Trashfire The Great Mega64 Grooming Allegations Shitshow of 2021 - Psycho ex-girlfriends retroactively revoke their consent 5 years later and try to ruin their famous boyfriends' lives!

[Esotericism]

I'm saying that it isn't a message to the Ashley making these allegations. It's most likely a message to no one. It's much more likely that is a parody of some nobody's original video.

I'm in the "defend Rocco" camp, but I do find this unlikely. It's specifically to Ashley V. and the title is a reference to Mexican coke and guess what? Ashley is Mexican. I wouldn't be surprised if he met her prior and then waited until she was legal to show her the power of the Disneyland Pimp.

 

[rydoo]

no idea how this wasnt removed

Edit: Added Robert Patrick Faggot's vids

 

[Dick Waters]

I was spelunking around for tips about which after-shows contain which topics, but I found this, it's a complete chat log of Mega64 Podcast 111, albeit with piss words censored.

At 22:02, someone asks Ashley when she'll call again. Which means Ashley first call was somewhere between the first live episode (101) and this episode below (111). 104, 108, 109, and 110 don't have an aftershow, because they weren't streamed live, but rather edited, so those can be safely skipped.

mega64 podcast live chat log 111 - GS4302

this is a personal site

sites.google.com

I think it might also be interesting to locate when was the last time Ashley ever interacted with the podcast in a positive way, before her relationship with Rocco ended.

The screenshots of the Charlotte 4chan thread, happened around April 21st 2015. Apparently, Rocco also took a break from the internet after this, but his Twitter history from 2015 is scrubbed. However, looking at his personnal YouTube channel, you can find a slightly significant time gap between

STAR WARS CELEBRATION!!!! (April 20th, 2015)​

And

STAR WARS RANT 2- NOT A HAPPY CAMPER (REVENGE OF THE 5TH RUINED BY JJ THE TYRANT) (May 5th, 2015)​

Which were sandwiched in a upload schedule of more consistently bi-weekly videos. Rocco was also not present for Episodes 255 (April 15th) and 256 (April 22nd) of the podcast and returned to the show on Episode 257 (April 29th).

 

[Great President of McHell]

Damn what the fuck was in those covid vaccines, seems like ever week we get new sexual misconduct allegations that follow the exact same formula and all flop the same way
>Scorned terminally online ex
>Psycho friends/orbiters pushing it
>Relationship was years ago
>Nothing even close to illegal occurred
>Controversy fizzles out in less than a week

Welcome to #metoo2: Autism Reloaded

 

[Titos]

I don't care if Rocco raped 50 puppies and then my grandmas corpse or not, them not doing the Christmascast least year is a truly unforgiveable action.
But in all seriousness that bitch is ugly as fuck and Rocco can probably score better, he wouldn't need to groom her.

 

[Ducks Sorted in a Row]

Rocco Botte of famous internet skit comedy show Mega64 has been accused of "grooming" his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Veja,

Oh no, that's terrible, I liked his content too. I wo-

when she was 19.

I don't think I've ever had my sympathy for someone drop quite that fast before, and it only gets worse after reading the rest of it. Once again we have hoes mad x27 making it increasingly hard for victims of real grooming/abuse to come out. What a joke.

 

[KoekenBakker]

So another Mega64 former fan here. I can basically support most of the stuff all the other former fans in this and other threads have said about them. They were really funny to watch and it was almost cult-like to follow every single podcast, aftershow, personal channel videos etc. I used to really watch it all for a long period of time. A lot of their opinions actually formed me back in the day. However, like most have said, they went downhill after around 2015 and most definitely when they got older, the Version 4 movie never got released (and never will) while keep begging for money on their patreon.

One of the biggest gripes of mine is their fanbase. They're an almost religious cult that worship every single thing they release, will buy every single dumb shirt they release, and gladly subscribe to the highest tier of patreon for even more dumb consoomer useless materialstic stuff. Since 2015, they have never released so many videos as before. The Patreon was supposed to facilitate more videos coming out, it had the opposite effect.
They're fanbase will basically support every single thing they do, I've never experienced such a huge echo chamber. Basically all the comments on their videos are in-jokes that only experienced fans would get. There is almost no interaction between fans, it's just praising their work and donating to them. Even Rocco has said in his recent response to the Ashley allegations, that it is an echoe chamber. They don't take criticism very well either, like some of the others have said they would usually make fun of someone or your opinion if it isn't theirs. That always used to bother me a bit.

