Faze Adapt, the Breakout Streamer of the Year, reflects on his journey from a 17-year-old moving to West Hollywood for Call of Duty videos to mentoring new FaZe Clan talent like Ron and Jack Doherty. He details his seven-day June 2024 live stream quitting vaping, his $40,000 donation to Gaza, and his physical recovery from boxing nerve damage. While celebrating wins like helping elect New York's mayor and winning org awards, Adapt warns younger creators that current popularity peaks are temporary. His resolutions for 2025 focus on consistent gym routines, reducing political content, and overcoming self-doubt to navigate the inevitable lows of streaming fame. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Sharing Location During Christmas00:14:46
You know how many other people would kill to have a group of friends that they could do that with?
Yeah, 100%.
Really be friends with me.
Me, I would kill to have a group of friends that I could hang out with on the internet.
Excuse me.
I've never laughed at a thing you've said ever.
So I would also kill for that.
Hassan, you don't have time for me.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
We are back with another episode of the Fear Ann podcast, this time with a fantastic guest.
We've got wait a minute.
Before you announce the guest, you said, I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas, but we still got the Christmas decorations on.
Yeah, because most, you know, hold on, Hassan.
Now, I know I'm your, I've been teaching you about Christmas.
Uh-huh.
Christmas.
Taylor Swift said you can leave the Christmas lights up till January.
That's right.
Yeah.
And sometimes.
Our tree isn't on.
Sometimes you can leave the Christmas decorations up through February.
Yeah.
When this is coming out after Christmas.
Come on.
February.
No, no, no.
No, it's literally, it comes out on Monday.
Yeah, it comes out on Monday after Christmas.
But I'm just saying that personally, sometimes I leave my Christmas decorations up till February.
Okay, yeah.
Maybe it's a little too much, but the holiday spirit, you know what I mean?
Christmas is too beautiful and perfect to only celebrate it for a couple weeks.
Facts.
I continue celebrating even after the fact.
All right, now we can talk about our guest because we got a wonderful guest here today.
Will's looking real different because he's not here.
Once again, mysteriously perished to a self-suck incident, but we got an incredible guest here in his stead.
Faze Adapt, ladies and gentlemen.
Never fake the trick shot.
Yo, yo.
You already know what Elizabeth.
Absolutely.
Well, welcome.
And I'd say, how was your Christmas?
But technically, ladies and gentlemen, are we going to tell them that?
Let's just fake it.
Let's act like we just did Christmas.
I forgot your Christmas presents.
Yeah, I know.
I bought them though.
Well, I didn't get you one.
I'll get you one.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll get you one.
So, Adapt.
I know when you came in here, like, oh my God, Austin, it's a $500 cashmere sweater.
Yeah, initially, that was my first one.
Yeah.
And so I just want to let you know, this is Hassan's gift to me for Christmas.
Oh.
And I just want Hassan to know that I'm wearing it.
I see that.
Yeah.
And I just want because he gives me shit.
He's like, you know, Austin, you always leave your gifts behind, but I did not leave this one behind.
I see that.
It turns out this entire time, I was just getting him shit gifts because he would just not, he would just leave them behind.
And he has worn this apparently twice.
And I actually did leave it behind because I came back.
Behind what?
Well, where?
He didn't live here.
Oh, I didn't realize that I left it here.
He lives in Oregon.
Yeah.
He flies in every week.
Oh, you fly in every week.
Every single week, jump on the plane.
Oh, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So I come in here every week, but I actually really, I did leave it here, actually.
I didn't realize I left it here until I came here to a little shoot.
I don't know what cashmere is supposed to feel like.
Honestly, it feels like a sweater.
Can I be honest?
Can I be honest, yeah, I'm not trying to be that person, but like, maybe if it wasn't waffle, it would be softer.
Yeah, I don't know what's going on.
Anyway, I actually left it here and I didn't realize because I can't.
Sometimes I show up here and I'm like, you know, I got to go to the bathroom.
So just come to us.
Oh, he will randomly pull up to my house and be like, hey, don't freak out, but I just got to take a meeting.
So the other day, I tried.
I'm randomly from Oregon.
No, Yeah, kind of.
I mean, he'll be in West Hollywood.
Yeah.
So the other day, I was like, I got to go to the bathroom.
You know what I mean?
You know, sometimes you mistime the coffee before the gym.
You know what I'm saying?
You do.
Yeah, yeah.
So I missed time the coffee and I was like, Hassan, I forgot something to your house.
I didn't even know if I forgot something, but I just really had to use the bathroom.
And turns out, well, I actually did forget something.
So the story checks out.
Do you have unreliable friends who use and abuse you in the same way that he does?
Like, maybe, I don't know.
Maybe this is an experience that you've had as well.
Because like Austin, this past week, not two weeks in the past now, because of when this episode is coming out, hits me up randomly and he's like, hey, can my boyfriend stay at your place?
And I was like, what does that even mean?
Like, you've stayed at my place before.
Like, you know, you're always welcome.
And it turns out he just wanted to not pay for a hotel room for his boyfriend.
So he was like, no, like, can he stay at your place?
Because I don't want to pay for a hotel room for him.
