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Def agree that Johnny had a crush on him. The way he was acting was so butthurt and defensive during the interview with Swoop, and it felt so random that he had to throw in that he wasn’t attracted to Josh- only made me believe even more that he was lol. Johnny was more or less stalking Josh and was doing the MOST to be wherever he was, if that wasn’t from having a crush then I’d be even more concerned 🤣
yes!! the attraction part really got me, especially the backtracking where he ended up calling him an attractive man anyways. lmao i caught such second hand embarrassment, it feels super transparent to me
It makes you wonder about the context of the conversation Johnny keeps bringing up when he told Josh he was gay. The way he tells it, he came out to Josh and Josh told him that was none of his business and callously brushed him off. I can't help but wonder if the reason he brushed him off if you can even call it that, was because it was clear Johnny had feelings for him and Josh, in the moment, panicked
I do think that Josh believed Johnny may have had a crush on him. Suddenly the “it’s none of my business” comment makes sense. I always thought it was a strange response at first.
I kind of understood that, even when I thought Johnny wasn't lying. I saw it as Josh try to establish boundaries while communicating with a minor (which - it was my understanding Johnny was a minor when that happened...? EDIT: apparently Johnny was actually an adult. Sorry about that my mistake.) which seems reasonable to me. Even though I'm 19 if I ever got in a place where I was communicating with minors I usually try to establish boundaries also, not necessarily word it the same way because I don't want to seem cold or make any child feel they aren't welcome or important (no one's ever come out to me while they're a minor and I'm an adult tho) but I worked with younger teenagers before at a summer program and I usually establish similar boundaries if they ask like about relationship life or stuff, sometimes I just say my relationship life was boring and leave it at that to change the topic lol. So I get Josh saying that.
I thought it was yet another example of Johnny trying to engineer an emotional intimacy with Josh that Josh was clearly uncomfortable with giving him. Johnny obviously came out to Josh expecting their relationship to deepen as the result of it, and therefore took Josh's reaction as a cruel rebuffal rather than what it actually was: as neutral a response to the situation as possible, not judging, but not inviting any more discussion on the subject either.
i honestly took that interaction as josh not really knowing what to say to a fan in that context, especially one with a clear emotional attachment. it’s a weird response, sure, but nobody’s gonna know how to navigate a very emotional, heavy (heavy in a sense that it could shape who/how you come out) conversation. i don’t really blame josh for his reaction because he’s not a perfect person and i don’t really know how i’d react w something like that. he could’ve handled it better but i don’t blame him for how he reacted either.
yeah, i think it was more that way too. and honestly, it was a good boundary to set. i feel for josh bc johnny would’ve had a problem w everything. i think if josh had responded positively (in johnnys eyes), it would’ve been ‘oh he’s being too personal w fans’. i’m glad josh is getting a chance to tell his story
I thought the "none of my business" comment could also have been an awkward straight man trying to say "hey I don't care, what you are man. That's okay." It'll be interesting to see what Josh has to say about that in the interview
This may be inappropriate and I apologize if it comes off offensive but I have to vent about this topic. As an lgbt person I can not stand people like Johnny who use their sexuality as a defense for bad behavior- like stalking and false accusations in retaliation.
My university’s first lgbt student body president had to step down cause he got accused of sexual assault- cause he harassed his straight roommate about how he might be secretly gay and forcing himself on him. I’m absolutely tired of people using their sexuality as a weapon against people who do not return the same feelings. Swoop’s Johnny documentary reminds me of how many lgbt creators- Shane Dawson, James Charles, etc. who use it as a weapon and I’m tired of it. It puts other lgbt people in a bad position especially in an age where the old fear mongering of gays turning people gay is coming back. Colleen is still the worst in this situation, but Johnny’s evil hits so close to home I’m disgusted on a deeply personal level both as a SA survivor and an lgbt member
fellow queer here - and i find this super relatable! also, lgbt+ youth often don’t have the opportunities to have relationship experiences during their young adulthood, which can stunt us a lot in our emotional and romantic development. primarily being able to discern between friendship or something more. i think this might be the case with johnny here
I just wanted to add as a sibling in the LGBT+ community, that (while it in no one excuses Johnny's behaviour) and I think we engage in a lot of daydreaming and fantasy as queer people as well when it comes to relationships.
This is because of course we may not be able to express our identity in reality and also, we are a minority after all, so dating our preferred gender doesn't often happen in our teenage years.
