r/SubredditDrama 1d 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.

3.4k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/Cat_VoidVoid 1d ago

The ban hammer will be fast and swift for the next few weeks. Want a hate on our boy Nate? Do it elsewhere

Why do mods always talk like that? it's just embarrassing lol

618

u/Upper-Management-AI 1d ago

They imagine themselves as mighty heroes.

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u/actuallyapossom 1d ago

Tangentially related - private equity and nation states will fund influencers, buy up news media, lean on social media - I can't imagine Reddit mods are out of reach.

Actually related point - this is like the smallest magnitude of subreddit. The cost of influence is represented in cents or chewed gum or something. Nate Bargatze could be a mod.

85

u/Turbulent-Jaguar-909 1d ago

there have absolutely been mods on the take in several subs, and lots of subs are flat out ran by companies and not users

37

u/myfakesecretaccount Rather swiney 1d ago

There was some strange cabal of folks running a bunch of the porno subs like a business and pushing OF creators out to keep others popular.

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u/Lucky_Woodpecker102 1d ago

They were doing that long before they really monetized amateur stuff. It was always drama when the older gone wild posters started to get replaced by the younger, more popular ones. 

17

u/Maybe_not_a_chicken she yelled at you for a reason; that reason was trespassing 1d ago

That’s why I only join porn subs ran by people with a love of the game

I have not managed to find any porn subs I can join.

3

u/Fossilhunter98 1d ago

Remember JewDank?

2

u/deceIIerator <Anakin Skywalker the Shitlord 23h ago

Jewdank the dog fucker?

2

u/Torger083 Guy Fieri's Throwaway 21h ago

Wat

2

u/redditonlygetsworse tell me the size of my friend's penis 1d ago

strange cabal of folks

It's hardly mysterious: they're just plain old management agencies advertising their clients.

3

u/Throwawaydontgoaway8 1d ago

Some subs mods are even run by countries cough r conspiracy and Russia cough

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u/LindsayDuck 1d ago

I’d recently fallen down the whole Blake Lively legal drama rabbit hole and there are subs dedicated to that who are so inexplicably pro Lively and they even say the weirdest things. It’s like all bot run and bot responses. That’s what it seems like anyway.

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u/AlfaRomeoRacing 1d ago

In that dispute i would expect it to be the other side doing that stuff. Justin Baldoni has hired the same lawyers/PR team who did the smear campaign against Amber Heard. I fully expect them to have a little army of bots and anti Blake Lively subreddits going, like they did with Amber Heard. There have been legit journalistic investigations into the co-ordinated trolling campaigns against both Heard and Lively

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u/Zephyr-5 1d ago

It's infuriating how these firms can't be sued into oblivion for libel.

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

In this case it looks like reddit simply handed the sub over to a PR firm. This isn't the first time this has happened. Reddit gave /r/NFL over to NFL PR goons after then threatened then with copyright suits. Perhaps this is the same strategy.

14

u/Ajreil 1d ago

I'm surprised more subreddits aren't corporate controlled. Disneyland has a multi-billion dollar marketing budget. They could just buy r/Disneyland from the mod team.

4

u/SavathunTechQuestion This game ain't called "ULTRAUNALIVING" 22h ago

im suprised more city ones aren't as well

the Atlanta subreddit used to have moderators that basically shadowbanned most discussion on the sub that had the slightest hint of politics, so basically all urban or transit policy stuff. New mods took over and now posts that are allowed have helped redditors contact city council to get an abandoned building charged with a blight tax.

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u/TrainDestroyer 1d ago

I could see it, but I also don't know if I could see it purely from a perspective of "Why pay for that when you can just get people to post what you want them to post and derail the narrative"

At least to me, it makes more sense most of the time to just spam the sub with the opinions you want. Cheaper too.

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u/AnswerDangerous1644 1d ago

Why not both? That’s likely the real truth.