He's just coming on his own.
W coupons.
Yeah, no.
You're just, it sounds like you're practicing financial literacy.
Yeah.
Wow.
Oh, okay.
So you do see that as a positive.
No, you're humans.
And he's also in sort of a vulnerable position because he can't deny my boyfriend access to his home because then he's a homophobe.
No, no, I don't have an issue with that.
Like, no, no, no.
The homophobe card, like.
See, that's what I'm saying.
No, he's kind of in a compromised position because I could really be like, yo, my boyfriend needs 50 grand.
Wow.
What is he going to?
What is he going to do?
That's low-hanging fruit.
You know what I mean?
I'm homophobic.
He's worse.
But it doesn't.
I will always be like, no, no, no, I don't like them.
You know, I'll say that all the time.
Yeah.
And he just seems to not believe me when I say it.
Yeah, no, I don't.
Yeah.
So I fucked his boyfriend.
Oh, no.
Oh, wow.
Oh, man.
What do you mean?
No, he didn't fuck.
He couldn't even.
Have you seen his foot?
There ain't no way he could.
He's not fucking nothing with that foot.
That is true.
Yeah.
I would have fucked his boyfriend.
I would have fucked Krishin, but my foot was really, you know, it incapacitated me.
It's really bad.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That could have.
So you don't have any friends like that?
No, I've never, I have never gotten put in that predicament, particularly.
That's fair.
Have you seen his foot on social media?
Wouldn't know.
What do you mean?
Like, did you see what happened to his foot?
He put it on his own.
Oh, like how it's fucked up right now.
Yeah, I showed it to him earlier.
He's bruised down to the toes.
I've never had something like that happen.
I'm going to say something.
What?
I think you should have kept it to yourself.
You put that fucking foot on there, and everybody, I was just trying to enjoy my day.
And then, boom, that fucking foot, it ruined all of our days.
Every single word.
Because we haven't seen that.
Oh, my God.
I don't know either.
I think Hassan's on your feed more than the rest of us.
I think you made your page.
Yeah, I didn't see that.
You didn't see that?
I didn't even know you posted it.
I didn't catch it.
I did.
I didn't.
And then followed by like a little, like, a bunch of music.
Boom, boom.
And he was, oh, no.
You didn't see what?
No.
I didn't.
I don't even know what he's talking about anymore.
Are there fan cams of his foot?
No, I don't think so.
I think nobody liked it because it looks so gross.
You thought it was informational?
I thought it was informational.
There was a weird backtrack.
It was like Brat or something.
I don't know.
There was no, that did not happen.
Have you noticed that?
No, I did not post a fucking foot compilation with Brad playing in the background, which I should have.
I feel like I thought it was in poor taste.
Well, because I walked through that.
Well, because I thought your foot was disgusting.
Oh, I did.
I'll be honest with you.
You know what I mean?
You have me tell it.
I know it's disgusting.
Your foot looks like shit.
Even without the injury.
No, I did not post it because I thought it was hot.
They're like an old married couple.
If you haven't caught on to that, yeah, no, it's a little crazy.
It's a little extra.
I mean, he knows that better than anybody else.
The FaZeboys are all in like a homo-romantic relationship.
Yeah, do you guys ever get jealous of each other?
What do you in?
Like, do you have like FOMO?
Like, if Ron goes to Home Depot with someone else?
Oh, no, I don't.
No, but I mean, It always ends up happening like that because we do group segments and we have things that are planned that are like very phase centric, you know what I mean?
Where it would be like all six of us in the in the group, and sometimes leading up to that, there'll be specific things where it's like, okay, it's a lot harder to go IRL with six people and six cameramen.
Yeah, so you break off and like you were there for one of them, um, uh, at the sub-a-thon with the cake, remember?
And we were trying to figure out how we were gonna go into that.
Oh, yeah, that was complicated.
And like, it's like Tetris, it's drama to figure out what Uber you're in.
And Ron is he's not a happy camper if he's not in the Uber he wants to be in.
It's little things like that.
He's not happy.
It's never like serious, but it is like little things like that.
Like it's like, okay, we're all leaving to this place.
We could fit two phase members and like two cameramen and one Uber.
Yeah.
Let's all go in.
The cameraman really like you, you and Jason.
It'll normally just be whoever is like, yeah, whoever's ready.
Whoever's ready.
So Silky's always last.
Yeah, Silky, that's the one thing we know for certain.
Yeah.
He will always be last.
And then it's always.
But he'll act like he's getting in the car, which is crazy.
And he'll be in the shower.
He'll be like, save me a spot in the Uber.
That's a signature.
But then he'll be in the shower.
Yeah.
It's genuinely impressive.
I don't know because I got here a little bit late and he was here.
Yeah, awesome.
That's true.
He did show up on show.
I'm always on time, but if I am running late.
Wait, actually, what am I talking about?
Cutie isn't.
Yeah, I'm always late.
But I will always lie if I am running late.
Yeah, he does.
That's how you do it.
You step in.
I've given up.
You're very upfront.
We have your location.
Yeah.
So we know where you are.
But I hide my location.
Yeah, why do you?
You also hide your location.
