Absolutely Beautiful: Former ClickHole Contributors Reveal Themselves
Last month it was reported that the Onion, ClickHole, and the A.V. Club were bracing for layoffs as Univision, which has owned a controlling stake in Onion Inc. since 2016, moved to make budget cuts. Thanks to Onion Inc.’s vote to unionize earlier this year, the Onion union secured voluntary buyouts for several full-time staffers that included 18 weeks of severance pay and benefits. Several days later, on August 6, a handful of ClickHole’s freelance contributors were let go. Since getting the bad news, the contributors have turned to Twitter to reveal some of the work they wrote for the site.
According to multiple sources we spoke to, changes to ClickHole’s freelancer network happen all the time, and some of the former contributors who have taken credit for their work this week are past writers who weren’t let go in the latest purge (some of the articles shared this week go back as far as 2014). Still, it’s rare to get a behind-the-scenes peek at the writers behind your favorite ClickHole headlines, since both of Onion Inc.’s satirical sites keep bylines anonymous. Or as one former ClickHole writer put it, “With the Onion, they’re very protective and serious about keeping things anonymous, so the nice silver lining for this is everyone being like ‘fuck it’ and getting to take credit.”
Here’s a roundup of the work some former contributors have shared so far this week:
I was lucky to have my jokes published on ClickHole every month since the very beginning of the site. In particular, I *really* liked writing those fake celebrity quotes. By my count, they published around 184 of my dumb-ass quotes, so it's hard to pick just 4 but here we go: pic.twitter.com/Ee0bsfBWts
— Joe Kwaczala (@joekjoek) August 8, 2018Sadly like many other @ClickHole Contributors, I too have been laid off and am now looking for new writing opportunities! Here are 4 of my best and favorite articles! pic.twitter.com/9GBYXe0jm6
— Don Plattner (@dehydrogenation) August 7, 2018Hello fellow comedy pals! I got laid off as a contributor at ClickHole yesterday due to budget cuts. It was a dream come true to work for them. In order to make more come true, please let me know if you need jokes for TV, websites, or light-hearted seances. Here's some stuff! pic.twitter.com/xeH3cvzphg
— Shelby Enlow (@shelbyenlow) August 7, 2018Hi again, internet. Writing for ClickHole meant a whole lot to me, and getting the opportunity to contribute was the first time I ever really felt like a "writer." Here's some of my favs. pic.twitter.com/yO6Iintfon
— Zoe Pearl (@zozo_pearl) August 8, 2018It was such an honor to work alongside all the talented contributors who've been let go from @ClickHole. I'm doing the sharing thing too! pic.twitter.com/WpixYMDloI
— River Clegg (@RiverClegg) August 8, 2018I was the new guy at Clickhole and a lot of my headlines were tabled/being saved for later dates. I don’t know if they’ll ever see the light of day, but after years of rejected packets here’s the first headline I got published and I’m most proud of: pic.twitter.com/xAg3zq3zX8
— Joe Hospodor (@joehospodor) August 8, 2018Everyone who got laid off from ClickHole is so clever and hilarious and kindhearted. I am very proud to have been BCC'd on emails with them until this week. These were some of my best attempts to keep up with them pic.twitter.com/a2RK2YIQGW
— John Bender (@JohnABender) August 8, 2018here are some headlines I wrote for clickhole that i like! pic.twitter.com/INtbvRLaMC
— skeck mungo (@philochsVEVO) August 8, 2018It’s been really cool to see other contributors share their stuff and I’m so very proud to have been able to share a roster with so many talented writers while I could. Here’s a few of my favorites that I was lucky enough to get picked up. I can’t begin to say how grateful I am. pic.twitter.com/kJssQ33IER
— Ian Fletcher (@ianfletcher1994) August 8, 2018I stopped writing for Clickhole a while back, but since we're sharing, here are some of my favorite They Said What?!s that I wrote: pic.twitter.com/Se4CXo3mcn
— sara mchenry (@yellowcardigan) August 8, 2018Everyone is tweeting out their nice @ClickHole things, which turns a tough situation into something very nice. Contributing was a complete honor and something I was so proud and tingly over doing.
These are a few of my nice ClickHoles. pic.twitter.com/yijPEqGDxy
— Adam Weinrib (@AdamWeinrib) August 8, 2018I had the honor of contributing to the internet's best website @ClickHole-- my first ever comedy writing paycheck. Here are a few celebrity quotes of mine (not real) that the amazing editors and writers selected- jah bless pic.twitter.com/0kEcfNjDXE
— Jon Millstein (@jmillstein) August 8, 2018Breaking my Twitter embargo because I want the world to know: I got laid! Off! From my Contributor position at @ClickHole (along with seemingly every other Contributor). People are posting their four favorite headlines they wrote, so, here are my four favorite headlines I wrote pic.twitter.com/VzXr455u1v
— Jeremy Tramer (@jeremytramer) August 9, 2018Seeing other clickhole people share their best headlines has inspired me to do the exact same thing. Contributing to clickhole has been a wonderful experience that I will very much miss. If anyone has any writing/editing/stable boy jobs, please consider me. pic.twitter.com/nfaOt4uCIV
— Cameron Bradford (@camerobradford) August 8, 2018Related
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