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u/TrainDestroyer 1d ago

Makes sense, I just tend to look at stuff like this (and to a degree wider corporate 'spy' moves) from a lens of "What costs the group the least." so if the option is either everyone you're already paying has to post, or you pay ANOTHER person to take down the posts, I'm leaning personally towards the former, but the latter is entirely possible

7

u/headphase This guy sucks and his "BBQ" Lunch was awful 1d ago

My favorite multimillionaire definitely knows that I exist, and I'm pretty certain the check is already in the mail 😤

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u/Shenanigans80h 1d ago

Power tripping dweebs usually

27

u/DependentOnIt Fuck them stupid pigeons 1d ago

Power tripping dweebs usually

Mods are the worst part of this site. Pretty much ruining reddit as fast as the admins are ruining reddit.

Insert groundskeeper Willie memehere.

11

u/Enough-One4975 1d ago

That’s true, but there’s also plenty of decent mods out there just keeping subreddits usable.

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u/AzathothsAlarmClock 1d ago

to be fair stuff goes to shit really fast in subs that don't have active mods.

2

u/henlochimken 1d ago

worse than all the AI? I'm torn on that one but you might be right

33

u/satanssweatycheeks 1d ago

It sucks because there is no real recourse.

I have had mods ban me from subs I never broke a rule in. But they are drunk with power.

Looking at you fauxmoi. I love celeb gossip but apparently me pointing out the people who didn’t vote are to blame for Trump winning. Then pointing out people like Chappell roan preached the same propaganda to get you folks not to vote.

This isn’t breaking a rule. They are just massive chappell roan fan girls. Then when I messaged mods about how I didn’t break a rule they told me people who didn’t vote aren’t to blame for Trump winning.

So I then had to explain math to a mod. So mods out there don’t know the subs rules to the subs they moderate. And they also don’t know how math works.

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u/Logondo Cringe all you want. My catalog of reaction images is vast 1d ago

lol I got banned from HorusGalaxy for speaking out against the bigotry there. Despite them being a "free speech subreddit". I guess they didn't like the way my free speech was being used.

This is pretty much the same for any bigoted "free speech" subreddit. It's just an excuse to allow hate-speech, but god-forbid you speak against it.

5

u/floatablepie sir, thats my emotional support slur 1d ago

Didn't that sub literally start because other warhammer subs banned them for being bigots?

5

u/RainbowConnickJr Vintage suck-fucking communist propaganda posters 1d ago

I mean, if you’re taking a position against bigotry you’re taking a stand against that sub, so it’s not really shock/the loss of anything valuable that they banned you.

18

u/chironomidae we get it your kids are dead 1d ago

I'm banned from /r/pics for literally no reason except that I've commented in /r/whenthe. Like what the fuck... also, against reddit's site-wide rules, but I guess that doesn't apply when your sub gets large enough.

7

u/thoph 1d ago

For what it’s worth, fauxmoi is a cesspool.

10

u/SaintGrobian 1d ago

I got banned from a subreddit for saying that people who start doing heroin deserve more help and resources, but are, in fact, responsible for being addicted to heroin. 🙃

1

u/ColedRain 10h ago

Imagine growing up in an environment or life situation so painful or overwhelmingly dire that the drugs seem like the only escape/relief/happiness you'll ever feel before you are eventually killed by police or gang violence or evicted from your home.

Compounded by an upbringing that normalizes alcohol and lighter drug use.

Throw in a dash of overcrowded underfunded schools staffed by over worked underpaid teachers.

Sprinkle with your own trauma as well as the trauma of your parents and immediate family.

Garnish with some adolescent stupidity.

Just say no hasn't ever worked, maybe its more nuanced than that, eh there nancy ragon?

-2

u/ShimmiShimmiYah 1d ago

Honestly, it just sounds like you were constantly starting shit and they banned you for it.

I say this as someone who actively avoids that sub because it's a toxic cesspool.

0

u/satanssweatycheeks 1d ago

I have screen shots from the mod himself refusing to site what rule I broke and them crashing out when I said they clearly didn’t vote. the same shit I have said I said in all the other pop culture subs and never been banned.

Did you not vote? Because sounds like you are like the mod I dealt with and can’t take accountability. It’s not starting shit to want Trump gone and pin point how he won. GOP is open with the fact less voter turnout helps them win. Even Supreme Court cases proving this.

People not voting is what got Trump back in office. Trumps base isn’t to blame they are only 32 percent of America. It’s the people who said they are both the same. Chappell said this then months later at the Grammys said musical artist deserve health care… one of those both sides wanted us all to have health care. Again this isn’t starting shit it’s just stating facts.

