Update: Night Owl Cinematics lawyers up to demand ‘malicious attacks’ taken down
YouTube collective Night Owl Cinematics is exploding in feeds today after being called out anonymously for all sorts of alleged misconduct.
Conversations and recordings purportedly of employees and cofounder Sylvia Chan surfaced via Instagram, where an account cited current and former employees complaining about the channel’s work ethics, toxic culture, and misdeeds by Chan including allegations she insulted employees and rumors of infidelity.
Colgate, Milo drop Night Owl Cinematics founder accused of fostering ‘toxic’ culture
Posts on the Sgcickenrice account, which has accrued more than 10,000 followers in six days, include negative job reviews from former employees describing a “toxic” work environment and “disrespectful culture.” They also detailed how channel talents treat the crew “terribly,” overwork employees and even an office rat problem.
The posts could not be independently verified. Night Owl Cinematics, one of Singapore’s most popular channels with more than a million subscribers, has yet to respond publicly. It did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Screenshots of text conversations said to be from Chan called employees “fucking retarded,” “fucking shit,” ”fucking extra,” even telling one she named a “selfish noisy slut” to “talk lesser.” Another thread of text messages suggests that Chan dissed occasional host Samantha Tan as “annoying” and a “fuck face.”
Several people also spread very personal rumors about Chan’s former marriage to cofounder Ryan Tan, the two of which leveraged their relationship as part of their brand, presenting themselves as exemplary business and life partners.
Comments alleged that she had an affair with the cofounder of buy-and-sell platform Carousell during their marriage, which ended in divorce last year after 10 years.
“Before [R]yan and [S]ylvia got divorced I saw her behaving intimately with the Carousell boss (Marcus) at a hotel restaurant. She obviously cheated on [R]yan, maybe that’s why they got a divorce?” the screenshot of the comment by an unnamed user wrote.
The company also fielded lawyers to mediate routine contract matters rather than a human resources department, with employees complaining that they had received no response to their recent resignations. Some said that they were removed from the channel’s media kit. One alleged “lack of management support and talent development” and another described their relationship with the channel as “extremely confusing.”
Night Owl is best known for producing food reviews, lifestyle vlogs and comedy skits.
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