I don't know why you're acting like you're innocent.
Wait, I hide my location.
Yeah.
I thought it was.
He didn't even know.
I didn't even know.
I don't even know how to use it.
I don't know.
I don't want y'all to know where I am.
Why?
What the fuck?
What if you die?
Do you have any of your friends' locations?
I have, yeah.
I have some of my friends.
I just want to know where I am.
I'm going to speak closer than the mic, right?
Marsh?
Oh, yeah, yeah, my.
Yeah, I have some my friend's locations.
Let's go ban for band.
Whose locations do you have on your phone?
Right now, let me look.
Let's see.
Ban for ban.
I have Marshes.
Oh, wait, wait.
I check on him sometimes.
Make sure he's alive.
Look at that location.
Tara?
How do I know?
Tari Yumi?
By my friends.
No, no, no, no.
I think you're misreading.
That's that says Alex's AirPods Max.
This is Tara Yumi.
That's so good.
I have Jason.
Why do you have Tarium?
Oh, I have Jason.
I do not.
I got Jason.
I have Sakura.
I forget who I with.
I was with Kai at Ludwig's birthday party.
I was with Kai Day and Ten's, and we were trying to figure out if Jason was pulling up and what Jason was doing.
And this was before him and Secora were like fully public.
And Kyle's like, wait, I have his location.
I was like, oh, wait, hold on.
I have Jason's location.
And we were next to each other and we just were like, damn, they're literally there together.
They're together.
Wow.
You creeps.
How do you even look at your locations?
Like, who has?
Ron has my location.
I don't have Ron's.
Wait, I'm.
Same with Pokey.
Poke has my location.
Wait, I have a few people that I don't know who they are, and they have my location.
Okay.
Yeah, it looks like a lot of people.
That's bad.
You know what?
For those of you at home, you should open up your phone to make sure that nobody's stalking you.
How do you find what's the app?
Find my friends.
Yeah.
I don't even know if I have that app on my phone.
I don't.
To be honest, I don't even really.
I got some rares.
I got Tina Kin.
That's rare.
Oh.
I got freaking.
So, like, do these people like share their locations?
Like, oh, I'm running late to the show.
These are just my devices.
No, I just like checking on people.
Oh, my God.
Would you, are you going to check on me?
I check on you, but then you're never shared.
I think at some point.
Why don't you call me out on that?
I didn't want to bother you.
Oh, I'm so busy.
I didn't hear it.
I don't know how you missed it because Marsh was here when I said all of you were hoes for not sharing your location with me.
And then Marsh shared his.
Oh my God.
I check on Marsh all the time.
I would have cave to the social pressure in that moment.
I must not have been here.
I won't make you.
But normally, any other guest, I would be like.
They have to share their location.
Yeah.
I need it.
But like, I, you know, I won't push that on you yet.
This is our first like one-on-one time.
Yeah, I don't have a lot.
I'm the Fear and podcast.
I collect them like Pokemon.
I didn't arrive.
You might be the youngest one in this room.
For real.
How old are you?
28.
Yeah.
Yeah, you are.
You were 29.
Let's not come.
No, congratulations.
It feels good, right?
Yeah, you're 28.
Yes.
It's hard when you're.
He's 28, but he's been on the internet for like fucking 15 years.
Yeah, he has.
I started making videos when I was a freshman in high school and like, yeah, 13.
Yeah.
When I was 13.
So I have the conversation with my friends all the time.
Like, you know how dog years is different than internet years is kind of like that.
Yeah.
Because I've been on the internet for so long.
I might see what I am.
But I just started when I was really young.
Like I was vlogging with almost a million subscribers in high school in 2015.
That's so crazy.
I wanted to talk about that.
You won this year.
You won Breakout Streamer of the Year.
Yes.
Right.
It's a streamer, which congratulations.
Well deserved.
Now, can you talk a little bit about that journey, your journey through your career in the sense that like, you know, you, you had some success early on, and then maybe you went through a phase where, you know, there were some trials and tribulations, but then recently, obviously, you have a tremendous amount of success.
Can you talk about the resilience and, you know, of that part of your career?
What?
No, I'm just, I love the way you're asking this.
It kind of, it kind of reminds me of like, no, not at all.
Never mind.
I was going to come.
Never mind.
What were you going to say?
Because I was going to talk about a little bit like about the nuance of like breakout streamer when you're someone that's had a career as long as you've had.
It's kind of like Brandon Frazier is like in every movie this year, right?
And a lot of people did not know his name, even though he's had a very long career for a very long time.
And sometimes you just have a defining year.
And I think you've had an incredible year.
I think you've done some really cool fucking shit.
But were there any like challenge?
And because you've been in this for a long time and there, with that comes a lot of ups and downs.
You know what I mean?
So like, were you at a point, where were you at before you entered into this like era where you like.
Yeah, I mean, it was, it was challenging for sure being like a first generation content creator, like YouTuber, like on the scene.
Like I moved across the country when I was 17 years old, 18 years old to go live in a house with a bunch of people I met on X.
The Unfortunate Side of Fame00:03:28
So crazy.
Yeah.
Make Call of Duty videos.
