James Simons, known to his 2.1 million YouTube subscribers as Leon Lush, thought joining Omnia Media was smart in 2017. The multi-channel network (MCN) represented huge YouTubers like The SideMen and The Misfits. In exchange for 10 percent of his earnings (which, a year later, he says he negotiated down to nothing), Simons says Omnia promised it would help him grow his channel and brand.
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But other than a sponsor deal in 2020, Simons told Passionfruit that Omnia was “just a pass-through providing no actual value.” And it was too much of a pain to leave.
“The process of leaving a network and re-linking the Google dashboard with AdSense was so daunting that I was never proactive about leaving,” Simons said.
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That nuisance transformed into a real problem. In late 2023, the MCN pushed its payment window, originally scheduled at the end of the month, to “30 days from the normal,” Simons said.
Simons claims this delay in payments continued over months, with the company eventually owing him “almost six figures.” He says his contacts “ghosted” his emails, unable to “give a date when the payments would be disbursed.”
After leaving the organization in January 2024, Simons said Omnia finally paid him. But his final December payment did not arrive until April 18.
“They are washed, that business model is dead,” Simons continued. “They provide almost nothing of value that a creator can’t get from someone else who is better suited for the job.”
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Simons is just one of multiple creators who have accused Omnia Media and its parent company, Enthusiast Gaming, of either missing payments, paying late, or not paying at all. Since the start of January 2024, at least six creators have spoken up online or shared their stories with Passionfruit about the MCN.
Same thing happened to me, been a stressful 6 months. Whatever suits run that god forsaken piece of shit snake fuck company can rot in hell and anyone considering being involved in anything g they touch should probably reconsider. https://t.co/bknrIMbuIO
What is Omnia Media? What about Enthusiast Gaming?
Omnia Media, which claims to have “over 500 talent” in the gaming space, was founded in 2013 by Tamoor Shafi. Just two years later, the company amassed a collection of over 140 influencers across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Vine, Pinterest, and Snapchat, according to TheWrap.
“We have become one of the most powerful amplifiers of compelling, talented voices in the industry. And our accelerating growth enables us to capitalize on emerging market trends,” Shafi told TheWrap in 2015.
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The network continued to grow, and Canadian indie development company Blue Ant acquired it in 2016. It then replaced Shafi as CEO with the former head of YouTube Canada, David Brown.
In 2020, a new company purchased it again. This time, Canadian digital media company Enthusiast Gaming. Omnia joined Enthusiast’s roster of over 50 websites and esports team Luminosity.
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But just a few short years later, Enthusiast Gaming was in turmoil. In 2022, shareholders authored a letter to have CEO Adrian Montgomery resign, according to the Washington Post. …
Steven Asarch is an internet culture reporter who lives on Twitch and YouTube. After graduating from Baruch College, he wrote for IBT Media, Newsweek and Insider. In 2021, he executive produced the docu-series "Onision in Real Life" on Discovery +.
