Smosh

Padilla (left) and Hecox (right) at the second annual Streamy Awards in 2010

The franchise began when Anthony Padilla built a website in 2002, smosh.com,[12][13][14] and made several different Flash animations.[13] He has stated that the name "Smosh" came from an incident where he mistook a friend explaining a mosh pit as a "smosh pit".[15][16] Other content creators in the pre-YouTube era would also upload videos to smosh.com, including future YouTuber TomSka. Later, his friend, Ian Hecox, joined the venture; Padilla and Hecox first met in the sixth grade.[15] They became friends, and quickly discovered their knack for comedy.[15][17] In 2005, they joined YouTube and made several videos together, lip syncing the theme songs to Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, the latter of which was their first video uploaded to the website.[18] At first, these videos were not intended to be posted online, but after they sent them to their friends, they started a YouTube channel.[16]

One of Smosh's earliest videos, "Pokémon Theme Music Video", was released on November 28, 2005. It followed the same style as their other earlier videos, featuring the duo lip-synching the original English theme song for the Pokémon anime.[19] However, the video instantly became much more popular than any of their other videos. Over the course of its lifetime, it gained over 24 million views, becoming the most-viewed video on all of YouTube at that time.[20][21][22][23][24] This held that title until being dethroned by Judson Laipply's "Evolution of Dance". It was later removed for copyright.[23]

The success of their Pokémon video and other videos led Smosh to be featured in the "Person of the Year: You" issue of Time, published December 13, 2006.[22] Due to the channel's continued success, and Smosh's partnership with YouTube, the two recreated the video in November 2010, this time changing the words to be critical of The Pokémon Company taking down the Pokémon theme video.[25][26]

Hecox (left) and Padilla (right) performing at Vidcon 2012

Over the course of the next few years, Smosh began to diversify. They started making short YouTube skits, such as their annual video series Food Battle[27][28] and That Damn Neighbor, which were primarily filmed in and around a house in Rosemont, California.[29][30] Smosh continued to grow in popularity and became one of the most subscribed channels on YouTube.[31] In 2009, Smosh prepared a massive redesign of Smosh.com, added a games section, and put extras in the video section. In January 2010, Smosh launched the "Smosh Pit" feature, a blog that consists of various pieces of pop-culture trivia, and written comedy. In addition, 2010 saw the channel launch 3 different Smosh-based web series: Ian Is Bored, which started as a collection of comedic videos by Hecox, but then turned into both Hecox and Padilla making vlog like videos, and renamed Smosh Is Bored; Ask Charlie, where people ask Charlie, from their January 2010 Charlie the Drunk Guinea Pig video, random questions; and Lunchtime with Smosh, a comedy series featuring Smosh getting and eating food from various places, and answering Twitter questions from their fans on Twitter. Some of Smosh's most popular video series include Pokémon in Real Life and If ____ Was Real.[17][32] Also in early 2010, Smosh created the "iShut Up App" for Android phones as part of a Google sponsorship; it eventually made its way to the iTunes app store.

Hecox (left) and Padilla (right) at VidCon 2014

In 2011, Smosh was acquired by Alloy Digital (later rebranded to Defy Media), while also enjoying a 40% boost in viewership.[23][33]

In 2012, the duo started three new YouTube channels, ElSmosh, with Smosh videos dubbed in Spanish, Shut Up! Cartoons, with various animated videos,[34][35] and Smosh Games, with gaming-related content hosted alongside Mariko "Mari" Takahashi, David "Lasercorn" Moss, Matthew Sohinki, and Joshua "Jovenshire" Ovenshire.[36][37] Some of Smosh's most popular videos are video-game themed music videos.[38] These songs (along with other original songs) have been released in four albums to date – Sexy Album (2010), If Music Were Real (2011), Smoshtastic (2012), and The Sweet Sound of Smosh (2013). In January 2013, the Smosh channel surpassed Ray William Johnson in subscribers to become the most-subscribed YouTube channel for the third time.[6] Smosh released Super Head Esploder X, a video game for iOS, in February 2013,[39][40] and in July 2013 started an Indiegogo campaign for an iOS and PC game, Food Battle: The Game.[41][42] Hecox and Padilla raised $258,777 to hire video game producers to create a game based on their characters and the foods used in their annual Food Battle series. Smosh donated 10% of the funds to three charities[43][44] in November 2014, as well as releasing the game.