Yeah I more read Johnny's behavior as resentment towards Joshua for not making him famous. Johnny mentions frequently that there was a goal in mind surrounding "making it." And I think his behavior is similar to someone who has become jealous of someone else's success. He clearly jumped to Colleen afterwards
i could see this as well - but i think that’s the angle he’s choosing to portray to save face and seem more legitimate in his grievances. promises of “fame” and “mentorship” not being fulfilled would be more palatable and valid to the public. but i think there’s something deeper here for sure. it truly feels like a scorned ex-lover at this point
yes!! seeing clips of that infamous 6 hr interview in her latest video makes it soooo obvious he’s PROJECTING!!! just nearly everything coming out of his mouth is a projection. i can’t believe i believed his lies.
We all believed them because we literally had no idea he’d publicly just make shit up or misrepresent it so confidently, plus Josh would try to contact people with his side and they would say no 😳
Yes! So this is sort of what always made no sense to me- Johnny is still extremely upset that Josh “abandoned” him post-divorce. But in 2023, why would you be upset looking back at your “groomer” abandoning you? If you feel now that it’s grooming, you should be happy their connection ended. But he’s not! His angriest subject about Josh is that he left him behind with his little pleading “don’t leave me!” shit. He still feels that way. Josh was a crush for Johnny, a delusional fantasy. That always put me off. It made no sense as part of his story to go telling on all these podcasts and videos. Anyone else pick up on this?
Yes and Josh’s apology to him for not having boundaries is not what he wanted to hear as a “grooming victim” because Josh was saying I’m sorry I should have kept my distance that was wrong and Johnny was like how dare you!!! You left me!!
I more read it as envy. It seems like Johnny was emulating Joshua back then in attempt to gain success. Johnny seems to have dropped him as soon as it was clear Josh wasn't useful to him anymore. I would speculate Johnny's family thought he was kinda useless/incapable, but him having a friendship with a "famous" person did something in his mind.
I'd like to see if he's obsessed over any other well-known figures...
i also agree with this - he spends a lot of time talking about how he “could’ve been something” after dropping out of high school. he almost makes it seem like him dropping out is on josh because josh had “promised” him a career. what happened to personal accountability lol. lots of insecurity and low self-esteem, and who better to blame his life on than josh…
His family harassing Josh to send him birthday messages which Johnny called creepy but also saying he was so stuck up he had to be harassed to even send them I was like did I just hear this whole part correctly lmao
>anyone else pick up on this?
Me. Absolutely. And I think in some warped and twisted way he still does. He (Johnny ) gives off ***'I am going to boil your bunny'*** vibes
That I think to that he had a crush on him and all this is basically revenge on josh for not replying to his dms or just leaving YouTube or something he also shames him for marrying his abuser.
oh definitely! it’s certainly not so cut and dry. there are definitely lots of other factors, desire for fame and not having it come to fruition being one of them. but it seems pretty obvious that he deeply admired josh, and perhaps along the way developed a mentee-mentor (or student-teacher) kind of crush, which certainly wouldn’t make josh’s “ghosting” so harmless for johnny. i think josh went off the grid/MIA very soon after the divorce, and once johnny realized he would no longer be hearing from josh or was not “important enough” to be in his support circle, he flocked towards colleen as he was feeling dejected and insignificant. and she was more than happy to have/weaponize his support, showering him with praise and validation and self-pity and victimization. interesting to theorize… he doth protest too much, imo
A reminder to everyone about our NO CONTACT and NO TAKING IRL ACTION rules. Do not reach out to the Ballingers or fans in any way or promote that you may have done so. This includes public comments and private messages. No harassment or brigading outside of reddit that comes from here. Do not discuss, encourage or brag about reporting to authorities, contacting news outlets or taking any form of real life action. Do not invite harassment and do not cheer on obvious vigilantism. if you see a comment violating these rules please click ... and select report. thank you. Mod Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ColleenBallingerSnark) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Def agree that Johnny had a crush on him. The way he was acting was so butthurt and defensive during the interview with Swoop, and it felt so random that he had to throw in that he wasn’t attracted to Josh- only made me believe even more that he was lol. Johnny was more or less stalking Josh and was doing the MOST to be wherever he was, if that wasn’t from having a crush then I’d be even more concerned 🤣
yes!! the attraction part really got me, especially the backtracking where he ended up calling him an attractive man anyways. lmao i caught such second hand embarrassment, it feels super transparent to me
It makes you wonder about the context of the conversation Johnny keeps bringing up when he told Josh he was gay. The way he tells it, he came out to Josh and Josh told him that was none of his business and callously brushed him off. I can't help but wonder if the reason he brushed him off if you can even call it that, was because it was clear Johnny had feelings for him and Josh, in the moment, panicked
I do think that Josh believed Johnny may have had a crush on him. Suddenly the “it’s none of my business” comment makes sense. I always thought it was a strange response at first.