And at the time, that was unheard of and like an insane decision.
And everyone in my life was telling me, no, you can't.
This is so dumb.
I can't believe you're doing this.
What are you doing?
What are you doing?
And it was definitely an experience.
It was a lot of fun, you know, and I look back on it and it's like, I'm like, damn, I can't believe I was that young doing all this and going through all this.
And, you know, being like 18 or 19 in that position is crazy.
And we're all experiencing it together for the first time.
You know what I mean?
And it was cool.
And you don't really think about it outside of the day-to-day like YouTube, like daily uploads, this and that.
And, you know, it got to a point where I loved making YouTube videos.
I always loved making content, making YouTube videos.
And it slowly became something that I felt like I was obligated to do instead of something that I wanted to do.
And it was like a weird feeling.
And there was a lot of like issues at the time with FaZe and the founders.
And there was a lot of things going on in my own life.
So, I took some time away, you know, and I like some time away from the internet and YouTube and went and like worked on myself and figured out who, you know, I am and what I want to do and really came back in when we relaunched phase with the new guys.
Yeah, you really had a glow up too.
Yeah, for real.
If you look at pictures, look up, yeah, Mark, pull up, pull up old and dad.
Did you used to not look that good?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.
I had a uh, what's it called?
Uh, you say it's like a lesbian era, that's what everybody calls calls.
If you just look at in 2017, any photo of me, uh, I had an insane haircut.
That's me when I was still in high school in my mom's basement.
That just looks like the McMore haircut.
But hold on, but but to be honest, like that, no, no, there's bad ones.
See, this is this is one of the like right there with the glasses.
This is one of the unfortunate side effects.
I mean, you do you kind of do look like Rachel Maddow.
This is one of the unfortunate side effects of just like being online throughout a decade.
The eras.
Because like a lot of people that are just popping off now or just like anonymous still on the internet don't realize that when you're putting all that shit out there, you're going to look corny.
And many of the people who are putting themselves out there right now are going to look corny 10 years in the future, but they now are fresh.
So they're looking back.
And I know this, I'm defending you because I have my own like 2016 era where everybody fucking constantly rails on me.
Like I got the make the rich pay shirt that I, that everybody loves posting about, or like I had my hat art.
I used to wear skinny jeans.
Like I had the monks sons.
I had the monks.
I honestly recently stopped wearing skinny jeans.
Yeah, we told you though.
You have no excuse because we were trying to get in real time not to do that.
I used to show my ankles.
You were doing it in 2022.
I know it was bad.
That's crazy.
It was a bad, it was a rough time.
Like we were talking like 2015.
It was a rough time.
I had a problem.
I had a problem.
You know, people do shit.
People do shit when they're grinding, when they're trying to be a quote-unquote influencer on the internet.
And a lot of people nowadays don't realize that, you know, that social media footprint is going to be out there forever.
Quitting Nicotine and Boxing00:06:13
And that's what it is.
Yeah.
And I mean, I've grown a lot over the years, especially obviously, as you can see.
And a lot of it is documented, like from when I was a freshman in high school up until like my early 20s.
But then I took some time away and like I said, had to work on myself and figure out what I wanted to do and went through a lot of like highs and lows.
And now I'm here today in a spot where I feel like I'm in a better place where I think I've ever been.
And I'm more confident and passionate about who I am and what I do and driven than I think I've ever been, which is refreshing.
And for me to have that perspective and look at it like that, I had to go from, you know, kind of having everything that I wanted to it all being taken from me and like losing it all.
You know what I mean?
Like literally like going and hitting rock bottom zero.
And it's just me.
It was just me for a while trying to figure out what am I supposed to do now?
Like what the fuck am I supposed to do?
All the time because phase was fucked.
Everyone had kind of like disbanded.
And I was always just trying to figure out, is it, is it GGs?
Like what?
Like, there's no way.
Because I still wanted, I selled shit that I wanted to do.
I selled plans.
I still had a passion in me for making content.
It kept, would try this.
It wouldn't work.
We'll try this.
It won't work.
We'll try this.
It won't work.
What's the craziest thing you tried or the cringest thing that you tried?
It didn't work.
I don't know about create.
I was boxing for a while.
Oh, that's interesting.
I was boxing.
You, almost you got into the influencer boxing.
Yeah, I mean, at the time for me it was like okay, like um, it's just like a win-win, I get to be in the best shape of my life, learn a new skill and i'll get paid to go do it.
So I was boxing on the low, like I wasn't really posting about it or doing anything about it, and I had like uh, a fight lined up and I was gonna do one of those.
Were you supposed to fight?
I was gonna do one of those influencer cars, I was gonna fight Taylor Holder, but I uh, my hand up uh, and it's, my hands are still both up.
Pretty bad.
After the sub-athon I went and got them checked out.
It's called uh, not a carpal tunnel, it's the nerve from my elbow up through my hand is damaged.
What?
And I didn't?
Yeah yeah it's, it's pretty bad.
Does it interfere with the trick shotting?
Um no, I could still game.
I think it's a ramification from trick shotting, you know what I mean.
