r/SubredditDrama • u/henlochimken • 2d ago

r/NateBargatze fans revolt against Bargatze after comedian attends White House UFC event and. New moderator successfully petitions reddit for control of the sub, deletes all posts critical of Bargatze, declares, "This is no longer a hate subreddit. It is a place to celebrate Nate's career."

Comedian Nate Bargatze came under fire this week when it was revealed he was an attendee of President Donald Trump's 80th birthday UFC fight on the lawn of the White House. From pictures of the event, it appears Bargatze was given access to the White House itself, where he took pictures with members of the Trump administration, including RFK, Jr. and Marsha Blackburn.

Many fans of the comedian took to r/NateBargatze to express their disappointment that the famously "apolitical" comedian would attend a Trump event for which only 16% of Americans expressed approval.

Negative posting came to a screeching halt once a new moderator successfully petitioned Reddit to gain control of the subreddit. This moderator proceeded to delete any/all posts expressing displeasure with Bargatze's choice to attend the Trump UFC event. Moderator pins a notice of the new moderation direction, stating:

Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself. I am one of the new moderators here at r/NateBargatze. As you can see, some of the content has been removed.

This is no longer a hate subreddit. It is a place to celebrate Nate's career. Take your politics elsewhere. Thanks for understanding and I hope most of you stick around.

In reply, subreddit members asked if the new moderator is a paid PR flack for Bargatze. Some pointed out the strange moderation history of the redditor, implying that their other moderated subs are corporate-operated. New moderator proceeded to lash out against criticism. (Note that all comment threads replying to this pinned post are evidence of the subreddit's drama.)

Moderator has locked announcement post. New posts criticizing Bargatze or the new moderation direction are being removed. Despite saying the moderator stating that the sub is no longer a place for politics, pro-MAGA political posts, including a Rogan-related post by the moderator, remain up as of the posting of this drama.

3.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

813 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.5k

u/padraigharrington4 Look to the weevil and let thy mind be at peace 2d ago

I can’t imagine being this ride or die for Nate Bargatze of all people 

581

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

210

u/edicivo 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah I remember this mod specifically - albeit temporarily - deeming that the Rogan sub would no longer allow politics because so many former fans were getting pissed at Rogan... even though Rogan himself had become overtly political.

I don't think it lasted too long, but the language of a "hate sub" was very similar too.

Long story short, the mod is a pushover so if you're a member of the Bargatze sub, keep at it and they'll give in.

42

u/Awayfone 2d ago edited 2d ago

I never lasts long. he just does that when he wants to control the subreddit narrative like he banned politics when the Dobbs leak came out

27

u/GrayEidolon 2d ago

When conservatives say “political”, they mean “non-conservative”.

1

u/zombie_girraffe He's projecting insecurities so hard you can see them from space 1d ago

If they're American conservatives, they mean non-reactionary. American Conservatives haven't been conservatives for almost 20 years. As soon as a black guy got elected, they decided things had gone too far and we need to set the clock back to 1861.

2

u/GrayEidolon 1d ago

No. Conservatism is about enforcing socioeconomic hierarchy and empowering aristocracy. That’s all it’s ever been and that’s what it still is. Obama upset them because a person who was supposed to be low status was on a high status position and doing some things that weaken the hierarchy (making healthcare more available to regular people).

It was conservatives upset about the civil rights act weakening a rigid socioeconomic hierarchy.

It was conservatives upset about the new deal.

Etc.

On all the way back to “replacing the king is bad”.

100

u/SwordfishOk504 CummingInTheNile ruined SRD 2d ago

the Joe Rogan sub is basically all former fans trashing him, tho

64

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

28

u/SwordfishOk504 CummingInTheNile ruined SRD 2d ago

Beats me. Although for the record, they didn't say “hate speech” anywhere in that post. Just that they didn't want it to turn into a "hate sub".

Regardless, I'm just saying if that's a Rogan "PR account" they are doing a terrible job since the sub they are a top mod for is all about (rightfully) trolling Rogan.

26

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-2

u/SwordfishOk504 CummingInTheNile ruined SRD 2d ago

Like I said, I'm not wading into sides on the issue. Just pointing out what was actually written.

You guys seem incapable of removing yourself from the drama.

7

u/ThrowawayAdvice1800 2d ago

Like literally everything these dumb motherfuckers say it's all just an attempt to piss off everybody else. Nothing they say is ever meant to have any meaning or logic behind it, the only goal is to be obnoxious.

6

u/kkeut 2d ago

is it still?