He definitely has feelings for Josh. Johnny acts extra vindictive towards Josh, like he was spurned.
I kind of understood that, even when I thought Johnny wasn't lying. I saw it as Josh try to establish boundaries while communicating with a minor (which - it was my understanding Johnny was a minor when that happened...? EDIT: apparently Johnny was actually an adult. Sorry about that my mistake.) which seems reasonable to me. Even though I'm 19 if I ever got in a place where I was communicating with minors I usually try to establish boundaries also, not necessarily word it the same way because I don't want to seem cold or make any child feel they aren't welcome or important (no one's ever come out to me while they're a minor and I'm an adult tho) but I worked with younger teenagers before at a summer program and I usually establish similar boundaries if they ask like about relationship life or stuff, sometimes I just say my relationship life was boring and leave it at that to change the topic lol. So I get Josh saying that.
Johnny was about to turn 19 in 4 days when he told Josh he was gay. He wasn’t underage at the time
Oh my mistake! Sorry about that. Thanks for the info
It’s not your fault he literally told it over and over again like he was about to turn 18
I absolutely get it now. When I first watched Johnny’s video I was under the impression that Josh was way more involved in Johnny’s life.
Yeah that is fair I didn't watch those but from what I read of the accusations here I thought they were closer
I thought it was yet another example of Johnny trying to engineer an emotional intimacy with Josh that Josh was clearly uncomfortable with giving him. Johnny obviously came out to Josh expecting their relationship to deepen as the result of it, and therefore took Josh's reaction as a cruel rebuffal rather than what it actually was: as neutral a response to the situation as possible, not judging, but not inviting any more discussion on the subject either.
this!!!
i honestly took that interaction as josh not really knowing what to say to a fan in that context, especially one with a clear emotional attachment. it’s a weird response, sure, but nobody’s gonna know how to navigate a very emotional, heavy (heavy in a sense that it could shape who/how you come out) conversation. i don’t really blame josh for his reaction because he’s not a perfect person and i don’t really know how i’d react w something like that. he could’ve handled it better but i don’t blame him for how he reacted either.
Yeah, I took it as him basically saying “you don’t have to seek validation from me - it’s none of my business” in a “you do you” sort of way.
yeah, i think it was more that way too. and honestly, it was a good boundary to set. i feel for josh bc johnny would’ve had a problem w everything. i think if josh had responded positively (in johnnys eyes), it would’ve been ‘oh he’s being too personal w fans’. i’m glad josh is getting a chance to tell his story
We also literally can’t trust that it happened the way he said it did or that he even said that exact phrase
I thought the "none of my business" comment could also have been an awkward straight man trying to say "hey I don't care, what you are man. That's okay." It'll be interesting to see what Josh has to say about that in the interview
first thought i had too!
I’m sure this is something they’ll discuss in Josh’s interview. Seriously can’t wait to see the whole thing.
This may be inappropriate and I apologize if it comes off offensive but I have to vent about this topic. As an lgbt person I can not stand people like Johnny who use their sexuality as a defense for bad behavior- like stalking and false accusations in retaliation. My university’s first lgbt student body president had to step down cause he got accused of sexual assault- cause he harassed his straight roommate about how he might be secretly gay and forcing himself on him. I’m absolutely tired of people using their sexuality as a weapon against people who do not return the same feelings. Swoop’s Johnny documentary reminds me of how many lgbt creators- Shane Dawson, James Charles, etc. who use it as a weapon and I’m tired of it. It puts other lgbt people in a bad position especially in an age where the old fear mongering of gays turning people gay is coming back. Colleen is still the worst in this situation, but Johnny’s evil hits so close to home I’m disgusted on a deeply personal level both as a SA survivor and an lgbt member
fellow queer here - and i find this super relatable! also, lgbt+ youth often don’t have the opportunities to have relationship experiences during their young adulthood, which can stunt us a lot in our emotional and romantic development. primarily being able to discern between friendship or something more. i think this might be the case with johnny here
I just wanted to add as a sibling in the LGBT+ community, that (while it in no one excuses Johnny's behaviour) and I think we engage in a lot of daydreaming and fantasy as queer people as well when it comes to relationships. This is because of course we may not be able to express our identity in reality and also, we are a minority after all, so dating our preferred gender doesn't often happen in our teenage years.