And playing claw for years, like being able like playing, like playing claw for years and gaming for years, and then going and throwing like a thousand punches a day after never putting that impact on my hands is a little crazy, and I just remember one day after sparring I took my glove off and I couldn't open my hand.
Like my hand wouldn't open, oh my god, and it was terrifying.
Yeah, and it's uh gotten like worse over the years because I haven't really given it time to like i'll still lift and put like pressure on it.
Um, I just need to get uh, what's it called?
Uh, the shot.
It's like a steroid.
Yeah, I have lots of those right now.
I'm full of them.
What's it called?
I'm supposed to.
I was supposed to get the shot for both of them to start recovering steroids, president owns.
It won't be, probably won't be what they.
Oh oh um, i'm um cortisone cortisol yeah, dang it.
But I knew there's a come on, come on, come on see, I told you I could be a doctor.
I told you cortisone, i'm only up there yeah, but that's what I did for a while, like a good, like I don't know, maybe half a year year, and was just training locked in on that.
Um, I tried to like come into the like corporate side of phase and help fix that.
You were like trying to do the behind the scenes stuff too with like it was weird.
I was like trying to do that, but my hands were like tied the whole time, so it's like hard to try to do that.
Um, and then I tried to make my own youtube videos on my own thing and yeah, it just was a lot of highs and lows.
And then, when we relaunched a new phase with all the new guys, I originally wanted to get back into Youtube and start posting on my Phase Adapt channel.
That's how I started streaming.
It's because I I made a seven day, or I made a youtube video about nicotine addiction and talking about how bad it is and how uh, I interviewed like professionalists and like talked to a lot of people and went and got tests done and everything like that.
You have the sins right here.
This man's got a problem and I cut down.
I was on sixers.
That's probably why his bones are hurt.
I cut down, I was on sixers all day and now i'm down to three.
Oh my God, that's why your bones hurt, bro.
You're on nicotine.
Well, you know what?
Nicotine's sucking the life out of your bones and you don't drink enough water.
Oh my God, doctor.
Yeah.
Come see me.
It's not good for you.
Come to my clinic.
I just knew that it was not good for my health in any way, especially the extent to which I was smoking it.
I would wake up.
It would be the first thing that I would like to go around in my...
Yeah, I would have a vape.
You weren't smoking cigarettes.
No, no, I never was smoking cigarettes.
Which I think debatably is better.
Cigarettes are better than the vapes.
No.
Yeah.
I mean, there's a lot of people don't realize.
Vapes are very dangerous, too.
Vapes are dangerous.
They're not supposed to taste like pineapple, apple, like watermelon.
They put a lot of chemicals and there's a lot of carcinogenics.
People are hitting that shit like it's better, though.
And you smoke the abundance that you're smoking that is a lot more than a cigarette.
Yeah.
To step outside to smoke a cigarette.
Yeah.
You could hit a vape inside.
You could hit a vape anywhere all day, anywhere.
It's the next like.
Were you ever vape trick shotting?
No.
No.
You never got into that territory?
No, thank God.
You didn't have like the modifiers and like all the different things that you put on the vape?
No, no.
Don't lie.
You must have.
I had like one of those big box mods years ago for show, but I never was like doing tricks with it.
Why Vaping Is Dangerous00:03:18
No.
I could see you doing.
But I could understand why it wouldn't make sense.
With the glasses, like from the glasses era, I can see you going.
I probably tried, but then gave up with it.
But I mean, I don't know.
I just realized that it was not good and I couldn't continue living my life like that.
And like, in no world is it healthy where the first thing I do when I open my eyes is like reach around my bed sheets and look for a sour watermelon flavored nicotine device.
And like after everything I do throughout my day, it's like, you know what I mean?
So I knew it was bad for me and at some point that I was going to have to try to like rid myself of it or, you know, just overcome this addiction.
And it just became a thing where I'm like, okay, everything kind of lined up where it's like, okay, I can make a YouTube video, try to promote the fact like that it's really bad for you push and go interview a bunch of doctors, specialists, teachers, and try to like shine a light on how I think I remember that.
You did like a seven-day purge, right?
Yeah.
So to hold myself accountable to the fact that I was quitting, I'm like, all right, I'm posting this YouTube video on my Facebook app channel.
I'm going to be live 24-7 for a week on Twitch.
And I wasn't really ever a streamer like that.
I would do like random one-off streams here and there, but I'm like, all right, hold myself accountable.
I'm going to stream for seven days.
And that's how it all started.
Oh, wait, this was right around the election.
No?
Or no?
This was in, this was last summer, last June 20th.
June 23rd is the day I started.
Okay, so it wasn't around the election.
And the idea was like, I finish the seven days.
I make a YouTube video, part two, and then I start making YouTube videos on my Facebook app channel again.
Wait, did you do something like political as well on the last day?
Am I imagining things?
Because I remember banks hitting me up to do something, and I can't remember if it was for this or for something else.
The last day was June 30th.
I don't think that lines up with the election.
No, no, no.
It didn't line up with the election.
I'm just going to look through.
Oh, my God.
I'm not going to be able to find this.
But like, I, yeah, I recall, I don't know if it was about this.