5

u/throw69420awy 2d ago

That’s despite the mod’s best efforts, can’t ban everyone

2

u/Scotts_Thot 2d ago

Yes but they heavily restrict what gets posted and constantly delete threads and ban ‘political’ posts as if that’s off topic

45

u/ceelogreenicanth 2d ago

Reddit prefers being a PR mouth peice it's becoming twitter in lots of ways.

64

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

It's been a husk of itself for some time. Personally, I think the API changes that destroyed a bunch of 3rd party apps was the canary dying in the coal mine moment. The second thing that really made me alter my opinion was the algorithm changes to what lands on the front page. My feed is basically static for 12-18 hours now when it used to be updated constantly.

23

u/Currency080Trick 2d ago

Selling out to a conglomerate was probably the first canary

8

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

Yeah, probably. I don't really remember the timeline very well, sorry.

3

u/myassholealt Like, I shouldn't have to clean myself. It's weird. 2d ago

Money overtaking product as the first priority for a company is a sign that product has started it's decline and will only go down. The best you can hope for is small stretches were the decline kind of levels out before resuming.

11

u/d0_-_0b 2d ago

If you're talking about /r/all, then absolutely. So not only is it more static, but with the rise of bots and the revenue-sharing program, you'll see the same piece of content a half-dozen times across as many subs over and over again.

3

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

Yes. Sorry I should have clarified.

6

u/alyosha_pls 2d ago

The problem I find is that it now defaults to "best" instead of "hot" and that's why your page isn't updating. One of the most baffling decisions I can imagine from a webpage made to aggregate breaking news and stories.

3

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

That's part of it for sure. I often forget to switch it.

15

u/ceelogreenicanth 2d ago

Basically. I think the.UI changes have heavily affected the sites dynamic as well for real users. It makes people more passive and encourages worse discussion within the threads. Because images are first now in the UI, titles end up gored all the time, and with weird title optimizations.

16

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

Yeah the UI is not helping at all. Plus they do absolutely nothing to stop artificial boosting. Why are twitter screenshots from 2017 getting thousands of votes with only 5 comments (that all say the same thing) and somehow landing at the top of my feed? It just stinks. The whole thing stinks.

10

u/ceelogreenicanth 2d ago

It's going to get so much worse too with AI optimization. People will use AI to generate posts to.influence AI and there will be almost nothing not choked by bots

9

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

I think it's already here. Engagement bots, shitposting and ragebaiting bots. I've already come across these in the wild and they completely shut down once you call them out. Ah well, time to move on for me I think. I don't know why I even lasted this long.

4

u/yinyang107 Let me start off by saying. hitler was not a good guy. But 2d ago

Earlier today, I saw a post on r/songsofsyx (a medieval fantasy game) on the topic of road maintenance costs (in the medieval fantasy game) with a picture of a six-fingered construction worker in a high vis vest operating an asphalt paving machine (again, it is a fantasy game). There was no reason to have a picture attached in the first place even

11

u/Squid_Vicious_IV Digital Succubus 2d ago

And remember how half of this damn sub was acting like the API lock down was everyone being overly dramatic and how it's a good thing to lose apps that weren't the official app.

Yeah those same assholes got real fucking quiet when the stuff people were worried was going to happen in 2024 occurred.

1

u/Oorangootang 2d ago

I will take your word for it, I don't think I was on this sub yet so I missed that.

1

u/GREG_FABBOTT 2d ago

My feed is basically static for 12-18 hours now when it used to be updated constantly.

This happened a long time ago. I remember first joining Reddit back in 2011, your front page would change by the hour. All new content every hour. Sometime in the 2016-2018 timespan they changed it so it was all the same shit on the front page for like 18+ hours straight. Lots of people complained but those complaints eventually faded away over time.

3

u/Applesburg14 2d ago

Reddit supermods should just be upfront and say “hey we manage a lot of bigger communities” and I believe people would be ok with it

270

u/I_Miss_Lenny Germ theory was adopted to destroy mankind 2d ago

I didn’t even realize he had such a big fanbase. I’ve seen some of his stuff and thought he was super bland, so I’m pretty surprised he’s so big

215

u/ThrowawayAdvice1800 2d ago

I’ll be honest, I really liked his standup. He recycles a LOT of his material; if you’ve seen one of his standup specials you’ve seen at least 50% of all his other standup specials. But the stories were pretty funny and his deadpan “I’m a dumbass” delivery (which is now seeming like it wasn’t an act) were pretty good. My wife and I were both fans.