Then there is Rocco himself, who basically is, a man child, albeit a very talented one in the sense he can make great post-ironic videos, almost bordering the ones of Sam Hyde early days. However, he is a giant man child, he will validate his opinions on the podcast so much, every, single, time. If he has an obscure opinion on something, he will make sure that everyone gets it times a million. It is super annyoing and actually one of the reasons I just straight up stopped watching their podcast. He is very dominating and vocal about his very obscure opinions on for example, Evangelion DVD release dates or that kinda stuff. Worst thing is his shameless materialism of figures. You can literally see the Patreon money going towards the most useless and expensive figures you've ever seen. At this point I'm not sure if it's a gag or he is literally addicted to buying useless figurines.

What sucks is that I know that Derrick is the one of the group that is basically the ego one. He is the one that will pursue beeing greedy, because they deserve it, according to him. Derrick is really funny and intelligent as well, but man can he be elitist and selfish. Sometimes he has the morals of a teenager, in the sense he will just straight up say they deserve more views, more money and they should never feel guilty about asking for more money to their fans. I can just imagine Rocco second doubting a decision but Derrick backing it up because of some self righteous feeling. Derrick also used to have a little controversy when he made fun of mininum wage workers that should be happy to have their job when you just leave your shit in the cinema and don't clean it up yourself.

Shawn is basically a family man, I got banned from their twitter for asking why someone his age would have that many children in today's age and economy (he got like 5 or 6 children). In fact, I also got banned from their subreddit (again, major echo chamber) because I kept bringing up their false promises over Version 4 and the Patreon money. They really don't like criticism, at all. I think the reason giving for the ban was that I was being too negative and they don't need that. I never figured out who mods their subreddit.
So yeah, they don't take critcism well and their fans are programmed to echo chamber every single thing and opinion they say.

Going back to the original controversy, in hindsight it's quite easy to see where things could go wrong. They are an internetgroup since before YouTube, and were in the early YouTube days already active. They formed a community quite fast, and started doing podcasts very quickly, followed up by meetings at Disneyland and other places. Considering how many internet me too stories are being shared, it's not crazy to think they all had the opportunity to most definitely get some girls while they were vulnerable in that early 2009- ish years.

We now know Rocco most definitely had contact with Ashley when she was younger than 18, they had long podcast calls and he wished her a happy birthday in that rockband video. A fact I haven't seen yet is that Ashley actually came on the podcast, physically, multiple times. The most recent one had to be in 2014 or 2015 I think, maybe 2013? I remember Rachel (Kevin's fiancee) being there, with Ashley and someone else. Rocco was not there. I remember it because Rocco would say on the next podcast that Ashley didn't say anything while she was there the week before. Really hard to find this one, since Mega64 actively deletes most of their old stuff (everything with the word faggot, which they uttered A LOT back in the day) and also other stuff. They're really keen to go George Lucas and delete stuff they don't like. A lot of their old stuff is already gone because of that. I'm suprised no one mentioned this fairly recent podcast though, since Ashley was there on air and didn't say anything. It must have been around 2013-2015, since Rachel was also there.

Someone else also brought this up, but there used to be this inside joke that whenever sex got mentioned on the podcast they would make fun of Rocco. Famous examples include Rocco making up fake stories about how crazy sex stories, which were obviously fake, and the one where they made fun Rocco doesn't know where the clit is. I was always confused by these jokes since it was implied Rocco was some kind of virigin who isn't interested in relationships. Boy, do we know now.

The fact Rocco literally flew over a fan to have sex is perhaps the most overlooked part of this, and this doesn't get addressed in Rocco's statements. It was this that caused the turmblr post of Ashley back in 2015. I actually posted that tumblr post once to their subreddit, but it got rubbed off as being a 4chan fake.

