Braille Skateboarding: The Internet is Not Happy with Aaron Kyro

Introduction

YouTube's largest skateboarding channel has recently been hit with dislike waves on its last several videos that make the Shawn Davis situation from Battle at the Berrics 12 look like a minor mishap. In the first week of this year, this channel enjoyed its most-viewed video partially thanks to an inspirational request. A little over half a year later, Braille is embroiled in a barrage of comments berating Aaron Kyro's behavior.

Kyro published a 20-minute monetized apology video on July 20th, which was essentially a long-winded monologue that danced around the YouTube channel's latest warehouse closure drama and the allegedly murky communication to the team's onscreen personalities about said closure. The apology video titled "I Messed Up" featured a thumbnail of a completely barren Braille house. The content depicted Kyro introducing himself before giving an unwelcoming, wordy personal background, then sharing his goals before briefly stating that he’s willing to say he's sorry on social media about hastily closing the warehouse without giving proper notice.

"I made a bad decision. I got the letter from the lawyer and I freaked out. I actually freaked out. I feel terrible because I didn't really think about that. I didn't think, 'Oh well, these guys put in all this work as well and this really means a lot to them and they should have the chance to come and get one last session at the park.' They absolutely should have, and I'm sorry for that. I understand that people are upset. I also understand why, and I'm also not above saying on social media that I am sorry.”

At the time of this edit, 4,500 comments have flooded the video, and it’s pretty clear the internet did not appreciate the apology with 37,000 dislikes vastly overshadowing the 5.2k likes. Most of the disdain in the comment section had to do specifically with how Aaron did not give the remaining team members a formal opportunity to skate at the warehouse before it closed down and Kyro subsequently went so far as to block some of them on all socials after Ricky, Nigel, and Glowhard posted their thoughts on the events surrounding the warehouse shutting down.

In an attempt to look at the situation from a higher level, some questions come to mind. First, is the closure of a warehouse a big enough event to justify its Riders severing their affiliation with Braille and, in turn, Aaron Kyro? Or was the closure an opportunistic scapegoat for the last few members to get a window to flee? Traditional skate brands like Santa Cruz, Zero, Baker, Girl, FA, and even newer more on-trend brands like Sci-Fi and Limousine don't live and die by the closure of a warehouse. In fact, some of those brands, especially the newer ones, almost certainly don't have warehouses but still have what at least appears to be a tight-knit squad that sells boards and merch. Couldn't Braille riders still be employed by Aaron's company, meet up every once in a while for skate trips, and film videos at skate parks in the absence of a warehouse?

Kyro said in his apology video and in a bit in the Lamont Holt interview that he purposefully structured the Braille financials in a way that offered a salary to anyone who signed a contract with him to film content. He also offered health insurance and matching 401K benefits on top of a salary, as well as the traditional practice of paying out board sales royalties to its pros. The way Aaron sells this package, it sounds like he believes this is a much better way to get paid to skate than the traditional sponsorship structure where a pro for core brands only get paid in royalties and need a supplemental skate shoe contract on top of a board brand to make a living.

The problem that arises and is now an obvious flaw in Kyro's business structure that led to a mass exodus of Braille riders is that Aaron can't pay his employees if they don't go to the warehouse and film videos. Similar to the Berrics and why they closed their massive operation, Aaron cited an astronomical spike in the monthly rent costs for the warehouse on the new lease, forcing him to make the quick decision of vacating the space before allegedly getting contractually bound into paying for another year while his huge YouTube channel struggled to get a fraction of the views it once did, in turn equating to less AdSense money.

Scientology comes up a lot in comments about Braille. Aaron has been somewhat transparent in his involvement, and whether or not Scientology and its financial obligations are the cause of Braille being unable to keep its warehouse open and pay its employees, what is undeniable is that Kyro's behavior (particularly now where he's still uploading low-effort reaction videos with an unfamiliar guest in the midst of getting pummeled with dislikes and negative comments) is a little odd, to put it lightly.

Kyro said more than once in the apology video that his purpose for Braille is to build a positive community that teaches, motivates, and inspires newcomers to skateboarding with an emphasis on positivity. Aaron is staying true to that commitment, but is that natural when 98% of the hundreds—in some cases thousands—of comments on a video are calling you out to shut your channel down or address the drama? And do you continue to upload low-effort, uninspired videos with a free-for-all comment section?