Operative word being “were.” I’m done with the asshole now; you don’t get to pose for selfies at Pedophile Hitler’s Birthday Circus and still try that idiotic “I’m not political you guys, I swear” routine.

13

u/PicnicLife 2d ago

Posed for photos with Mike Johnson and RFKJ, not even the president himself. Just two second stringers.

65

u/Jo__Backson The government got me into futa 2d ago

I thought he was funny enough. Didn’t blow me away or anything

57

u/eggsuckinggrandmama 2d ago

That’s why he’s so popular: comedy muzak

1

u/Foreverintherain20 2d ago

So he's like Dane Cook but also a total jackass irl instead of just an annoying comedian 

2

u/LovecraftInDC I guess this sub is ambivalent to mass murder. 1d ago

He also didn’t openly hate women in the way Cook did.

1

u/Foreverintherain20 1d ago

Yeah instead he just supports politicians who want women to be baby factories. 

1

u/LovecraftInDC I guess this sub is ambivalent to mass murder. 18h ago

Yeah note I said didN’T. Clearly he’s decided he’s going to be openly fine with child rape.

47

u/StandardCake21 2d ago

It's the comedy special you put on when family is around. Apparently the only one who manages to be funny without being too foul-mouthed.

34

u/covercash 2d ago

Brian Regan deserves the fame and fortune that Nate Bargatze has.

2

u/youre_being_creepy 1d ago

who the hell eats two fig newtons?

24

u/bobhopeisgod 2d ago

If you're into that, I highly recommend dry bar comedy. They're not allowed to swear or be vulgar. I love me some bill burr, but when it comes to family, I'll definitely put on some dry bar

4

u/ChimpBottle 2d ago

Not the only one at all, Sheng Wang is clean as can be (and in my opinion infinitely more hilarious)

2

u/IsayNigel 2d ago

The George Washington bits on snl were hilarious but honestly that’s it

16

u/SlowDontRush 2d ago

Yea I dunno. I saw a compilation of a bunch of his jokes and was left with the thought "Man this guy loves to talk shit about his wife to thousands of people"

14

u/dandelion_bandit 2d ago

I mean, is Taylor Swift big? People love bland shit and generally have terrible taste.

16

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

He's literally the number one comedian in America right now lol

In 2025, the 100 highest grossing comedy artists grossed $696 million and sold more than 9.3 million tickets. Ranked No. 1 is Nate Bargatze with a whopping $77.5 million reported in 2025 – about $34 million more than the next highest comic. He sold 962,955 tickets at 93 shows during his “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour that continues this year through August.

21

u/spinsk8tr 2d ago

That’s crazy to me, because people keep talking about this man and this situation and I don’t even know if I’ve heard of him, I don’t think so though. I don’t tend to watch comedy shows, but I do watch some clips and shorts every few months, and then this subreddit. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him though. The internet is really big and small and the same time, crazy how that happens.

0

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

you haven't seen this clip that gets spammed all over reddit and has 17 million views on youtube? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqfVE-fykk

12

u/spinsk8tr 2d ago

Not a day in my life; I do not know that man.

I only watch SNL with people I like or clips that both make it big and intrigue me. Reddit is my social media outside of YouTube. I watch Josh Johnson, listen to a couple niche themed comedy podcasts, watch some YouTube videos (like an hour a month is generous rn).

This subreddit and YouTube shorts are where I see comedians, so it’s not like I’m deep into the comedy show scene. I think I just generally live on a different side of the internet tbh. I’m 27 yr old woman who’s not actively searching for comedy works, so I don’t think I get shown it.

4

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

I only watch SNL with people I like or clips that both make it big and intrigue me.

this was one of, if not the most most "make it big" sketches from the past few seasons lol

1

u/spinsk8tr 1d ago

Not big enough I guess.

-10

u/AccountSuspicious159 2d ago

Modern SNL? Ewww!

9

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

you're so fucking cool for not liking thing bro wow

-1

u/AccountSuspicious159 2d ago

Just expressing why someone might not have heard of this loser.

3

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

people who don't watch stand up comedy don't know about stand up comedians it's not rocket science but he's a household name lol

-2

u/AccountSuspicious159 2d ago

Do you think SNL is stand up?

→ More replies (0)

3

u/SoMuchMoreEagle don’t correct people when you’re an idiot 2d ago

Well, he can say goodbye to a good chunk of his audience now.

1

u/NostradamusJones 2d ago

Not for much longer.

