Since 2005, people all over the world skated over to the Braille Skateboarding YouTube page for step-by-step tutorials on how to skate. The channel has more than 5.4 million subscribers, over 5,500 videos and over a billion views. Recently, many of the channel’s well-known faces have left, leaving the future of the company in apparent jeopardy. So what happened?
In the last few months, the Braille House was demolished and many of the channel’s main faces are gone. While they didn’t outright say anything negative about Braille, it seems as if the issue is tied to finances and how they’re managed. Some said they simply were not making enough money to stay with the brand.
One of the channels most notable skateboarders, Gabe Cruz, announced his departure in a video titled “GOODBYE, GABE CRUZ.” He thanked everyone for their attention and time over the years.
“To anyone who has ever watched one of the videos, supported me, met me in person, or learned to skate because of Braille, I cannot thank you enough. As I close the curtains on this chapter of my life, I from the bottom of my heart love my Braille Family forever, and hope I made you all proud.”
Another notable employee, Ricky Glaser, also left. Shortly after, Aaron Kyro, who runs the brand, destroyed the Braille House. While it hasn’t been said outright, some of the issue seems to be from Kyro’s religious views. Kyro is a Scientologist, but not just any Scientologist; one of the notable ones.
How notable? He was profiled on the Scientology Network’s MEET A SCIENTOLOGIST show, which spotlights “the everyday lives of Scientologists from around the world and all walks of life.” High-level members of Scientology are known to donate disgusting amounts of money, and a lot of people seem to think that’s one of the main issues for the change in the company.
Here’s what Redditor gonegoat had to say about the whole thing:
“He’s an active member of the church of Scientology and it is public record that he has donated an obscene amount of money (which to be fair, is required of all active, high-level members). Scientology watchdog groups allege that a lot of Braille’s operational leadership are members of the church as well. I appreciate Braille’s ethos of positivity but I do not trust that organization nor Kyro at all.”
Regardless, Kyro posted a video called THE FUTURE OF BRAILLE SKATEBOARDING and shared that there will be less videos and more focus on quality. This means that while Braille will still be around, it’s going to look very different moving forward.