Speaking with Jacob Kramer for Complex News, Twitch streamer JasonTheWeen, real name Jason Thanh Nguyen, opened up about the mass exodus of FaZe Clan members last year.
Back in December, Jason was among the wave of creators who announced they had left FaZe Clan. Other members who left included Adapt, Lacy, Silky, StableRonaldo, Apex, Swagg, YourRAGE, Kaysan, and Rug. When asked about the situation, which involved several former members throwing accusations around, Jason said that he felt “a mixture of relief, confusion, [and] sorrow” upon announcing his exit from FaZe Clan.
“It was sad, to be honest,” Jason said. “It was basically FaZe before we joined… It was pretty much in shambles. … We never wanted that to happen, but some things just didn’t work out, you know? The corporate side of things—us, as a group, didn’t agree on specific things, which I will not go into… It just didn’t work out.”
PlaqueBoyMax announced his departure from FaZe Clan just months before the mass exodus, and Jason suggested that he was “ahead of his time” with his decision.
“It was definitely a gradual buildup because we all wanted to see it through, and we all wanted it to work out,” Jason continued. “When the majority of the group is like, ‘Oh, this isn’t good for us’ … We all just came together as a group and decided that it was not good for our future to continue being in FaZe. So we made the group decision to all leave. And then doomsday happened.”
Jason suggested that he had to “speak vaguely” about the situation, suggesting that there was something on the business side of things he and the other members couldn’t publicly discuss. He also said that he won’t be joining another content organization anytime soon, but he wouldn’t be against making an organization of his own.
As reported by Bloomberg in December last year, the chief executive officer of FaZe Clan investor HardScope, Matt Kalish, described the financial structure of the organization as “unsustainable” at the time. He offered the content creators involved with FaZe the option to go independent or sign deals with HardScope. The creators, who have not spoken publicly about the apparent contract dispute, didn’t like the terms laid out by Kalish following a year of talks, according to a source familiar with the situation.
PlaqueBoyMax alleged that creators involved with FaZe Clan had “no control,” and felt like they were “puppets.” FaZe co-founder FaZe Banks denied having anything to do with the exodus and wished the best for the former members.