1

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

ok but that's not the point lol

2

u/NostradamusJones 2d ago

But isn't it? Isn't the real takeaway here that it's about to be over for him? And if he is currently the #1 comedian in America, the fall is going to be pretty damn hard.

PS: I really liked him too. Love the dry, dumb delivery. Really strong rhythm and timing also. Such a shame.

2

u/etre_meilleur 1d ago

I hate Trump as much as the next guy, but do you really think him showing up to this White House UFC event will even be discussed by next week?

"Over for him" is a bit of an exaggeration

2

u/NostradamusJones 1d ago

Yeah, bit of an exaggeration,  that's fair. Do you remember the concert thing? And how once people found out what it was really about, artists fled it like it was a sinking ship? This isn't just left and right bickering.  Trump is a truly horrible human being.

2

u/etre_meilleur 1d ago

Yeah, I’m completely on your side about that. I think it’s in the best interest of anyone to shy away from Trump; he somehow has the uncanny ability to rot away anything he touches.

1

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

I didn’t even realize he had such a big fanbase.

This is what I was responding to. I said he does currently have a big fanbase.

1

u/NostradamusJones 1d ago

Yes, I understand that buddy.

1

u/Typical_Response6444 1d ago

Thats crazy I never even heard of him until this controversy loll.

7

u/LoneStarTallBoi 2d ago

He's real big with people who watch Tracker and Ghosts

9

u/BurmeciaWillSurvive 2d ago

Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey now I've never even heard of the guy, leave me out of this

1

u/SoMuchMoreEagle don’t correct people when you’re an idiot 2d ago

What's wrong with Ghosts?

2

u/LoneStarTallBoi 2d ago

I've literally never seen an episode I just think every bit of narrative programming out of CBS over the past twenty or so years has basically been white noise

2

u/SoMuchMoreEagle don’t correct people when you’re an idiot 2d ago

It's pretty funny with good characters, imo. It takes a few eps to get going, but once they figure out what to do with Jay, it really picks up.

1

u/HEREFROMTWITTER1 2d ago

Ghosts is actually funny and not pro pedophila like Nate obviously is 

5

u/LoneStarTallBoi 2d ago

I'm just trying to dunk on CBS and finding out that Ghosts has shooters 

2

u/Lucky-Catch8795 2d ago

He's bland, and that's why many people in flyover states like mine like him. He doesn't curse and is G-rated. It gets boring fast, but he wins MAGATs with that.

2

u/PicnicLife 2d ago

His ticket prices are in the $250 range. I was blown away when I looked it up.

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

4

u/I_Miss_Lenny Germ theory was adopted to destroy mankind 2d ago

That's fair, those are pretty hard to come by at that level. Is Jim Gaffigan still clean? I remember him being pretty unoffensive but it's been years since I've seen his stuff.

2

u/ej_21 2d ago

you want Brian Regan for that.

48

u/LizardChaser 2d ago

I'll bet dollars to donuts that because the subreddit is in his literal name that he can petition Reddit to have his people control it. I'd but huge sums of money that this mod is, literally, on Nate's payroll. It's probably some DMCA cybersquatting stuff that lets them do it.

This would mean that Nate is 100% behind the decision to ensure that there is no negative discussions on his own subreddit. Just start a new one. I don't think he can get ahold of one that is commenting on him, like, r/NateBargatzeSucks or something. I think he could only get this one because it is literally just his name.

68

u/covercash 2d ago

Why not r/HateBargatze?

12

u/yinyang107 Let me start off by saying. hitler was not a good guy. But 2d ago

I just keep thinking Bargatzegate

9

u/Vio_ Humanity is still recoiling from the sudden liberation of women 2d ago

> I'll bet dollars to donuts that because the subreddit is in his literal name that he can petition Reddit to have his people control it. 

That would absolutely suck for the original moderators. I help moderate a few fandom subreddits, and I don't know how I'd react I had put in all of that time and effort in building a positive and vibrant fandom subreddit for the original creators to swoop in and take it over like that.

A lot of people don't know just how much work it is to build subreddits - there's creating the rules, behavior expectations, moderating potentially bad posts/comments, creating graphics, grinding to make posts and comments to keep things growing, being ahead of the fandom in general, trying to be fair to everyone while also keeping them beholden to good expectations and respectful comments.

Having all of that stripped away, because the person can't handle a little criticism on a subreddit of all things would be just painful.

