Imagine making life (and fan base) out of something that you were banned from doing in the first place. Sounds thrilling and inspiring? Ladies and gentlepeople, Arend Richard is the guy who not only did the unthinkable for himself but also created a community out of it.
Arend Richard, aka The Gay Stoner, is an American influencer who has been praised and loved by thousands of people for his imaginative content creation. He started his career on YouTube with his channel named The Gay Stoner. His engaging and unique content was able to grasp viewers’ attention quickly. In fact, he was reviewed to be original, informative, and hilarious.
Arend’s content was centered on the thoughtful subjects of society that often go unnoticed. Being gay, he wanted to create a room for the LGBTQ community and was brave enough to raise his voice for the mistaken and misunderstood lot of society. He also focused on creating content around the cannabis industry and its benefits for human wellness. As his channel’s name suggests, Arend was covering two important aspects – sexuality and wellness – through his intriguing content. Amidst all the good that Arend was determined to do, he forgot the multitude of hypocrisy that runs in our system.
In 2018, YouTube deleted Arend Richard’s channel ‘The Gay Stoner’ for publishing cannabis-related content that somehow was against the platform’s community guidelines. At the time of the ban, his channel had 190K+ subscribers, which was a huge achievement and proof of how much his content was valued. YouTube deleted Arend’s channel without any prior notice or warning regarding censorship and violation of community standards. This ban was a major setback for Arend, his community, and fellow YouTubers. But little did they know Arend was a born warrior. Despite losing everything, he decided to come back even stronger.
After losing his life’s work and purpose to a mere notification [your channel has been terminated], Arend knew he had to fight back. He met Chrissy Harless, another YouTuber who had 46K followers but was removed from the number one streaming platform due to creating educational content for the cannabis industry. They both realized it was worthless to even try and recover their accounts or start from scratch, as this would only take extensive effort and further disappointment. To seek a solution, both Arend and Chrissy joined hands to come forward with a video streaming platform that was free from bias and hypocrisy – The WeedTube.
The WeedTube is a unique video platform like YouTube but with a twist; the biggest and one-of-its-kind social media website focused on hosting all cannabis-related content creators. Additionally, it is the first video-based social network to provide cannabis companies with commercial-style advertising, giving its content creators better monetization opportunities. Arend stated, “These big fishes can’t keep banning whomever and whenever they choose with their video-sharing platform. It is completely unjust as they take someone’s life work in an instant without even giving the other person a chance to explain. The WeedTube is not just a streaming platform. It is a movement, a message for those who think they can suppress or ban our voices. It is a platform for people who refuse to be bought or silenced in front of these high-end corporations.”
The hard work of Arend and his team was acknowledged when WeedTube reached over 6 million visitors and garnered more than 300,000 downloads on both IOS and android. Today, the platform has become the world’s largest cannabis social media website that supports the cannabis and LGBTQ community’s welfare. Through it, Arend and other WeedTubers are educating people about the use and benefits of cannabis products.
The co-founder of the cannabis streaming platform believes in promoting acceptance, wellness, and sense through his channel. According to Arend, denying viewers and creators the kinds of content they wish to consume and produce is unfair.
Arend Richard is a creative geek who is wearing many hats all at once. After successfully launching WeedTube, Arend also authored two sci-fi books that received incredible feedback from avid readers and fans of the genre. He is living proof of how much one can accomplish in life if they decide to face adversities and fight back. He chose a different path, and with his determination and hard work, he showed every disbeliever what he was capable of achieving. He is truly an inspiration to follow and an example to live by!
