Popular YouTube channel TheOdd1sOut allegedly laid off its entire animation team without warning on Thursday, according to affected artists.
TheOdd1sOut is known for making animated storytime videos featuring cute marshmallowy characters. The channel was created by James Rallison in 2014, and has since amassed over 20 million subscribers. Videos about having lousy roommates, the awkwardness of calling wrong numbers, and Rallison’s experiences working as a sandwich artist at Subway have all amassed over 100 million views.
The layoffs were confirmed by affected artists including RushLight Invader, David Toons, Ant Fart, and Viscuvania. In a thread on X, Viscuvania writes, “…please understand that I am just as lost as you guys are with why exactly [Rallison] dropped the entire team on a whim. We were left with little to nothing to go off of. We had no idea this would happen.
“We were not given any heads-up about [Rallison’s] decision and neither was anything alluding towards it other than maybe lulls in work. We don’t know what’s up and I’d really appreciate it if you do not direct the blame on the team for any of James’ decisions.
“It really does suck how quickly something that feels so stable can be taken away from you in an instant.”
TheOdd1sOut franchise has expanded beyond YouTube videos, with a 2022 animated Netflix series and five books published between 2018 and 2023. However, over the past few years, there’s been a stark decline in viewership for the channel, from tens of millions of views per video to single millions.
The sudden layoffs—which have yet to be confirmed by Rallison himself—are a bleak reminder of the financial precarity that many artists live with. At-will contract workers have no legal protections against unexpected termination.
It’s also a reminder that influencers are not your friends. It’s easy to believe that Rallison is as nice and easygoing in real life as he presents himself online, but content creation is a business like any other. He’s no longer just a kid who used to work at Subway, he’s a boss responsible for doing right by his employees.