There's probably some more overlooked stuff too. There has been so much stuff, older videos, podcasts that have actively been deleted by them over the years. I wouldn't be suprised if more comes out now. Jose, which I believe was Frank's girlfriend for many years, exposed Bryan now too. Frank himself also mentioned that while he collaborated with Mega64 for many years, they paid him for the Flametheatre work, but soonly after dismissed him without really having a conversation about it. They seem to have a trackrecord of treating people who work for them, who are not in the original in-group, pretty bad. As they grow older as a group but also as individuals, it's easier to see where the cracks are showing up.

 

[black_lodge]

Back to Ashley- their "personal channel" videos would often document their regular lives, and the rise and fall of certain relationships with people. You can even find one from 2010 where Rocco mentions Ashley in the description when she was, according to her, 15 or 16? (she misspeaks in the first video in the OP, I think she was 15 in 2009, not 2019). I'm not saying that Rocco can't have fans take pictures with him at Disneyland, but he's dedicating a personal video to a 16 year old. This also deflates his "statement" where he brushes that picture with her off as a random fan coming to say hi to him, and they weren't friends until years later:

Spoiler

Rocco's statement:

View attachment 2182438

This is most likely referring to Ashley Vendettie(spelling?) she was a frequent caller on the Aftershow and active forum member in the 2010's-11's.

Mega64 Podcast 113 Aftershow - Ashley's Call

Wheelchair skit, happiest memory, pets, first kiss, hardest you've ever laughed

www.youtube.com

 

[Product Placement]

Used to be a Mega64 fan before I bought Version 1 and 2

 

[Mr. Frosty]

This is most likely referring to Ashley Vendettie(spelling?) she was a frequent caller on the Aftershow and active forum member in the 2010's-11's.

Mega64 Podcast 113 Aftershow - Ashley's Call

Wheelchair skit, happiest memory, pets, first kiss, hardest you've ever laughed

www.youtube.com

Oh, you may be right, it could be her. I think her name was Ashley Anne Vendetti.

I may need to retract my statement.

 

[Crippled_Retard]

Shawn is basically a family man, I got banned from their twitter for asking why someone his age would have that many children in today's age and economy (he got like 5 or 6 children).

You are absolute soy.

 

[Neil]

And just like the CallmeCarson drama, Jules has finally (somewhat) realized how stupid it was for her (and Ashley) to call Rocco a "groomer".
But unlike the Carson drama, no damage has been done to Rocco's career because of how flimsy and stupid this shit was.

She still made one final attempt at salvaging her credibility by arguing that "adult grooming" is somehow a real thing equivalent to child grooming.
Someone who can do this many mental gymnastics to justify making claims like this is fucking dangerous.

Starfuckers, man. Starfuckers.

 

[Patriarchy]

Really hard to find this one, since Mega64 actively deletes most of their old stuff (everything with the word faggot, which they uttered A LOT back in the day)

this is one of my favorites

Famous examples include Rocco making up fake stories about how crazy sex stories, which were obviously fake, and the one where they made fun Rocco doesn't know where the clit is.

that would be derrick, not rocco

 

[Dick Waters]

Found out Ashley Vela was in ChristmasCast 2014:

https://mega64.org/archives/main-shows/0333%2012.23.14%20(Uncensored).mp4

https://mega64.org/archives/aftershows/Mega64%20Live!%20333%20ChristmasCast%202014%2012.21.14.mp4

 

[AllMightyCow]

This private information is unavailable to guests due to policies enforced by third-parties.

 

[Dick Waters]

So another Mega64 former fan here. I can basically support most of the stuff all the other former fans in this and other threads have said about them. They were really funny to watch and it was almost cult-like to follow every single podcast, aftershow, personal channel videos etc. I used to really watch it all for a long period of time. A lot of their opinions actually formed me back in the day. However, like most have said, they went downhill after around 2015 and most definitely when they got older, the Version 4 movie never got released (and never will) while keep begging for money on their patreon.

