legend. Jobst lost, and had to pay $350,000 in damages
.
Mutahar Anas got into hot water for having faked his engineering degree (to the point legal action could be taken against him) and also cheating on his girlfriend. Those are the main ones.
I think neither story is going to overshadow these people. Leave a mark on their reputations yes, but not career-ending.
Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Oct 19th 2025 at 6:34:26 AM
Do not mess with creatures which you do not understand.
x6 I agree with just waiting to see where this all goes in the next few months.
I agree that Jirard probably needs time to sit and see, I feel like Viewercount is probably the big thing to eyeball as time goes on and he starts uploading new content to see if people give him enough of that second chance.
Before the controversy, his videos brought in anywhere from 100k-300k+ views on average, after the controversy broke, they were consistently in the 80k range (barring the initial response which is over 1 million, and the newest response which is at 500k and climbing), so it's definitely been a massive dent in his content career, but I feel like 80k views is still comfortable enough to not say that it's "over" for him.
Edited by NaraNumas on Oct 19th 2025 at 12:45:08 PM
Speaking of viewer counts, there's one other entry under OvershadowedByControversy.Web Original I'm curious on.
- ProJared (real name Jared Knabenbauer) was a popular video game reviewer, a former member of ScrewAttack and Normal Boots, and a collaborator with Game Grumps. Today, however, he's better known for a 2019 scandal where his ex-wife's accused him of cheating on her with Game Grumps associate Holly Conrad and multiple fans' claims that he solicited nudes from them while they were underage. Jared would release a rebuttal video later that year explaining that the affair was mutually consensual between his and Conrad's spouses and that his accusers lied about their age and were cut off before anything sexual occurred. While this earned Jared a fair amount of goodwill back amongst viewers, the damage was already done, as Jared has yet to reclaim the viewer or subscriber counts he'd maintained prior to the allegations going public.
From what I glanced at, ProJared's view counts from before and after this incident seem pretty consistent with each other, and while his sub count has kind of stagnated, it didn't really drop that much from what it was before the controversy (He's currently at 865k subs, compared to the 1 million he had beforehand). I don't really watch his content, but I want to say he recovered from the controversy and isn't really overshadowed by it anymore.
Maybe it still has value as a historical example? It was pretty significant at the time.
But I won't argue if we cut it.
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I don't know much about the others, but "Electric Soldier Porygon" is a keeper. To this day, Porygon still hasn't returned to the anime in any major way, and the episode is probably one of the most infamous in history.
Edited by WarJay77 on Oct 8th 2025 at 3:29:04 PM
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