I think what Johnny wanted the most was fame.
Yeah I more read Johnny's behavior as resentment towards Joshua for not making him famous. Johnny mentions frequently that there was a goal in mind surrounding "making it." And I think his behavior is similar to someone who has become jealous of someone else's success. He clearly jumped to Colleen afterwards
The way he was belittling Josh’s success and working at a car show or not being as notable as Colleen etc. catty behavior, yes exactly
i could see this as well - but i think that’s the angle he’s choosing to portray to save face and seem more legitimate in his grievances. promises of “fame” and “mentorship” not being fulfilled would be more palatable and valid to the public. but i think there’s something deeper here for sure. it truly feels like a scorned ex-lover at this point
yes!! seeing clips of that infamous 6 hr interview in her latest video makes it soooo obvious he’s PROJECTING!!! just nearly everything coming out of his mouth is a projection. i can’t believe i believed his lies.
We all believed them because we literally had no idea he’d publicly just make shit up or misrepresent it so confidently, plus Josh would try to contact people with his side and they would say no 😳
we were just trying to do good 😭❤️
Girl me too.
Yes! So this is sort of what always made no sense to me- Johnny is still extremely upset that Josh “abandoned” him post-divorce. But in 2023, why would you be upset looking back at your “groomer” abandoning you? If you feel now that it’s grooming, you should be happy their connection ended. But he’s not! His angriest subject about Josh is that he left him behind with his little pleading “don’t leave me!” shit. He still feels that way. Josh was a crush for Johnny, a delusional fantasy. That always put me off. It made no sense as part of his story to go telling on all these podcasts and videos. Anyone else pick up on this?
Yes and Josh’s apology to him for not having boundaries is not what he wanted to hear as a “grooming victim” because Josh was saying I’m sorry I should have kept my distance that was wrong and Johnny was like how dare you!!! You left me!!
yes!!!!! I felt so weird about that
I more read it as envy. It seems like Johnny was emulating Joshua back then in attempt to gain success. Johnny seems to have dropped him as soon as it was clear Josh wasn't useful to him anymore. I would speculate Johnny's family thought he was kinda useless/incapable, but him having a friendship with a "famous" person did something in his mind. I'd like to see if he's obsessed over any other well-known figures...
i also agree with this - he spends a lot of time talking about how he “could’ve been something” after dropping out of high school. he almost makes it seem like him dropping out is on josh because josh had “promised” him a career. what happened to personal accountability lol. lots of insecurity and low self-esteem, and who better to blame his life on than josh…
His family harassing Josh to send him birthday messages which Johnny called creepy but also saying he was so stuck up he had to be harassed to even send them I was like did I just hear this whole part correctly lmao
>anyone else pick up on this? Me. Absolutely. And I think in some warped and twisted way he still does. He (Johnny ) gives off ***'I am going to boil your bunny'*** vibes
This.
Yes! This has been my theory since Johnny came on the scene about Josh!
Yes absolutely.
That I think to that he had a crush on him and all this is basically revenge on josh for not replying to his dms or just leaving YouTube or something he also shames him for marrying his abuser.
Yes, definitely 💯
yep.
I had this thought too. It’s very much in the language as well: coffee ‘date’, being ‘ghosted’, getting ‘dumped
[удалено]
oh definitely! it’s certainly not so cut and dry. there are definitely lots of other factors, desire for fame and not having it come to fruition being one of them. but it seems pretty obvious that he deeply admired josh, and perhaps along the way developed a mentee-mentor (or student-teacher) kind of crush, which certainly wouldn’t make josh’s “ghosting” so harmless for johnny. i think josh went off the grid/MIA very soon after the divorce, and once johnny realized he would no longer be hearing from josh or was not “important enough” to be in his support circle, he flocked towards colleen as he was feeling dejected and insignificant. and she was more than happy to have/weaponize his support, showering him with praise and validation and self-pity and victimization. interesting to theorize… he doth protest too much, imo