One of the biggest gripes of mine is their fanbase. They're an almost religious cult that worship every single thing they release, will buy every single dumb shirt they release, and gladly subscribe to the highest tier of patreon for even more dumb consoomer useless materialstic stuff. Since 2015, they have never released so many videos as before. The Patreon was supposed to facilitate more videos coming out, it had the opposite effect.
They're fanbase will basically support every single thing they do, I've never experienced such a huge echo chamber. Basically all the comments on their videos are in-jokes that only experienced fans would get. There is almost no interaction between fans, it's just praising their work and donating to them. Even Rocco has said in his recent response to the Ashley allegations, that it is an echoe chamber. They don't take criticism very well either, like some of the others have said they would usually make fun of someone or your opinion if it isn't theirs. That always used to bother me a bit.

This is the response I've been waiting for. Mega64 to me feels like such an unique beast when it comes to creators who fell from grace. They never really fell, but they never really rose either. Every time they could have become big, they basically shot themselves in the foot. It's good to stay true to youself and have integrity, but you shouldn't be stupidly overconfident or completely ignore any criticism that doesn't come from a place of pure worship. They could've been as big, if not bigger than Smosh or AVGN, had they played their cards right. But their downfall is always prevented by those loyal fans they have left.

I also think Mega64 is Nostalgia Pornography to some people who grew up with Mega64, watching their old vids in 2007, who haven't been able to move on to other content creators and that wish that they could be 12 again and make stupid videos with their friends. The early videos of Mega64 have such a nostalgic feel to them in hindsight, it almost feels feverish in a weird way. The colourful beauty of San Diego, the stupid pranks being pulled on unsuspecting pedestrians, the funny goofy humor of the skits, and the warm cozy feeling of the podcast and the personnal channel videos.

I feel like Mega64 now is capitalizing on people not being able to grow up from that childhood you-can-do-anything attitude, and the people watching are vicariously trying to live their lives through Mega64, because the outside world of Twitter is much more somber. Mega64 are their parasocial friends, and so are their fellow internet soldiers. Real life? That's the place I can show off my cool new Mega64 merch. I also bought all the posters, the hoodies, the records, the Blu-Rays. I have Mega64 on my mind 24/7. If I close my eyes, I see Garrett, Shawn, Rocco, and Derrick on the podcast set.

They are a cult of Nostalgia Millenials, stuck in perpetual childhood, just like the hosts themselves. I'm just glad I got out, before it was too late. Now, I'm trying to move on with my life by doing slightly less spergy things than watching Mega64, feeling way better already.

 

[Dom Cruise]

One of the funniest things Woke feminists have tried to push is the idea that if there's any age gap between a man and a woman at all, even if the woman is a legal adult, that somehow counts as "grooming" or some type of sexual assault.

Because nothing says "feminism" like taking away any sort of self actualization or personal responsibility even out of adult women's hands and leaving all the big decisions up to men, so empowering!

 

[Pissmaster]

This is the response I've been waiting for. Mega64 to me feels like such an unique beast when it comes to creators who fell from grace. They never really fell, but they never really rose either. Every time they could have become big, they basically shot themselves in the foot. It's good to stay true to youself and have integrity, but you shouldn't be stupidly overconfident or completely ignore any criticism that doesn't come from a place of pure worship. They could've been as big, if not bigger than Smosh or AVGN, had they played their cards right. But their downfall is always prevented by those loyal fans they have left.

They've always been a little bit caustic. It always seemed strange that they very rarely ever collaborated with anyone else, despite being in California, and being around long enough to have a video about a Dreamcast game while it was still new. I never got to meet any of them in person, but I always wondered if Rocco had a certain way about him that repelled most people.

Speaking of AVGN, he's always had a nice way about him when addressing the fans, though he keeps his distance. Mega64's never really felt bad about treating fans like shit when he thinks it's funny, with lots of little shit like hanging up on callers abruptly or being pithy and rude. Nothing big enough to really call him out on, but its been a consistent thing throughout their entire run. That always put me off.