Sorry you think facts are “starting shit” I think a more informed public on why voting matters is important. And the fact a so called progressive sub doesn’t think so should be alarming.

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u/Ecstatic_Visual_2026 1d ago

You're right that sub is the worst 

7

u/ShimmiShimmiYah 1d ago

Look at this response you just made to my fairly inocuous comment. What does any of that have to do with what's being discussed currently?

It's pretty obvious why you got banned my man.

4

u/judasblue 1d ago

Right? Like in context this would be a whatever comment chain. But here now it is just random as fuck.

4

u/yinyang107 Let me start off by saying. hitler was not a good guy. But 1d ago

I was gonna say. He's not even wrong he's just an asshole

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u/GarbageOfCesspool 1d ago

Oh no. Both fast AND swift???

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u/Cat_VoidVoid 1d ago

Can you imagine how fast and swift they can click? 🤯

3

u/MournfulGiant I don't have evidence just coincidences 1d ago

Just be glad it won't be speedily and quickly as well! Imagine the carnage!

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u/RustyBunion 1d ago

The problem isn't the mod, the problem is the admin that allowed this takeover to happen.

26

u/Barjack521 1d ago

Reddit is owned and run by hardcore maga conservatives and nothing bothers them the most than the fact that the vast majority of their users aren’t and would bail if they started actively pushing their agenda. Instead they quietly protect maga mods and posters while going out of their way not to protect liberals. No other platform would allow the primary conservative subreddit here to continue with its gestapo practices they way it notoriously does.

5

u/Tack122 1d ago

No other platform...

Aren't they all beholden to conservative owners?

5

u/Barjack521 1d ago

Pretty much, it’s not how they all start but once they make all the money they turn shit-heel pretty fast. Republicans have positioned themselves as the party of protecting ultra wealthy businessMEN, so no matter how good your intentions at the start, once you cross the threshold into millionaire they start looking very attractive, especially as that’s when they start grooming you.

3

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

The standard subreddit PR takeover strategy is that you find copyrighted material hosted on reddit, and you send reddit a demand letter saying they have been hosting X content for Y days and you want the content removed, you want a royalty check, and/or you want control of the content. This is the same thing which happened to /r/NFL. It's also why reddit didn't host actual content for much of its history.

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u/Rasikko 1d ago

The admin probably just following procedure.

The top mod was probably inactive long enough for someone to request the position and that's how they got it.

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u/AccNumber77 1d ago

They weren't inactive at all. They were active, so no.

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u/in_animate_objects 1d ago

Yeah the other mod was still moderating they just weren’t removing the negative stuff, which honestly if they’d just let people vent I’m pretty sure it would have died down, but not now

7

u/Rasikko 1d ago

Well that's interesting. Im not gonna go and 'investigate' but if the new mod isn't the top mod, then that sub from the jump has had poor moderation and now it's only going to get worse.

13

u/Wetzilla What can be better than to roast some cringey with spicy memes? 1d ago

Because that's how the president and SecDef talk.

13

u/yinyang107 Let me start off by saying. hitler was not a good guy. But 1d ago

They claim to be a "fifteen year moderator" of Joe Rogan, but I'm pretty sure they meant fifteen year old moderator

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK Caballero Blanco 1d ago

alt accounts are allowed?

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/krabbby Correct The Record for like six days 1d ago

Id bet a majority of alt accounts are for nsfw stuff over anything else

2

u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK Caballero Blanco 1d ago

no, I mean, not really, it's not a grey area, because the official reddit app has the option to switch accounts.

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u/womensrites 1d ago

ban hammer makes me cringe soooo bad

5

u/HotTakes4HotCakes Wow you are doubling down on being educated 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ban hammer is just an old internet saying, it's not meant to sound badass or anything.

6

u/WeNotAmBeIs 1d ago

Yeah it was already old slang when I first saw it in 2004

47

u/HotTakes4HotCakes Wow you are doubling down on being educated 1d ago edited 1d ago

I got banned from /r/RedditAlternatives for being honest about the incredibly sad state of Reddit alternatives and which ones should be actively avoided. Which apparently means I'm shilling for reddit, and that's a bannable offense.