Maybe it was about a different phase thing that they were doing, but it was maybe close to the debates or something.
Yeah, it was.
It was around the presidential debates, June.
That lines up with Joe Biden, who was still in the running, I think.
Yeah, Joe Biden came up on that debate stage, remember, and looked like he was very, very old.
Did we, even though he always did?
I don't think we did anything.
No, no, we didn't do it.
We didn't do it because I was like, I can't.
Oh, I remember us being in talks.
Yeah, yeah, I remember us or like through Ricky being in talks about doing something, but never.
Yeah, yeah, it never ended up.
It never ended up taking place.
I think he wanted me to.
Yeah, he wanted me to like show.
Were you in Vegas for the last?
No, I wasn't, but half of the guys were.
Okay, so he wanted me to do something in Vegas.
He wanted me to travel to Vegas and like do a debate or something.
Yeah.
Alongside the presidential debates.
And I was like, I can't do that.
Yeah, I remember we had like conversations about it.
Now I okay, I remember this now.
The History of Cigarettes00:04:00
Okay, so, all right, so you, you did the, uh, you did the cleansing, and what did they tell you about, like, other nicotine products, though, like Zen and shit like that?
Or was it primarily focused on the dangers of vaping?
Because I know that there's a lot of dangers of vaping.
It was primarily focused on the dangers of vaping and all the chemicals that go into these devices and how horrible it is for your lungs and your health and your blood and just like everything and how it essentially ages your cardiovascular system.
Like, say, I'm, what, 28?
If I consistently kept vaping and continued to vape at the rate I would, my cardiovascular system would, if you took a look inside, like if you lifted up a car hood, it would look like I was 50 years old.
That's crazy.
That's crazy.
And so your life would be shortened.
Yeah, you're just like speedrunning your life essentially without realizing it.
Yeah.
And the effects don't really come till later, right?
Yeah, the effects still come till later.
There are some extreme cases.
Like I interviewed a kid who his lung collapsed and had to get rushed at the hospital.
I interviewed a school teacher.
I talked to doctors.
I did a bunch around it just to try to be.
You know what's crazy?
In spite of all this, everything that you're describing, how dangerous this is.
And arguably, like you said, even more dangerous than cigarettes, which is probably what you've already discovered by doing this documentary, is that people are just out there still without any clue that this is happening.
I mean, passing around the vape.
Probably as we're speaking right now, people are listening to this.
Hitting their vape.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like they're hitting their vape and they don't realize like how serious it is.
Like they really, like, you know, imagine somebody smoking a cigarette.
Like, you know how serious that is.
But with the vape, people are still doing it.
And there's not like a big push.
Like, people still don't get it because we haven't seen somebody like, you know, get old enough really to die of some sort of chronic disease.
We're all the game.
We're the guinea pigs.
We're the test subjects.
You know what I mean?
And that was the idea.
Like, one thing, you have to want to quit is obviously the biggest thing about it.
You have to want to quit and realize that it's bad for you.
And two, me, like, going on the internet and advocating for how bad it is and saying that I will quit was like a way of me burning that bridge.
So it's like, okay, now I know I never can go back to play this or I'm going to look like crazy.
People are going to forever look at me like I am a liar.
I built, you know what I mean?
So that was like.
Do you feel like there was resistance when you when you when you made a statement like that from people where they were like nah man fuck you I love vaping like the pro vapers.
Did you get any negative feedback?
I don't think there was any kickback from the tobacco industry.
No, there was no yeah there was no big tobacco nicotine influencers that started going to war over these.
I don't know if you know the history of cigarettes, but there's a history of cigarettes where like there was a time where science, you know, evidence came out that cigarettes were bad for you.
There was a moment where people, there was like the tobacco industry spent a lot of money to try to change that.
So I imagine the same thing's happening with vapes.
It's the exact same thing.
Like for a while, people didn't realize cigarettes were bad in like this early 60s.
I don't know what the timeline is.
Yeah, because it made you look cool.
Yeah, it made you look cool.
It still made you look cool.
That's the thing with vapes.
It makes you look like a fucking dill.
It doesn't make you look cool at all.
No, it's actually the lamest.
Yeah, which is why it's like.
I mean, I'll be honest, I think it looks kind of cool.
I've always wanted to vape.
You're wrong.
I think cigarettes do make you look cool.
Vapes, on the other hand, do not.
People, but for a long time, didn't realize the bad, like the actual consequences of smoking cigarettes until years later.
And then they had to put all these warnings on tobaccos when you sold them and stuff like that.
That's how it is right now with vaping.
Gaza and Labor Justice00:07:41
And that was kind of just what kick-started this whole thing.
Was there any backlash to your donations to Palestine charities that you saw at all?
Or is it also mostly positive?
No, for the most part, everything that I saw was mostly positive.
That's good.
Yeah.
Because there was a time and place where for I think the last two years, there was definitely a time where, especially in 2023, at the end of 2023, or in the or even well into 2024, even after the election, like you spoke out on that stuff and people would just come after you very, very aggressively.
And there were a lot of people who were just like, fuck you, you're a piece of shit.
And they would say like heinous stuff.