And the podcast, there were periods where they'd go as much as three weeks unannounced without uploading a new one, and I think a few anniversary ones were just a couple of minutes of them dancing celebrating a milestone, and nothing else for that week. There was also a time where they'd randomly scream as loud as they could into their microphones to be funny, and the fanbase just kinda... took it? I remember reading a comment on one that was like, "i forgot, no headphones with the boyz". Instead of, you know, getting on them for being fucking obnoxious and blowing your eardrums out. It's the one podcast I've ever seen where you just can't trust them enough to wear headphones. Even Cum Town, as chill and off-the-cuff as they are, levels out the audio whenever they scream. Their sponsorships got worse and worse over time, shilling beanbag chairs and LootCrate™, sometimes taking like 20 minutes to even get to the actual show, which'll have yet another sponsor and a plug for their countless shirts halfway through.

I remember speaking to you a while ago, really thinking about how to do a thread on them, and what I ultimately concluded is that those of us who had been with them for a long, long time built up a shitload of resentment over so much small stuff and their decline in quality around 2015, but there was just nothing big and major we can point to and get outsiders to laugh at. Rocco's a shitty person and a total manchild, but he's also not stupid and understands how the internet works. He tows all the right lines as to not get in trouble, and he's got a comfortable, generous income that he's not about to fuck with. Shit, anyone whose followed them for years could tell you that Rocco's statement in the OP is full of crocodile tears. He treats his own fans like shit, so why would Ashley be an exception?

It's pretty frustrating, and it's telling how long-time fans like you, me, and @KoekenBakker can write entire novels whenever Mega64 comes up. There's plenty of little shit to pull up in the podcast archives to laugh at, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna listen to over a thousand hours of zero-effort content to timestamp. It was sad to see a fun podcast turn into a giant cynical "let's milk the fans for all they're worth" situation, but, whatever. I wrote about that in more detail a while ago in Obscure Laughingstocks.

like every time a chick would be on their podcast it was normally because Rocco orbited her and wanted to slam.

lol, probably true. Let's see if Mariel Cartwright ever throws Rocco under the bus. It wouldn't even be her first rodeo

edit, Rocco's statement:

That relationship in particular keeps being brought up, and it was a murky and awful one from many years ago. Way back then, I had no idea how to treat people or consider their feelings. This relationship was one where she was a lot younger than me- she was 19 and I was in my late 20’s- and I had no idea there was even an issue with that. It never even came up back then, and we began seeing each other. In retrospect, I understand how it looks, but at the time nearly a decade ago, I had no concept of any kind of specific dynamic or imbalance.
But I was a huge fucking idiot. I was never clear about how I saw that relationship, and I wasn’t there for her in any way she needed. I was scared to end the relationship, so I saw other people. I figured this was fine since we weren’t calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. But that was just an excuse. I couldn’t confront anything real, because I was a coddled baby, and I handled it like a dishonest, dipshit coward. It was the worst regret of my life to that point. Knowing I hurt them was pain I didn’t know I could cause. It was the wake up call I needed. I apologized to her in every way I could. And to this day- I am SO sorry.

Rocco was born in December 1984, so his late 20s would have ended in 2014, so the entire time he was with Ashley, he was doing the podcast. I don't remember him ever speaking about any of his relationships, nor seeming troubled at any point over his. His confident, cocky attitude was never shaken, even the slightest. Hm.

I renounced everything about the way I was- my attitude, the way I am towards other people, all of it. I got therapy and reached out to anyone else I felt had been affected, too, to apologize for who I was. I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I hated that person. I have spent years getting away from this behavior and trying to be more vocal about making sure other people aren’t poisoned like I was.

Hell, if anything, he just seemed to get worse into his 30s.

 

[Win98SE]

I feel like Mega64 now is capitalizing on people not being able to grow up from that childhood you-can-do-anything attitude, and the people watching are vicariously trying to live their lives through Mega64, because the outside world of Twitter is much more somber. Mega64 are their parasocial friends, and so are their fellow internet soldiers. Real life? That's the place I can show off my cool new Mega64 merch. I also bought all the posters, the hoodies, the records, the Blu-Rays. I have Mega64 on my mind 24/7. If I close my eyes, I see Garrett, Shawn, Rocco, and Derrick on the podcast set.