In February 2014, Smosh released a mobile app to access Smosh videos and other content from their website,[45] and in late 2014 an Xbox One app.[46] Later in 2014, a fan run channel Smosh France became an official Smosh channel.[47] In March 2015, Smosh re-launched the Smosh Games Alliance, a multi-channel network where fans join to enjoy network benefits in exchange for a percentage of the ad revenue.[48][49] In 2015, the duo announced Noah Grossman, Keith Leak Jr., Olivia Sui,[50] Courtney Miller and Shayne Topp[51] as new regular cast members for Smosh videos. A sketch series, called Every (Blank) Ever, has been released every two weeks since May 2015.[17]

In January 2016, a web sitcom was launched on the main Smosh channel. Part Timers is a comedy-drama which takes place at a fictional children's arcade and pizza place called Pork E. Pine's, which takes inspiration from Hecox's first job at Chuck E. Cheese's.[52][53] Each episode presents a challenge that the team must overcome to keep the business going. The series features regular Smosh cast members, Grossman (as Pete), Hecox (as Ian), and Padilla (as Anton), in addition to Cat Alter (as Mads), Jade Martz (as Ella), Casey Webb (as Dinger), and Natalie Whittle (as Lori).[54] The series was released every Monday on the Smosh channel from January to May 2016.[54] During the month of February, Ericka "Boze" Bozeman joined the cast of Smosh Games. Also that year, cast member Mariko "Mari" Takahashi was selected to participate on Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, though was the second player voted out.[55]

On June 14, 2017, Padilla announced he would be leaving Smosh to pursue independent video ventures due to a "lack in creative freedom".[56][57] Hecox stated he would remain with Smosh, adding "I'm really looking forward to taking Smosh to the next phase, and we can't wait for people to see what we have coming up."[58]

On November 6, 2018, Defy Media abruptly announced they were shutting down and laying off all its employees. Hecox said that Smosh was not "going away" and that plans were underway to find Smosh a new home.[7] Padilla released a video the following day which went into more detail about his departure from Smosh and his issues with what Defy was doing with their employees and Smosh. He said that he and Hecox sold Smosh to Alloy Digital (which later became Defy Media) for stock, which had no monetary value because the company never went public. Padilla also expressed dissatisfaction with how Defy treated its employees and stated the company exploited them financially, took over his Facebook page, tried to take over his Twitter account, prevented him from joining the Screen Actors Guild, and that they had pressured them into starting a fundraiser for Food Battle: The Game before it had even been conceived, something that had at the time led to accusations of exploitation being leveled against himself and Hecox. He also explained that he had not previously shared this information because of worries that it would threaten the job security of his friends.[59] On November 12, Smosh released an update video reaffirming that Smosh was searching for a new owner, and that in the meanwhile, content would continue to be released independently by the Smosh team. The cast clarified that they still had a significant amount of content from before Defy Media's shutdown in post-production. They also did not rule out the possibility of filming new content and releasing it independently, calling such an idea "old school", alluding to YouTube's early days when content was less commercialized.[8]

On February 22, 2019, Smosh was acquired by Mythical Entertainment, a production company founded by fellow YouTube comedians Rhett & Link.[60] This led to several changes in the Smosh cast and crew. During this time, Smosh operated out of Mythical Entertainment's Los Angeles office,[61] though later moved into a specially built studio space in Burbank.[62]

On June 20, 2023, Hecox and Padilla announced the latter's return to Smosh after the duo had decided to repurchase a majority stake in Smosh from Mythical Entertainment to become an independent entity again. With this change, Padilla promoted Alessandra Catanese, the COO and executive producer from his own company Pressalike Productions, as CEO of the new Smosh entity, while Mythical will continue to own a minority stake in the brand and act in an "advisory capacity". It was stated that the main Smosh channel would return to a more sketch-oriented output, moving away from the pivot to more improv-based content in the years prior. However, the unscripted Smosh Pit and Smosh Games channels would remain as they were.[63][3]

Smosh is the original and main channel created in November 2005. It has over 25 million subscribers and 10 billion views. The channel posts sketches and other videos starring the main cast with Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla.

The Smosh Games channel features videos consisting of Let's Plays and video game commentary shows. When the channel was first created, Padilla and Hecox were the regular features of these videos; the pair began to appear less regularly on the channel over time, with fellow Smosh Games members Mariko "Mari" Takahashi, Joshua "Joven" Ovenshire, David "Lasercorn" Moss, Matthew Sohinki, Amra "Flitz" Ricketts,[71] Wesley "Wes" Johnson,[72] Ericka "Boze" Bozeman and Damien Haas handling most hosting duties by 2017. The channel has over 7.3 million subscribers and over 2.5 billion video views as of May 2021.[73] Takahashi,[74] Moss,[75] Sohinki,[76] Ovenshire,[77] Ricketts,[78] and Johnson[79] also have their own channels, which are not considered part of the Smosh roster.