But I do feel like the general attitude has dramatically shifted in favor of the truth and in favor of justice, for and in favor of like, recognizing the humanity of Palestinians, so much so that I think it's like a lot more comfortable now for people to to, you know, speak on it yeah, speak on it, which is a good thing.
You're a big reason for that too, which is um, you know, I mean, like you, you see how much of an advocate you are, who takes a lot of shit openly.
You speak on it, how much you get um yeah, but I think that's what it is the way and that's why initially, even going into the subaton remember, I called you yeah, I was like what do you think about this?
Because regardless, I was gonna do it.
Um, you know what I mean.
But I always just felt like uh, with doing like, doing like charitable acts and things like that on the internet.
I always had a weird relationship with because it like just that.
It felt like uh for a while.
A lot of people who would do stuff like that on the internet would do it for clout, like a reaction or like general feedback and stuff like that, and I know there's always that performative element to it where it's like I'm doing this.
So you see it yeah, and if it always has rubbed me the wrong way, for many, many years I kept private my my charitable contributions in general, partially because of the potential backlash from powerful entities that might actually get upset like.
One of the things I had done was like I, there's an Amazon labor union right, And Amazon itself obviously is like the corporate structure is obviously combating the labor union.
They don't want anyone to unionize.
So for that reason, I made that charitable contribution to the Amazon labor union early on private because I didn't want the bosses to find out that one of their top Twitch streamers was secretly funding and facilitating labor unions.
And then it came out.
Luckily, it came out after the fact, like a year plus after the fact, because someone had done an investigation into who was the top donors of the Amazon labor union.
But at that point, I think it was like fine because they had unionized.
For founding Kitchen, Hassan funding labor union.
No, but I know, but like, but there is also that element as well.
Because anytime you take a stance on any issue, there's always going to be people on the other side that are either making money off of that issue continuing or don't want even broad awareness around the issue itself because it compromises their position, makes them feel immoral, maybe.
And so there's that element of it too.
So these guys did a sub-a-thon, phase did a sub-a-thon.
It was pretty pop and it was all over the internet.
And everybody chose their own, everybody chose their own charity or thing to donate to.
And Adapt chose, what did you choose?
The Human Development Fund.
The Gaza Human Development Fund.
For kids in Gaza, yes.
Good for you.
And he fundraised, what is it, $40,000, $50,000?
Right under $40,000.
Never mind.
Okay, $40,000.
And there's a video of it, actually, of the kids who I guess FaZe Apex, who is, for those who don't know, OG FaZe, he's Palestinian.
He is, you know, fans of mine already know he was the one who initially connected me with Norm Finkelstein, which is like a funny little side story.
Really?
Yeah, Norm Finkelstein is a very famous Jewish academic that has been the chronicler of like a lot of the stuff that's happened in Gaza for many, many years.
He's been blacklisted for it.
But it's just funny that like a FaZe clan guy was the one who linked me up with someone whose work I admire.
But in any case, apparently he sent this video to you.
Is that what happened?
Yeah, he gave me, he sent me this with a bunch of photos and just updated me on like, hey, this is what's going on.
This what?
Yeah.
Donation.
Can we watch it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I want to watch it.
I haven't seen it.
Bro, there's a bunch of videos.
Something new and stuffing with it.
Yeah.
A gathering, a Smith Conner, and it's everyone as messed up.
Introducing this Hawaii Day, a moment of come forward, club, and home.
They got good edits too.
Yeah.
Look at that crown, though.
Wait for it.
This is us, man.
We did this, man.
And it's so special because it's really changing lives.
Look at it.
It says on the band.
Funday for children.
It's so special, bro.
Is that not so cool, bro?
Bro, you got to teach him how to trick shot.
Right?
I think there needs to be a phase of that day where in Gaza.
Yeah.
Should have had that.
But that's real, though, because I was talking, and you know him as well, Yusuf, who is also, he turned 17 recently in Gaza and he had both of his birthdays there.
And he's still stuck in Gaza at this moment, I believe.
Unless he actually got out.
I was talking to him the other day.
Anyway, but it was in Gaza for the most, for all of the, you know, for the bombing and everything.
And I talked to him quite a bit.
And like, yeah, of course they have, you know, they play Valorant, you know, they, they are very tapped into all the drama and stuff.
And it's always crazy because like dudes from Gaza will sometimes hit me up and be like, bro, is everything all right?
And I'm like, everything all right, brother.
You're in Gaza.
Like, why are you asking me if I'm doing all right?
He's like, after Charlie Kirk got shot, I had like a bunch of kids from Gaza DM me to be like, bro, you got to be safe, man.
Like, shit's not all right out there.
And I was like, you're in Gaza, brother.
Like, that is definitely, there's definitely a different level of unsafety.
Yeah.
So, but the reason why I'm bringing that up is because like it's a testament to like how tapped in they are to everything that we're doing out here and the culture.
So have you met, have you talked to anybody that's like big OG phase fans?
I mean, I feel like they might be too young to know like the OG trick shots.
What do you mean?
Like OG phase fans.
Like the early phase fans, like the fans of the trick shots, from any of the people you talk to in Gaza.
Trick Shot compilation?
In Gaza directly, not really.
