What Happened to Watchmojo? The Drama Surrounding the Content Company, Explained

If you've been on YouTube in the past 20 years, you've probably seen, at the very least, a few WatchMojo videos. The company gained traction by riding the listicle trend of the 2010s and ranking things like movies, TV shows, and video games.

Since YouTube has become saturated with similar content, many on social media argue that the company has struggled to maintain relevance. And after so much time creating videos, their topics have expanded into more esoteric topics like "Top 10 AI Generated Songs," and "Top 10 Cartoons Brought ot Live Action by AI."

After the YouTuber Voyan posted a video critiquing WatchMojo, the company responded and triggered a wave of backlash. Here's what happened.

YouTuber Voyan posted a video titled "Watchmojo’s Downfall Should Be Celebrated" on May 5, 2026. The video, which is nearly 30 minutes long, walks viewers through WatchMojo's beginnings and its pivot into what it is today.

Voyan talked about the way that, when YouTube was first created, people generally posted videos because they were passionate about something and just felt like sharing their talent or ideas with the world.

There was less pressure to "beat the algorithm" and get views. He said that he used to love WatchMojo, but his opinion changed when he realized that the company cared more about getting views than creating meaningful content.

In the video, Voyan talks about why WatchMojo "fell off," and why that's a good thing. He noted that in WatchMojo's early videos, you could actually see a host with a personality talking about their reasoning for their list ranking. However, they pivoted to what Voyan calls "low effort content" that uses voiceovers and simply shows pre-recorded or regurgitated media footage.

"I’ll still say they’re genius for commodifying and oversaturating something as basic as numeric opinion expression. Even though that’s why I hate [it]," Voyan quipped. He pointed out that some of their videos use ragebait either in their titles or thumbnails in order to get clicks. Voyan said, "It is a machine so unwilling to quit that it will cannibalize itself and regenerate stronger."

Ironically, the reason Voyan's video is getting so much attention is the fact that WatchMojo showed up in the comment section to defend themselves with a cringe-inducing list of reasons they are great and Voyan is wrong.

WatchMojo's awkward defense begins with a typo: "The day no one talks you is the day you are irrelevant, so thank you." The commenter, who is presumably the owner and spokesperson, Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, goes on to say that he's never heard of Voyan's channel and didn't even see the video, but has points to get through.

He includes bullet points explaining that the company was ahead of the curve and inspired companies like Buzzfeed, Vox, and Vice.

Ashkan argued, "We managed to both keep our OG fans happy and innovate," which is highly questionable based on Voyan's video and the responses to the WatchMojo comment. Ashkan went on to say, "If by downfall you mean being a survivor, having 100+ FTEs who earn their living with us, then I will take it ... Viewers are spending nearly an hour per watch session watching our content... we are, in the ways that matter, more pertinent than ever... "

WatchMojo ended their rant by saying, "Haters, envious, jealous people are fuel to our fire..." Needless to say, the company drew more negative attention to itself by being petty in the comment section than they would have if they had just ignored the video and let it roll off their back.

WatchMojo's comment got 2.9k likes and 842 comment replies. Voyan's video has almost 4,000 comments, most of which are criticizing or poking fun at WatchMojo's awkward self-defense.

@accurategamer7085 wrote, "Top 10 crashouts in history ... Number 1: WatchMojo." @lightclawwdum4163 wrote, "WatchMojo getting ratioed in the comment section was not on my bingo card."

@awh0len3wwrld posted a much more personal critique: "I used to work for WatchMojo. Their founder (who wrote the pinned comment) is a volatile, unhinged man who lacks vision and direction… he’s known to have poor reasoning, and nobody working for the company actually likes him." Yikes.