Right-wing podcaster Tim Pool announced on Monday that he’s considering shutting down his Timcast IRL show, sparking outrage from some fans.
Pool hinted about the show’s potential ending in an X post promoting his latest episode, writing on Monday that “this May Be The Last Timcast IRL.”
In the beginning of the two-hour-long episode, Pool stated that “this might be the end,” attributing the potential decision to a combination of struggling to balance work and life and incompetent staff.
“We are well off, it’s not a financial thing. We make a lot of money. But piece by piece, the structure becomes bigger and bigger and bigger until it becomes impossible to manage,” he said.
Pool said that although he’d “never call out anybody personally or individually” and that “there’s also legal ramifications to insulting employees,” he has noticed “compounding … laziness” affecting the show.
One example he provided was a studio failure that morning, criticizing: “If we can’t make cameras in a computer work and despite all the previous failures we’ve had, there’s not a single person here who can make sure that either the studio’s operating—secondary studio’s operating—we’ve gotten to a point in the company everyone’s just kind of kicked their feet up and said ‘I’m doing what I need to be doing.’”
“And that just means I’m Sisyphus pushing the rock up. The problem is people are sitting on the rock,” he added.
Pool later said the issues extended beyond employee laziness and that the show had had instances of people leaking information and stealing equipment.
Pool’s announcement—while not finalized—would not mean he’d be totally off-air. He plans to continue his morning show and toyed with the idea of possibly doing five morning shows per week as well as weekend bonus shows.
“I can keep doing my morning show, there’s no issue,” he said at one point in the episode. “I require zero employees to do that.”
But Pool’s rationale behind the IRL show’s potential end is not being met with the warmest welcome online.
Some listeners of the show are raging against Pool’s logic, with one X user commenting that he “just worked a 12 hour day at my family owned construction business [and] couldn’t stomach listening to Tim Pool whine about the lazy employees at his multi-million dollar YouTube company.”
“I have enjoyed Tim Pool’s podcast, but this latest quitting episode sounds pretty whiney and ungrateful,” wrote another person, who then suggested what Pool himself indicated he may pivot to do. “If the IRL show is too much just go the morning show without all the pomp and circumstance.”
She continued: “My husband works 2 full time jobs, he works 7 days a week, he never gets a day off … And all for us to make ends meet, not even get ahead. Tim can do what he wants but shut up about having to work too hard. We all have to work too hard.”
One right-wing account chided him, saying: “Tim Pool detonated his entire podcast because he thinks nobody else works hard. What an absolute child.”
He added he could never see other high-profile podcasters such as Joe Rogan doing that.
“Why is Tim Pool publicly airing dirty laundry and throwing a tantrum instead of just hiring qualified people?” questioned the prominent anti-left-wing YouTuber Liberal Hivemind.
While there’s no shortage of loyal fans online defending the possible switch-up and encouraging Pool to prioritize himself, the discontent among many listeners is obvious.
Criticized one listener: “So you’ve made your money off the backs of your loyal viewers and subscribers, and now two weeks before the election, you going just bail?”
“Absolutely! I am pissed,” echoed someone else. “I’ve been a Premium member for years and I feel scammed.”
“If he cancels the show 2 weeks before the election, I will consider myself and other viewers betrayed. ESPECIALLY after being a paid member for literal years,” commented another person under Pool’s post.
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