Donut Media Losts Three Hosts in the Span of One Summer — What's Happening Over There?

If you happen to be someone who enjoys both comedy and car at the same time, then chances are you've been subscribed to Donut Media for a while now. Founded in 2015, this popular YouTube channel is known for its content centered around "automotive history". The channel features many different shows focusing on different brands, models, and car repair tips to please any car enthusiast on the internet. As of this writing, the channel has more than eight million subscribers on YouTube.

However, the channel has taken on a very different form after having been around for nearly a decade. In 2021, the YouTube channel was bought by digital media company Recurrent Ventures as part of a major acquisition of several prominent car-related content creator platforms. Less than three years later, several major personalities and hosts on Donut Media have departed from the channel within weeks of each other. What's going on at Donut Media and should fans be worried? Here's what we know.

On June 21, 2024, Donut Media lost two major creators. Series hosts Jeremiah and Zach Jobe announced in a YouTube video that they would be leaving the channel in order to start their own channel called Big Time. For all intents and purposes, Big Time consists of plenty of the vehicle-based content that they're known for, albeit under their own brand. In a YouTube video addressing their departure, they claimed to have no ill will toward Donut Media in light of their departure.

Unfortunately, they're not the only ones who left. Fellow Donut Media influencer James Pumphrey revealed in early August 2024 that he'd left the channel himself.

"Working for Donut has been the most incredible experience of my life," James wrote in an Instagram post. He continues, "It's time to build something new. Something that I love. A thing to be proud of. A thing of my own."

Like his former colleagues, James started his own YouTube channel called Speeed.

For the most part, none of Donut Media's former creators have expressed any harsh feelings with their previous channel and have even expressed heartfelt gratitude to Donut for having launched many of their careers. However, many fans believe that their departures have been caused by the channel having been acquired by Recurrent.

On the r/DonutMedia subreddit, one fan theorized, "It appears that the corporate buyout might be sending them down the same path and fate as Rooster Teeth's buyout."

Another described a similar incident with a channel called Car Throttle, in which several key creators left to create their own channels.

However, many have expressed their desire to continue following James, Jeremiah, and Zach on their new creative ventures. To that end, Big Time already has more than a million subscribers while Speeed currently has over 614,000 subscribers and counting. Meanwhile, Donut Media continues to post its regularly scheduled content as of now.