Who is Andrew Callaghan? YouTuber apologizes after sexual misconduct allegations

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Andrew Callaghan, independent filmmaker and host of YouTube channels All Gas No Breaks and Channel5, released an apology video addressing the sexual misconduct allegations that were made against him in early January.

The 25-year-old posted the nearly five-minute apology video to YouTube on Sunday, January 15, in which he responded to the allegations made against him. Callaghan began the video by thanking everyone who has spoken out over the past week about his behavior and said he plans to seek professional treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous.

However, the documentary maker maintained that he always took no for an answer and that several stories about him online are not true and lack important background information.

I never thought I’d do a video like this, but I think there’s an important conversation to be had and I just want to be fully accountable, honest and transparent with all of you Callaghan started the video. So, I would like to start by thanking everyone who has come out in the last week to talk about the different ways my behavior has made them feel uncomfortable or pressured in a sexual situation, and to the people who have said that I had made unwanted advances and that I was having a hard time with the rejection.

The This Place Rules filmmaker also apologized for his silence since the sexual misconduct allegations first surfaced online, saying he was in a state of denial and shock.

Callaghan added that he wanted to clarify some things about the allegations against him, saying: I’ve always taken no for an answer when it comes to consent. I never crossed that line. But I think I want to have a more nuanced and meaningful conversation about power dynamics, pressure, and coercion. Because, like I said, I think for a long time I behaved in ways that I thought were normal.

The All Gas No Brakes host admitted he thought persistence was a form of flattery and that if someone was reluctant to his sexual advances it meant they were playing hard to get.

I think, mostly, I realized when so many young people, especially young men, jumped in to defend me when this stuff started coming out, that this type of sexual pest behavior is normalized, and a lot many people think this stuff is normal when I don’t think it is, he says. And I think I want to take full responsibility for not having a fluent understanding of consent and what enthusiastic, two-way consent looks like.

Andrew Callaghan posts apology video after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct

However, Callaghan argued that a lot of the things that have been said about me online are not true and lack really important background information that I think would change people’s interpretation of a lot of these situations.

But I’m not here to invalidate anyone’s lived experience, he continued. If you feel pressured, you know, that’s exactly what it is. I hope young people, and young men in particular, can use my mistakes to learn and grow in life with a better understanding of consent.

The reporter went on to explain that he would begin therapy sessions pretty much immediately and cited his relationship with alcohol as a contributing factor to my poor decision making. Callaghan said he planned to join the 12-step program for Alcoholics Anonymous and wanted to step back from public life to understand me.

I hope this will reach the ears of all those who felt touched by me. I’d like to contact you, or you can even contact me just to say I’m sorry. I truly apologize and thank you all, he said, before apologizing to his friends, family and associates who have worked with him in the past.

That said, if you never want to watch Channel5 again, I understand, he concluded. I hope you remember the missions of radical empathy and media literacy that we tried to bring to life through our coverage.

Who is Andrew Callaghan?

Andrew Callaghan is a freelance journalist who rose to prominence with his YouTube series All Gas No Breaks, in which he interviewed the likes of Bigfoot hunters and right-wing protesters. He then launched a spin-off YouTube series, called Channel5.

On December 30, 2022, his documentary film titled This Place Rules was released on HBO Max. His first documentary film featured Callaghan interviewing people involved in the events leading up to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.

What are the allegations?

Sexual misconduct allegations against Callaghan began to surface just weeks after the release of her first documentary film.

In early January, a woman named Caroline Elise posted a since-deleted TikTok video in which she described her alleged experience with Callaghan which took place in March 2021. Elise, who goes by @cornbreadasserole on TikTok, said in her video that she had allowed Callaghan to stay at her house for the night after he got into a fight with one of her crew, but made it very clear that we weren’t connecting, per Rolling Stone.

Although she told Callaghan she wasn’t interested in sleeping with him, he eventually got my consent because he exhausted me, she said in the video. I said nonsense because I was trying to get it over with, that doesn’t take into account the fact that I told him no. [He] yet found a way to make me do things I didn’t want to do.

Elise said she decided to come forward after seeing Callaghan rise to popularity because it is even harder to relive the trauma I endured every day seeing this man as a social justice warrior, as someone ‘one who cares about human rights, get a platform,’ she said. You shouldn’t support him.

Another TikToker named Dana who goes @moldyfreckle on the app posted several videos a few days later claiming Callaghan forced her to have sex with him in 2019. She said Caroline Elises’ video had motivated to come forward and added that she wanted other women who he affected to feel comfortable talking about.

In her video, Dana alleged that she was driving Callaghan home when he started touching her inner thigh, kissed her neck and tried to put his hand down her pants without her consent. I told him to stop. I told her to let go of me several times, she said in the clip. He tried to put my hand in his pants and I fought him during it, telling him to please stop.

Since then, other women have come forward to describe their alleged experiences with Callaghan, including a report from Seattle-based publication The Stranger, where Callaghan is from.

Andrew Callaghans legal representative responds to sexual misconduct allegations

On Thursday, January 12, Callaghan’s legal representative released a statement on his behalf. In the statement, the spokesperson said Andrew is devastated to be accused of any type of physical or mental coercion against anyone. Conversations about pressure and consent are extremely important and Andrew wants to have these conversations, so he can continue to learn and grow.

Andrew promises to be better at it, while reminding his audience that even if one involved partner is too many, there are always many sides to a story, the rep said, according to NBC News. Andrew is fully committed to working with the appropriate professionals to better understand himself and how he can grow and improve as a human being, especially with his growing platform and the vulnerabilities it brings.

Who spoke out against Andrew Callaghan?

Since the sexual misconduct allegations surfaced, comedian Tim Heidecker, who co-produced Callaghans documentary This Place Rules, announced he had severed all ties with the reporter.

During an episode of his Office Hours podcast last week, Heidecker said he has no plans to work with Callaghan again.

“It’s been a very painful week for us, a very difficult experience to deal with,” Heidecker said. Of course, were aware of the allegations. We take them very seriously. It was very sad and disappointing, to say the least.

I just want to clarify a few things. We have no professional relationship with Andrew at this time and do not intend to have a relationship with him in the future.

We produced the film, and I feel bad that this film is now linked to these allegations because very good people worked very hard on it, he added. But this is just a movie, and I mean we believe these women who have come forward and, of course, totally condemn the type of behavior that Andrews is accused of. I believe it is up to Andrew to respond to these allegations and to do so openly and honestly. I really hope he does as soon as possible.

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