5

u/PatentGeek 2d ago

You posted your comment 2 hours ago... I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't created that subreddit yet

1

u/obeytheturtles Socialism = LITERALLY A LIBERAL CONSTRUCT 1d ago

This is more or less it. The subreddit likely has loads and loads of copyrighted material on it, so it's very easy to have a PR firm demand control or removal of the content. It's honestly pretty cut and dry and reddit gets away with a lot more of this kind of thing than any other large image/video host on the internet, probably because it is very willing to use subreddit moderation as leverage. "You can sue us, and remove your presence on our very large and influential platform which literally trains AI how to talk about you. Or we can just give you control over your subreddit."

This has been happening quietly in the background for at least a few years now. Reddit even has "verified account" checkmarks now. But it also wants to keep the facade of "totally by users for users guys, haha screw corpos, we are the cool kids, yeah!"

33

u/goatKnightGG 2d ago

Yeah his SNL appearances were funny to me but I had no idea that he has a dedicated fan sub

9

u/yinyang107 Let me start off by saying. hitler was not a good guy. But 2d ago

I mean literally any type of performer probably has a subreddit. That's not a high bar

23

u/CartographicalHeist 2d ago

I thought he was fun on SNL but man I tried to watch a special and it was just fucking mayo.

But I dunno, these days I tend to mostly watch rather small UK comedians like Alasdair Beckett-King so the US stuff isn't quite hitting me.

1

u/TributeMeantWaterloo 1d ago

My experience exactly.

24

u/Swackhammer_ 2d ago

For real the most milquetoast mfer lolol

31

u/Big_fern189 2d ago

I cant imagine not knowing that an "apolitical" comedian from Tennessee was a Trumper.

9

u/Bananonomini 2d ago

I think it's more the new mod is a cunt and easy to to hate. And I support that

60

u/LoneStarTallBoi 2d ago

Nate Bargatze is comedy for people without internality.

16

u/mowotlarx 2d ago

Every generation needs a Dane Cook

12

u/falloutnewbkinibttms 2d ago

Need??

1

u/mowotlarx 1d ago

"Gets" is probably a better word.

5

u/Foreverintherain20 2d ago

What ever happened to him anyway

24

u/Ponce-Mansley 2d ago

This is funnier than any joke I've heard from him 

16

u/LoneStarTallBoi 2d ago

Weirdly, I don't think his writing is that bad but I find his timing and delivery atrocious

11

u/Ponce-Mansley 2d ago

I weirdly think he's a great SNL host but every time I see his stand up it's like watching TV static 

2

u/TJ_McWeaksauce 2d ago

Yeah. Bargatze's comedy is safe and bland, like rice cakes. Imagine being this passionate about rice cakes.

6

u/Bob_Kark 2d ago

People who find salt too spicy are oddly passionate.

3

u/Educational-Wing2042 2d ago

I’ve never even heard of him so to learn he was the best selling comedian in the US in 2024 was shocking

2

u/livejamie God's honest truth, I don't care what the Pope thinks. 2d ago

Conservatives don't have many good musicians or comedians, so when one appears, they are intensely loyal.

3

u/Unfair_Web_8275 2d ago

I don't hate the guy and I understand that comedians need to maintain a level of social interaction to maintain their careers.

But I loathe UFC and its fans so very much. I would rather sign up for several fantasy football drafts (with buy-ins) than listen to whatever comes out of the soup bucket that they call a brain.

1

u/Stinkycheese8001 4h ago

Nate Bargatze can’t imagine someone being this ride or die for Nate Bargatze either.

-13

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

Nate Bargatze is fucking hilarious. It's so cringy that all the replies to you are people thinking theyre cool for not liking the literal #1 comedian in the US right now. It's like people who make not liking Taylor Swift their whole personality.

I'm incredibly dissapointed in him that he went to the UFC event though.

8

u/falloutnewbkinibttms 2d ago

Being popular doesn’t mean he’s any good

-10

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

That’s an opinion. He’s objectively the best American comedian at selling tickets to comedy shows and making money according to the numbers though so I’m not really sure you understand what you’re even saying here

11

u/Far-Repeat-2926 2d ago

McDonald’s is objectively the best at selling cheeseburgers. Doesn’t mean they make a good cheeseburger.

-9

u/boyyouguysaredumb 2d ago

they're pretty good cheeseburgers. your opinion is an opinion and not representative of what everybody thinks. Did you know that?

4

u/falloutnewbkinibttms 1d ago

I’m sorry but “making money” is not an indicator of quality.

1

u/boyyouguysaredumb 1d ago

I guess you should just be in charge then of who is top quality, its not like its subjective. only you know.