From 2015 to 2019, the channel hosted annual Smosh Summer Games and Smosh Winter Games events. The first Summer Games in 2015 introduced Shayne Topp to the Smosh crew as a referee, while the 2017 Winter Games introduced Boze to the lineup. Damien Haas joined later in 2017. In August that year, Sohinki and Lasercorn announced that they would no longer be full-time members of Smosh Games, in order to focus on their new channel, Toaster Ghost, and for Lasercorn to spend more time with his son. They have not ruled out appearing in future Smosh-related videos however, and have appeared occasionally in videos since then.

On January 4, 2018, Ricketts left the channel after being accused by multiple women of sexual assault and rape.[80][81][82] After Ricketts' departure, the channel's show Game Bang was paused indefinitely and was later implied to be canceled. Game Bang has not returned since 2018, but still remains one of the longest-running shows on the Smosh Games channel.

The channel became inactive after Smosh's parent company, Defy Media, folded. However, it was confirmed in an episode of SmoshCast that the channel would resume in April that year, with the main cast being more involved and Lasercorn returning.[83] The video featured a lineup of Ian, Mari, Lasercorn, Courtney and Damien, with production staff Sarah Whittle and Matt Raub featuring in subsequent videos. Both Sarah Whittle and Matt Raub left Smosh in May 2021 and July 2022 respectively. It is currently unknown if any other former Smosh Games members would return to the channel. In an April 2019 episode of SmoshCast, Jovenshire explained that he had not been an employee of Defy Media since May 1, 2018 and had been working freelance with Smosh Games since.[84] However, he has reappeared in subsequent videos, including a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition on May 18, 2019.[85] Mari and Lasercorn both left the channel in 2020 to launch New Element Six (NE6) with fellow Smosh Games alumni Flitz, Joven, Sohinki, and Wes. However, the group disbanded in mid-2020, and Mari later announced her move to Las Vegas.[86] In 2022, Lasercorn, Jovenshire, Sohinki and Mari once again reunited to create OGSoG, a podcast YouTube channel.

The Smosh Games channel uploads every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The videos consist of playing video games, board games and card games, with various recurring games and series.

The Smosh Summer Games and Smosh Winter Games were an annual competition held on Smosh Games and Smosh Pit (Smosh 2nd Channel until its rebrand in 2017) channels, which featured all the Smosh members being split into two teams either randomly or by selection of the team captain, each named based on the theme of the games that year, and competing in various events consisting of both video games and physical games. The Smosh Summer Games last took place in 2019, with the Winter Games last taking place in 2017.

Smosh Summer Games (2015–2019)

• Smosh Summer Games (2015)
• Smosh Summer Games: Camp (2016)
• Smosh Summer Games: Wild West (2017)
• Smosh Summer Games: We Blew It! (2018)
• Smosh Summer Games: Apocalypse (2019)

Smosh Winter Games (2016–2017)

• Smosh Winter Games (2016)
• Smosh Winter Games... Again (2017)

From Smosh Pit (originally named "IanH" and later Smosh 2nd Channel, and at first used for vlogs and other non-scripted videos), Hecox and Padilla upload their side series Smosh is Bored on Mondays, while the rest of the team uploads vlogs on Thursdays, and Put It in My Mouth and Smosh's Seriously Super Stupid Sleepover on Saturdays. It has over 7.2 million subscribers and over 2.4 billion views.[87] Smosh Pit Weekly was a series on the channel hosted by Mariko "Mari" Takahashi from April 2011 to August 2015, posted on Saturdays.

On July 28, 2017, Ian Hecox announced that Smosh 2nd Channel would be renamed "Smosh Pit" in the near future, and that Smosh Pit Weekly would be revived, with Mariko "Mari" Takahashi returning as host. Two other shows, WHOA! Nature Show, starring Courtney Miller and Olivia Sui, and One Hour Song Machine, starring Keith Leak Jr., were also announced.

The channel hosted The Show w/ No Name, a weekly interactive series that features three members of the Smosh cast as hosts on rotation, with members of Smosh Games occasionally appearing alongside the main cast. The show features art drawn by fans, along with questions submitted via Twitter for the cast to answer.

The Smosh Pit series Try Not to Laugh, started in 2017, consists of the primary and/or secondary Smosh cast (usually with at least one guest) performing various improvised scenarios directed at one cast member, who has a mouthful of water, in an attempt to cause them to laugh and spit out the water. The most popular of these videos, as of June 2021, stands at 36.7 million views.[88]

As a part of the Mythical Entertainment rebrand, a podcast titled SmoshCast was launched in February 2019. In its first run, each Wednesday a new episode was released on iTunes with Ian Hecox, or occasionally Courtney Miller, hosting alongside cohosts from the Smosh crew. The channel took a hiatus in 2020, returning for one episode after on May 4, 2021, to announce Sarah Whittle's departure from Smosh.

After another hiatus from May 2021, SmoshCast was confirmed to return in June 2023 with a new design and logo, this time returning permanently, instead of as a one-off re-appearance.

