• A former employee has alleged that their time at Linus Tech Tips was marked by verbal and mental abuse, as well as physical harassment.
• The employee alleges a wide range of broken promises, misinformation, and excuses for negative behaviours that were fed to them during their time at the YouTube channel.
• These allegations have surfaced during a week where LTT is already under fire for allegedly putting its ethics to the side in pursuit of content.

UPDATE 17/08/2023

Since publication Linus Tech Tips has posted a statement announcing it is taking the allegations made by Madison Reeve seriously and conducting an investigation. The statement follows below.

“We are taking Madison’s allegations seriously. We are conducting an internal assessment alongside bringing in a third-party investigator to look into the allegations. We are committed to publishing the findings and implementing any corrective actions that may arise due to this. Thank you for your patience, and please allow us the time necessary to be as thorough as possible in this investigation.

In addition to our existing report systems – both anonymous and otherwise – we’ve proactively reached out internally today to encourage our team members to report any workplace bullying or harassment they might be experiencing so we can take quick and decisive action.

These allegations do not align with our company’s ethics or the values we preach internally. We aim to provide an inclusive work environment where everyone can feel comfortable and, more importantly, safe.”

Original story follows below.

For anybody who has had even a passing interest in technology and hardware, there is a good chance you’ve seen or at the very least heard of Linus Tech Tips (LTT) on YouTube.

The channel that Linus Sebastian started in the late 2000s has grown to become one of the most respected tech review and news channels on YouTube. The channel is now the property of the wider Linus Media Group which produces and publishes daily content across a bevy of channels.

At least the channel was widely respected, until this week.

Gamers Nexus published a video in which it outlined concerns it had about the accuracy and quality of LTT’s reviews. Gamers Nexus which is known for its incredibly technical reviews raised some real concerns, many of which centred around LTT’s push for quantity over quality.

The subject of the video above has since issued a response that addresses many of the concerns raised by Gamers Nexus which you can watch here.

However, a new controversy is boiling on the stove at the moment and it involves a former LTT employee.

That employee is Madison Reeve. The first time LTT fans saw Reeve a winner of a contest where the prize included building a computer with Sebastian and then taking that PC home. The resulting video was great, so great that Reeve eventually went on to become an LTT employee.

A content creator in their own right, Reeve joined on as social media manager for LTT before eventually leaving in 2021. While there was rampant speculation about the details of her departure, it was just that, speculation.

However, this fresh round of controversy for LTT has seemingly given Reeve the courage to speak out and detail a number of alarming events that allegedly occurred during her time at the company.

The X thread has been embedded below.

We need to warn you that the allegations levelled against LTT by Reeve are harrowing and tough to read.

The former social media manager outlined the laundry list of tasks she had each day which for a team may be easy, but for a single person looks like a company taking a chance.

“I was expected to post 3 tweets, 2 Instagram posts, and 2 TikToks minimum per day. I was also expected to plan, film, edit, and post 2 Floatplane exclusives per week. This included wrangling people to be in them when they were also all struggling to get their work done. I was also expected to manage, plan, come up with, execute, get approval for, and schedule out all the sponsored content on socials (not including YouTube). All while being told not to complain because my job was ‘the fun job’,” writes Reeve.

The former employee goes on to highlight how she was belittled and verbally abused by upper management and other employees during her time at the company.

While working from home was a boon for many during the pandemic, for Reeve it was hell with LTT micro-managing employees and getting in trouble for taking longer than three minutes to respond to an email.

“I remember getting told off for taking my sick days, as in the days you’re entitled to. This no days off, ‘grindset’ culminated in the real moment I realized I had to leave. I purposefully cut my leg open so badly I would have to go to the ER to get it stapled back together. It was genuinely the only way in my mind to take a day off without being harassed for a reason why. I had spoken to managers about how I was struggling, and how the workload was too much for one person. But I was belittled and told ‘you just have bad time management skills’,” the creator recalls.

Addressing why these allegations are only being made now, Reeve explains that she was scared. The LTT brand, and its employees carry a lot of sway in the industry and making these allegations often leads to a far greater amount of push back from rapid fans who will defend their favourites to the death. The creator says they simply didn’t need more mental anguish to deal with, but after two years, she had to speak up.

What is perhaps most concerning, however, is that Sebastian being a terrible boss and LTT being a tough workplace has been something of a known quantity for years at this point. However, it’s always brought up in a joking, light hearted manner.

The harrowing allegations detailed by Reeve highlight a workplace that is unforgivably cruel to its employees.

Linus Media Group has yet to respond to the allegations detailed by Reeve and we think it ought to. At the very least these allegations warrant an investigation by the company.

While many have pointed out that Reeve can and should pursue these allegations in a legal forum, it would be best to remember that legal action is expensive, time consuming and mentally exhausting. As such, many victims don’t pursue legal action as they’d rather try to move on from the situation than make it worse.

As mentioned, Linus Media Group has already committed to improving its content processes. Let’s see if it will address the concerning conditions employees allegedly find themselves in.