souTuber Cody Ko’s podcast network, TMG Studios, has announced that he will step down from the company’s day-to-day operations, following allegations that he had sex with influencer and podcast host Tana Mongeau when she was 17 and he was 25.
“As we enter this next phase of the studio, we would like to inform you that Cody will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of TMG Studios,” reads the statement, which was signed by Ko and co-founder Noel Miller. “What has happened over the past few weeks is a personal issue for him, and Cody wants to remove any effect this is having on your professional and personal lives and the work you and our other hosts have done to make TMG Studios so successful. ”
The statement, reviewed by TIME, was released behind a paywall available only to paying TMG Studios subscribers on Friday night.
Miller, who co-hosts “Tiny Meat Gang Podcast” with Ko, will now serve as the studio’s creative lead. The network’s six shows will release new episodes “in the coming weeks” after a brief, seemingly unplanned hiatus.
Ko has not commented on the allegations raised in May by Mongeau during a live recording of his podcast. Canceled. On the show, Mongeau said he slept with Ko when he was 17. Her comment gained wider attention in July when YouTuber commentator D’Angelo Wallace released a video discussing the situation and asking viewers to take it seriously. Following Wallace’s video, Ko, who had more than 9 million subscribers across five YouTube channels, lost massive followers. According to SocialBladehe lost more than 270,000 subscribers last month.
Representatives for Ko did not respond to requests for comment. Mongeau previously declined to comment for the story.
As pressure mounts for Ko to acknowledge Mongeau’s claim, creators in his orbit also face demands to speak out. His wife, Kelsey Kreppel, has been inundated with hateful comments on her YouTube videos and one of his recent collaborators, Brittany Broski, posted a statement on your Instagram Stories. Drew Phillips and Enya Umanzor, hosts of Emergency Intercom, a podcast that TMG Studios recently added to their network, released a statement on Instagram saying they are no longer working with TMG and would produce their show independently.
On July 19, Ko made his first public appearance in Las Vegas when he performed as a DJ at Encore’s Beach Club. Videos of his set began circulating online and he was recorded playing a remix of Justin Bieber’s song “Sorry.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