I'm not sure they intentionally cultivated it, but I agree. Mega64 is probably the best example of the parasocial effect I can think of. From airing out personal issues on camera, openly discussing relationships, entertaining weirdly personal calls from fans, having meetups, etc., I think some of the lonelier and less socially-aware fans of theirs probably feel pretty close to them. It didn't feel predatory until the Patreon launch, after which it just seemed like they realized people would just buy anything they put out and went totally insane on new merch. They probably have, what, 50+ shirts now? Multiple compilation DVDs? I even heard talk of a book recently. It's really out of hand.

And the podcast, there were periods where they'd go as much as three weeks unannounced without uploading a new one, and I think a few anniversary ones were just a couple of minutes of them dancing celebrating a milestone, and nothing else for that week. There was also a time where they'd randomly scream as loud as they could into their microphones to be funny, and the fanbase just kinda... took it? I remember reading a comment on one that was like, "i forgot, no headphones with the boyz". Instead of, you know, getting on them for being fucking obnoxious and blowing your eardrums out. It's the one podcast I've ever seen where you just can't trust them enough to wear headphones. Even Cum Town, as chill and off-the-cuff as they are, levels out the audio whenever they scream. Their sponsorships got worse and worse over time, shilling beanbag chairs and LootCrate™, sometimes taking like 20 minutes to even get to the actual show, which'll have yet another sponsor and a plug for their countless shirts halfway through.

The worst period of the podcast was when they got sponsored by Razer and had to use their shitty gaming mics for like 6 months. Of all the battles they could choose to fight, getting pissed off at fans who couldn't boost their volume high enough to hear the fucking podcast or were tired of riding the volume knob every 10 seconds wasn't one I think they'd take.

Also, there's a Cum Town bit where Nick finds Mega64 on IMDB. Speaking of which, Mega64 should copy Cum Town's approach to ads, i.e., turning every ad read into a 30 minute segment where they say increasingly fucked up things about the sponsor until Nick finally sorts through a mountain of paper work and finds the promo code.

 

[Pissmaster]

I'm not sure they intentionally cultivated it, but I agree. Mega64 is probably the best example of the parasocial effect I can think of. From airing out personal issues on camera, openly discussing relationships, entertaining weirdly personal calls from fans, having meetups, etc., I think some of the lonelier and less socially-aware fans of theirs probably feel pretty close to them. It didn't feel predatory until the Patreon launch, after which it just seemed like they realized people would just buy anything they put out and went totally insane on new merch. They probably have, what, 50+ shirts now? Multiple compilation DVDs? I even heard talk of a book recently. It's really out of hand.

Hell, just trying to build out a complete Mega64 DVD set would be nearly impossible unless you personally knew one of the boyz. They did con-exclusive DVDs for every big convention they went to, and IIRC those all tended to have exclusive videos. Good luck trying to track down a DVD from an internet group that was only distributed at Comic-Con 16 years ago, before YouTube was even a thing.

But, yeah, their parasocial effect hit me hard. I guess you could say they were oddly ahead of their time, with how much fan interaction they've always done, long before streamers became a thing and made parasocial relationships common. I don't think any of us had ever seen an internet group be so open about their lives before.

Shouts out to Dominic Botte, Rocco's brother, he's a cool guy

The worst period of the podcast was when they got sponsored by Razer and had to use their shitty gaming mics for like 6 months. Of all the battles they could choose to fight, getting pissed off at fans who couldn't boost their volume high enough to hear the fucking podcast or were tired of riding the volume knob every 10 seconds wasn't one I think they'd take.

Also, there's a Cum Town bit where Nick finds Mega64 on IMDB. Speaking of which, Mega64 should copy Cum Town's approach to ads, i.e., turning every ad read into a 30 minute segment where they say increasingly fucked up things about the sponsor until Nick finally sorts through a mountain of paper work and finds the promo code.

Yeah, that was a funny one. Too bad they didn't stand up to Razer and insist on either better microphones, or they'd kick the sponsorship deal.