I started watching Onision videos when I was still in high school; I was an impressionable young girl, quite frankly. I found his sketch comedy videos somewhat tasteless, but I did really enjoy hearing his opinion in his Speaks videos. I am an atheist and was a vegetarian for 6 years, so I really felt like I could relate to Greg. At the time, I thought he was an attractive, articulate, and caring YouTuber. I joined his forums and interacted with the fandom for a brief time.
When I was younger, I would have actively defended Greg. I held onto his word. I believed that he was simply a good guy, trying to make a living off YouTube. And while he made mistakes and could be offensive, he would often make a subsequent video and apologize. Or he would take down videos entirely. I felt that he was a worthy person to stay subscribed to.
But I’m older now and I am more aware of the signs of abuse (especially emotional abuse). And it seems obvious to me that he treated all of his exes in a toxic and abusive way. He has stood by instances where he badmouthed them, and he treats his current wife in a similarly harmful way. His charisma and seemingly passionate appeals really, truly work to blind young people. If I was just a few years younger, I could see myself being influenced into agreeing that that what he did with Taylor was okay. He manipulates not only those people in his personal life, but also his viewers.
The signs of abuse are so clear, just to name a few:
The Letter by AJ indicates that he is a rapist.
Even if you don’t believe the letter, the voicemails she released indicate that he is clearly capable of being highly emotionally manipulative and abusive. He sends enough messages for it to be considered harassment, and he goes through tactics of attempting to appear sorrowful, friendly, and then borderline threatening.
He has exerted control over all of his exes and normalized moving in with a significant other right away and allowing for them to entirely dependent on him–this is something he continues to hold over Taylor.
He has clearly attempted to isolate previous exes and his current wife from their friends/family. For example, he has badmouthed both Taylor’s mother and father.
Most recently, he has objectified Taylor and attempted to manipulate Taylor’s sexuality by stating his desire to be in a threesome and encouraging them to get a girlfriend.
But it has taken years for me to develop the experience and maturity to recognize these signs for what they are–unhealthy, abusive, and manipulative tactics. Greg has an appeal and a tendency to defend himself that makes him genuinely harmful. This is why I believe that anti-O blogs are doing the right thing by calling him out.
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