Andrew Callaghan – Hero, Villain, or something else entirely?

I wanted to write this article about 2 years ago, when I was freshly livid after attending his film screening for his debut documentary This Place Rules. I write with passion when I’m angry, and I get super sassy, but sadly this will be a dulled attempt at rekindling that rage from 2 years ago. Read below if you dare, or if you’re interested in Andrew Callaghan. To be honest I’m not really mad anymore. This isn’t going to be my best work as there’s no fuel to my fire, and that’s ok. I’m not even sure I can answer the question I ask in the title of this blog post. 

I first discovered Andrew Callaghan on his previous YouTube  channel All Gas No Brakes (he no longer uses it, and now posts on Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan) , and instantly thought he was a funny dude with a fresh approach to internet content. His idea was pretty genius in my opinion. He would dress up in a suit, have his friend bring a camera to film, and attend extremely charged events and interview strangers at these tension-filled events. I’m not sure how many interviews he’d conduct, but I’m guessing quite a few, then he’d compile the standout interviews, likely edit the shit out of them, and label each video with the name of the event. Examples of the types of events would be the Portland BLM Protests or Proud Boys Rally. Not every event was political though, as he’d also attend fringe culture events like alien expos, porn conventions, etc.  

I won’t lie, I quickly became a Stan as I found him to be quite funny, but also quick-witted and incisive in his interviews. I also thought what he was doing was important in many cases. He did a phenomenal segment where he went to Ukraine right when the war had kicked off and interview Ukrainians. Another standout is when he went to Chicago’s most notoriously rough neighborhood called the “O Block” and interviewed people there. He’s also gone to areas with homeless encampments and interviewed homeless people, which is dope. In other words, he’s given voices to the voiceless. 

That said, you could make a strong argument that most of his videos are exploitative. He has interviewed quite a few people who seem to be extremely inebriated, mentally ill, or aggressively trolling. Possibly a combination of all three. He should interview me! It works though right? He built a huge following. He no doubt has made a lot of money. 

Who is he though? And who am I to judge him? Truth be told, I don’t know him, and you don’t know him, so anything we do here is speculation. He did have allegations of sexual misconduct made by multiple women in early 2023, which caused him to shut down his channel for a bit. He came back this year in 2024. The allegations are definitely creepy, but not career-ending. 

The reason I wanted to write this article 2 years ago was because of the tour of his original documentary that I named above. He was at the peak of his popularity, and was planning to release his documentary on HBO Max. He was very smart to capitalize and turn it into a tour around the country, advertising that there would be a screening of the documentary. 

Of course the tickets sold out almost instantaneously, for $50 a pop. I got two, and decided to take my dad, because the documentary was about the January 6 Insurrection, which is a topic that I thought my liberal dad would enjoy. We arrived at the event on time. 

I’ve been to a lot of events, concerts, comedy shows, etc. This was by far the biggest cash grab I’ve ever witnessed, and the worst “show” I’ve ever seen. He started it off with a video of people peeing and shitting on each other at a kink festival in San Francisco. Then he had all of the recurring characters on his show come out to the stage and rap. I’d rather have watched him light those people on fire. Then he showed a few clips of the film, none that were interesting. He offered up more recurring characters, a few more rap “performances”, then ended the whole thing after about 45 minutes. 

My dad said right after “your generation is fucked”. In that moment I had no debate. This show alone convinced me that Andrew Callaghan is a money-hungry piece of shit. The sexual misconduct allegations also feed into him being a pos. I guess nobody’s perfect, but fuck Andrew Callaghan until he refunds me my $100 bill. And stop creeping out women bro, though to be honest, I’ll bet 99% of men have creeped out at least one woman in their lives. Not because all men are pigs, but because it is truly difficult to be the initiator in potentially sexual relationships. There I go defending my gender. Sigh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About

The Author

I wrote this blog for a few reasons. One is because nobody in my circle of friends ever puts me on to music or things that are dope that I haven't heard about (step your game up friends!) as few people nerd out as hard as me on the dumb things I focus on. The other and main reason is because I am so tired of The NeedleDrop and Pitchfork, from the way Fantano talks about music, to the way that Pitchfork writes about it. Both cause me physical pain to read or watch, yet I for some reason occasionally check their review scores, because they are the only sites I know that do stay on top of music (to a degree), and they focus on genres that I'm not tapped into, so occasionally I find something good. Is it worth the pain? No. So let me save you the pain, by only sharing with you my favorites, and maybe you'll find a new favorite. Oh and I also love talking shit, so I'll do that too, but this blog is about showing love to great art.