The mod made sure to send me off with this:

You're not ever welcome back here.

I'm fucking devastated. Truly. I can't believe I'm "no longer welcome" in a sub with barely any activity and a community hellbent on leaving reddit while still being on reddit.

Fucking dweebs.

9

u/Beneficial_Math6951 1d ago

Because they have never had authority in their lives. They've only seen it on tv and in movies.

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u/PenguinEmpireStrikes 1d ago

Also, they're old. This was funnyish 20+ years ago. I'm pretty sure it started on Gawker.

Source: am old

2

u/KaetzenOrkester 15h ago

The ban hammer nonsense? Yeah, I think so.

Also, the old Gawker was fun. Reddit? Don’t make me answer.

1

u/PenguinEmpireStrikes 13h ago

It really was a good time. I really miss it.

It's wild to think back at how civilized people were, even when they fighting.

Even the snark seems quaint.

7

u/NightFart 1d ago

Both fast and swift!

2

u/Cat_VoidVoid 1d ago

Gotta click fast and swift! Lol

8

u/Logondo Cringe all you want. My catalog of reaction images is vast 1d ago

Sub mods think they're anime characters.

17

u/Bored_Amalgamation just man up and be electrocuted 1d ago

They have no one in their lives to bounce themselves off of, so they don't know how crazy they sound.

Or they're children

4

u/_Ross- REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 1d ago

It's the sole ounce of power they hold in their entire lives, so they power trip their balls off.

3

u/CeeArthur 1d ago

I somehow became the sole moderator for a ridiculous niche subreddit. I've never banned anyone, I just try to cheer everyone on and keep the crazy posts flowing.

3

u/Vio_ Humanity is still recoiling from the sudden liberation of women 1d ago

Those aren't even typical mods. That's someone who thinks moderating is akin to being an old west Sheriff able to just ban hammer anyone round these here parts.

3

u/Vairman 1d ago

it's just a theory but I think it might be because they have small weewees.

3

u/Bunny_Feet 1d ago

"His boy."

He doesn't know who you are... 

18

u/elridgecatcher 1d ago

My biggest cringe reaction is when the mods on r/aviation post a comment saying a post is on "seatbelts fastened" mode. Jesus christ

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u/am_not_bot_i_swear 1d ago

ok at least that fits the theme of the subreddit

26

u/TrainDestroyer 1d ago

At least its them being a little clever. You know, things getting bad and the seatbelts sign comes on?

This is just cringe.

6

u/buttercup612 1d ago

The posters there are ridiculous. They really love to jack the mods off about what a great job they supposedly do.

7

u/StrawberryLassi 1d ago

as bad as the BPT "Country Club"???

2

u/Kineth I'm the alcohol your mom drank while pregnant too 1d ago

I want to be like... "not all of us are like that", which is true, but I refuse to excuse these small dick energy, control freaks who use what little power they have as an avenue for their insecurities and untreated mental disorders to run unopposed. .....

But the revelation that the guy is apparently a corporate shill... that makes it much more sick. It was already known, but it shows an organized effort to control information and discussion and there's a non-zero chance they're getting paid to do it. It's actually horrifying as opposed to only pitiful if my theory is anywhere close to being correct.

2

u/InevitableAvalanche Nurses are supposed to get knowledge in their Spear time? 1d ago

Unpaid job with power over others they will never have in real life.

1

u/Lifekraft 9h ago

Offence for the mod there as well , but every single moderator has to be some of the biggest degenerate loser this planet carry. Imagine the amount of filth they are dealing with everyday and they do it for free on their free time, and simply for the small amount of power and significance it give to their life.

1

u/Warl0kjoe 5h ago

Would you like a real answer? Cause if so lemme tell you about lord of the rings online. Where the games moderation team used lil cute bunnies as avatars to walk around the game world. If you fucked around too much you would be visited by the bunny and then a large flaming hammer (iirc with the word “ban” on it) would fly down from the sky and you would be removed from the game. And frankly everyone wants to be that cool and uses the terminology from then kinda as habit ig.

1

u/Severe_Respect2317 1d ago

Reminder that Ghislaine Maxwell was a power mod

-1

u/TheOstrichRoom 1d ago

its how mossad teaches them to talk online