In August 2023, was later revealed that SmoshCast would have a revamped format, again with a new logo because SmoshCast would split into two shows taking place on the SmoshCast channel, which together would make up the SmoshCast content. The SmoshCast podcast was renamed to Smosh Mouth, with a new show, Flashback w/Smosh being introduced and hosted by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. The channel currently has over 380,000 subscribers as of August 2023.

Smosh Mouth (also referred as the SmoshCast) is based off the original format of SmoshCast's first iteration. The podcast was reintroduced on 26 June 2023 and is hosted by Shayne Topp and Amanda Lehan-Canto every Monday with one other rotating Smosh member and/or a guest joining them each episode. It includes them talking about their lives and various other topics and current events, revealing and discussing possible future ideas for various content and reading through and discussing various things on social media, such as Reddit posts and more.

In August 2023, the SmoshCast channel introduced a new show alongside the podcast called Flashback with Smosh, hosted by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. Following Padilla's return to Smosh, Hecox and Padilla react to old Smosh videos from 2005 to 2016, and talk about old memories and behind the scenes stories from their old videos. This was announced with a video on the Smosh Pit channel where Hecox and Padilla reacted to old Smosh videos with newer Smosh members Angela Giarratana and Chanse McCrary. However, the series was moved to the main Smosh channel.

On ElSmosh, the team (managed by Chilean YouTuber SoloPatrick) uploads new Smosh episodes that have been dubbed over in Spanish. The channel was created in July 2011 and currently has over 3.7 million subscribers. The videos are mostly from the main Smosh channel, particularly the Every Blank Ever series. Previously, the channel used to dub former Smosh shows such as, ElSmosh Pit de la Semana (Smosh Pit Weekly) and the Honest Game Trailers series from Smosh Games.[89]

AnthonyPadilla hosted vlogs uploaded by Padilla. Most videos uploaded prior to 2016 were removed when Padilla revived the channel to upload personal vlogs. As of April 2023, it has over 7 million subscribers.[90] When Padilla departed from Smosh in 2017, the channel was no longer associated with the Smosh brand. When Padilla returned to Smosh in June 2023, Ian Hecox appeared on his I Spent the Day With series, opening up the possibility that his main channel could upload Smosh-related content in the future. However, it is not yet known if this channel will return to the Smosh umbrella.

AskCharlie, active from May 2010 to December 2011, hosts videos from the Ask Charlie series, where an anthropomorphic guinea pig, named Charlie the Drunk Guinea Pig, answers viewer submitted questions. It has over 321,000 subscribers.

Shut Up! Cartoons hosts a number of animated series, created by different animators. It has over 2 million subscribers.[91] The channel was created in January 2012 but has been inactive since June 2017.

The Smosh Games Alliance (SGA) channel was used for extra content for the Smosh Games crew. It originally spotlighted fan-submitted gaming content and offered tutorials in "Smosh University", and later hosted vlogs from the Smosh Games crew. It has over 249,000 subscribers.[92] The channel was created in February 2013 but has been inactive since December 2016.

The Smosh France channel was launched in June 2013 and currently has over 140,000 subscribers, which similar to ElSmosh, provided French dubbed-versions and on-screen subtitles in French of various Smosh videos, particularly from the main Smosh channel. The channel has been inactive since January 2020.

The SmoshShorts channel consists of TikTok videos re-uploaded as YouTube Shorts. The channel was created in May 2021 and currently has over 20,000 subscribers, but has been inactive since August 2021. The main reason for the channel's inactivity is because the videos have been uploaded on the Shorts sections of the main Smosh channels instead.

• Ian Hecox – Smosh (2005–present), Smosh Pit (2006–present), Smosh Games (2012–present)
• Anthony Padilla – Smosh (2005–2017; 2023–present), Smosh Pit (2006–2017; 2023–present), Smosh Games (2012–2017; 2023–present)

• Keith Leak Jr. – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2014–present)
• Olivia Sui – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2015–present)
• Noah Grossman – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2015–present)
• Courtney Miller – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2015–present)
• Shayne Topp – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2015–present)
• Damien Haas – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2017–present)
• Kimmy Jimenez – Smosh (2018–present), Smosh Pit (2019–present), Smosh Games (2019–present)
• Spencer Agnew – Smosh, Smosh Pit (2021–present), Smosh Games (2020–present)
• Tommy Bowe – Smosh, Smosh Pit (2019–present), Smosh Games (2018–present)
• Amanda Lehan-Canto – Smosh (2020–present), Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2022–present)
• Chanse McCrary – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2022–present)
• Arasha Lalani – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2022–present)
• Angela Giarratana – Smosh, Smosh Pit, Smosh Games (2022–present)