I was talking to the ladies - AKA The Bored Housewives of YouTube (Jade, Brittany, Nola Lola & Shadow) - yesterday and Shadow made some very good points. She usually does, lol. When I first stumbled across Popcorned Planet's (PCP) YouTube channel (YT) during Gabby Petito they had a Discord. A bit later they announced they were using Telegram (TG).
At this time PCP had a handful of mods but the most active ones (to my recollection) were Brittany, Shadow and Will. According to the former two, THEY were the ones who built ANDY's community. The one that he calls "his." This would've been Sept/Oct 2021.
A few more mods were added - I remember Nerd Girl Jean, Glitter Diva, Pamela, Puff, Ambaaahh (or however she spelled it). A couple of others were Gigi & Emilie but I didn't see much of them most of the time I was in that community.
There were maybe a couple/few hundred in PCP's TG chat in the beginning. I seem to remember like 300. I was pretty active when I first joined, and later when I joined Nerd Report/Luis Lecca's brand new TG chat.
I was there for his first charity live stream that he splashed Gabby's name all over although it was for a local Tampa Bay area domestic violence shelter. He claimed he was gonna do the Gabby Petito foundation next. Still waiting on that one.
In mid-Nov 2021 Stef the Alter Nerd made me a moderator (mod). Her channel had experienced it's first surge of new members not long before that. Hers was actually the first of the 3 channels I joined (which was before I was made a mod). I had no idea what I was doing but Shadow gave me a helping hand for which I am forever grateful.
Andy had been talking about a "headlines" team. I didn't really know what it was but knew that folks like Pamela gave him links to articles. When he asked if people would like to join, promising to teach us about cultivating news articles and how YT works, I was hooked. What I did not know is that we were a replacement of sorts for the previous team. This is how he works. If we asked questions, we were completely shut down. No curiosity allowed! I couldn't tell you exactly how he accomplished it but it happened nonetheless. I'm pretty sure we were made to suspect that those who were no longer there had, at the very least, misstepped. I would learn a whole lot more about his tactics when I left the channel on Feb 21, 2022.
In mid-Dec 2021 Nola Lola & I were promoted to mods on his YT channel. This didn't mean we were added to the mod chat, though. We were considered "baby" mods. Luckily Shadow once again stepped in to help. And again, I remain grateful. If we'd just been left to hang, we would've had absolutely no idea what our "job" entailed because nobody would've told us! Piss poor way to do business if you ask me. Sure, we were "volunteers" - twice over since we were both part of headlines (although Nola Lola did a whole lot more work than I did, lol) - but we still helped him earn money. I thought I was working for some greater good (and to learn) not to just line Andy's pockets.
I really wish I could describe to you the atmosphere around the group for the next two months. I came to care about "his" community and this group of women. When one or more were sad or mad, I felt it. It was like watching some of them juggle invisible flaming knives. I stood ready to catch an errant one or tackle them out of the way. Which I couldn't really do because I couldn't see them. And those tossing them originally just stood back and smirked, enjoying the scramble. If someone got sliced or singed, there was a feeling of silent laughter. There was absolutely no care or concern about anybody but Andy and his cohorts. If questioned for this behavior Andy Signore pretends befuddlement and claims victimhood. I guess he is the constant victim of his own actions that he refuses to take accountability for.
Sometimes folks would approach Stef the Alter Nerd thinking she'd be more compassionate, which is a huge mistake. This woman is colder than the arctic circle and about as compassionate as a crocodile. If you're lucky, she will simply ignore you. Otherwise you are the recipient of a vicious verbal attack.
Luis Lecca's constant insistence that he saw us as bad seeds or whatever is complete BS and he knows it. Andy has spies everywhere and he's one of them. What pushed the ladies and I too far was one of his little tattle tales taking private messages out of context and sharing them. Looking at you Robin Redbreast. There have been, and will be, others, I'm sure. I should probably thank her for helping us extract ourselves from the cult of Popcorned Planet.
I've described the mechanism of our departurein earlier articles/videos so I'm not going into it again here. However, I will say that we LEFT, we were not removed. The group had gotten so large that we'd lost touch with some of the OGs but we were still reluctant to withdraw. Because of Britney/Gabby, it was largely a group of abuse & trauma survivors. And the way we were maligned afterward was sad and completely unnecessary, IMO. But Andy couldn't play victim if he acknowledged his role. It's his MO, after all.
People flowed in to fill the gaps we left and many have come out the other side saying, "Dang, you were right." Others are still there, defending their "king." Do you think we'll ever get an acknowledgment video like he made in 2018? Probably not.
You will notice I did not mention how Andy treated Jade & Brittney in this missive. That's because I didn't learn much about them until later. I only had the vaguest notion that Andy was messing with Britt. The full scope of his sex pest ways would not start to come out until Nov 2022 and more in Jan 2023. His reckoning is still to come and, when it does, I will be in the front row with my popcorn at the ready.