It's hard as an outsider to believe Kyro is genuinely trying to truly inspire a new generation of skaters. If Aaron's goal is to get as many people to learn to skate as possible, wouldn’t there be an incentive for him to establish relationships with the skateboard brands that have been carrying the industry, both during and before his time? Braille is a relatively gargantuan skateboarding company that expands beyond YouTube, including selling boards and shoes. Making money on YouTube is one thing, but in skateboarding, if you're selling high volumes of boards and shoes that generate revenue for your company (in this case, Braille), that's money taken out of the pockets of the core brands who have been doing business for a much longer time, which will understandably breed animosity towards Kyro and his business if it threatens the other brands' ability to pay their own employees.

Apart from a random Red Bull event and maybe a Mountain Dew contest, Braille is not known for affiliating itself with or even being recognized by established traditional skateboard companies. If Kyro's goal is to motivate, teach, and inspire newcomers to skateboarding, wouldn't it be in his best interest to have a respected reputation by the other players in the same industry he's making money off of, instead of being known as an isolated brand that sidestepped the entire industry and the process of developing relationships with skate brand owners that came before him?

When Dwindle went out of business not too long ago, there was a noticeable sense of sympathy toward Enjoi's Louis Barletta and Madness's Bill Weiss, and Louie was able to start Jacuzzi not long after losing Enjoi. The difference in this case most likely comes down to finances, and Scientology's reputation for requiring significant monetary contributions along with Kyro's high-ranking affiliation could be what separates a relatively modest traditional brand like modern-day Jacuzzi versus Braille, a 5.8 million subscriber channel whose founder posts an inauthentic, emotionless apology video about nothing anyone cares about, then proceeds to post several consecutive videos that are disliked by the majority of its viewers.

The biggest target for new skaters is children, but Braille doesn’t really make videos for children—one example being the unmoderated toxic comment section. At more than 5,500 videos, Braille has exponentially more uploads on its channel than any other skate-related YouTube channel, which means there's a higher likelihood of finding a Braille video before any other channel when you search skateboarding on the platform, another detail that the industry’s established brands probably aren’t super stoked about, especially considering the majority of Braille videos are brain-dead vlogs with so little substance that they make Andy Shrock's child labor-driven content look like cinematic masterpieces.

Maybe Kyro will make a change for the better and listen to his audience, addressing concerns about how he went so far as to socially cut ties with some of his own employees, or maybe everyone will forget about this in a week and Braille will get its views back. But the current backlash against Braille shows that Aaron's efforts to teach, motivate, and inspire are secondary to a higher priority of milking as much cash as possible out of a channel that has lost around 30,000 subscribers in a week.

Keywords

• Aaron Kyro
• Braille Skateboarding
• YouTube
• Skateboarding
• Warehouse Closure
• Apology Video
• Dislikes
• Views
• Scientology
• Skate Brands
• Financial Structure
• AdSense
• Community
• Subscribers

FAQ

1. Why are people upset with Aaron Kyro and Braille Skateboarding? People are upset due to the abrupt closure of Braille's warehouse and Aaron Kyro's handling of the situation, including poor communication and blocking some team members on social media.

2. What was the key point of Aaron Kyro's apology video? Aaron Kyro apologized for closing the warehouse hastily without giving his team members proper notice and the opportunity for one last skate session.

3. How did the audience react to the apology video? The video received 37,000 dislikes compared to 5.2k likes, and 4,500 comments flooded in, showing clear dissatisfaction with Kyro's apology.

4. What are some questions raised about the situation? Questions include whether closing a warehouse justifies severing ties with Braille and if the closure was an excuse for team members to leave.

5. What financial structure does Braille offer its riders? Braille offers a salary, health insurance, matching 401K benefits, and board sales royalties as part of its financial package to riders.

6. How did rising warehouse rent costs impact Braille? Rising rent costs forced Aaron Kyro to quickly vacate the warehouse to avoid financial strain as his YouTube channel struggled to maintain viewership.

7. What role does Scientology play in this situation? Comments suggest that Aaron Kyro's affiliation with Scientology, which requires significant monetary contributions, might be linked to Braille's financial challenges.

8. What is the general sentiment in the skateboarding community towards Braille? Many in the skateboarding community view Braille's isolated approach and rapid growth through YouTube as a threat to traditional core skate brands.