No, but like over the years, yeah, like I've met people who all the time will bring up just the Call of Duty era and the trick shotting era from FaZe Clan and how special that was to them.
Grind vs. Philanthropy00:06:33
And it's always cool to hear because it was such an important part of who I was and my story.
And you know what I mean?
I still love trick shotting and playing cod.
And it's cool to see that because of that, I've gotten to this point in my life and now I'm at a point where I can do something like that.
Yeah, that's crazy.
You know, like give back and see and make a real impact on the world and like younger kids and try to help out in whatever way I can.
You're on your like philanthropic grind.
Philanthropic.
What's that one?
Oh, well, when you give a lot.
Oh, philanthropy.
Philanthropy.
Giving.
And then when you're being philanthropic.
I had to look at you because I don't even know if I pronounced it right.
No, philanthropic.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, you did.
Yeah.
You nailed it.
Philanthropic.
You're like lacing in education and like charity and everything you do right now.
Yeah.
I mean, you're on a grind.
I'm just trying to do my part.
You know what I mean?
And like, I'll always use my platform and my voice to try to push a positive message.
Yeah.
And I mean, I still, that's why I always respect people who still come out no matter when it is and try to do their very best on the internet, given the limitations that they have because people still are pretty ruthless about it.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it also too depends like and boils down to what you take the time to pay attention to.
You know what I mean?
Like if you are looking into it and highlight in your mind the negative feedback or the people that are sending you backlash or hate for whatever it is you're doing opposed to the positivity, you're going to feel like shit.
You know what I mean?
And I agree.
I've just, I feel like I've been on the internet long enough.
So it's easy for me to say that.
Where there's not a lot of things I could say or hear or read on the internet that will actually affect me.
You know what I mean?
Because I know who I am and like what I stand for.
And I'll always choose to focus on the good things and the things that I'm grateful for instead of the negativity.
Absolutely.
It's definitely the most like, it's one of those things that I think a lot of people don't realize because I mean, we're very, we're very fortunate people.
Like we all won the lottery.
We're winning the lottery every single fucking day, right?
Unbelievable.
But there is also this like element associated with it that like most people don't talk about.
Or if they do talk about people, we'll be like, oh, here we go again.
Woe is me.
These fucking rich assholes talking about their problems.
But like You only, you only get to, uh, you only get to a point in your career where you know how to like block out the noise and be steadfast in your approach if you've already gone through the highs and lows.
And I feel like because you've been around for so long that you've gone through many different phases in your career, that you know exactly how to deal with that.
And you can be bold and you can be honest about what you care about and continue pushing through it despite the possible negative side effects and backlash.
Yeah, that's I respect that though.
That's what I think being so young in the space on the internet taught me.
You know what I mean?
Like without even really realizing it.
Like I remember being young and when I, at first, when I was like a kid, the shit did affect me.
I would read comments, I would read tweets, and I remember being really like sad over certain things or like bothered by certain things and letting things get to me.
And, you know, it's just like something that came with time.
And, you know, that's what I try to let all the newer guys, the younger guys who are part of phase, I'm around every day, try to like help them understand and like show them, you know what I mean?
You don't have to shine light on this or like feed into this.
Yeah.
The more you feed into it, the bigger it gets.
100%.
You know what I mean?
Like the more you show people that like this is a string they could pull on you, the more they're going to pull.
100%.
So there is, so you think, you feel like, because the new phase right now is going through their, their, like a lot of the new guys are, with the exception of, I guess, Ron, going through their first like big peak in their careers, right?
Like they're, they're, you know, getting propped up.
They're super popular.
They're killing it.
And I feel like it's great.
It's one of the best feelings of all time when you're at the top of your game, right?
When everyone is like praising you.
But there is also, like, there's always going to be highs and lows.
There's never, it's never, you're never always going to be at the top of your game.
It just doesn't work that way.
That's not how time works.
There's always going to be like newer people, fresher faces, younger talent.
And do you like, do you, you help steer them through the drama and the and the other issues that come along with it?
Yeah.
In the process?
Yeah, 100%.
I mean, initially, that's really what I was trying to really do, just be there for all of them on like a human level.
You know what I mean?
And like help them as people grow because there's a lot of things that come with this that you don't, you got to find out as you're playing the game, you know, that you find, you're like, oh, this is like this, it's like this.
And, you know, there's a, with being young and, you know, having that much influence and access to resources and money, you know, there's a lot of things that come with it.
A lot of good things, but there's a lot of bad things.
And there's a lot of people who come in your life who try to take advantage of that.
Yeah.
Steer you in the wrong way.
So I will just always try to be there for them to make sure that they don't go through or Or get some of the same scars that I did when I was their age going through this and make some of the mistakes that I made.
But I do feel like the new phase guys have been fairly careful about making sure that their footprint is not like devastatingly bad or they're not like being harmful in their output in general.
Not to get too woke with it, but like that's one of the things that I have appreciated as far as like the way that you know Jason and the way that even like Ron and to a certain degree, Lacey, maybe not as much, has been, has not taken that same route that like other content creators have, especially in the space that we're in, where they're not like trying to max out on as much drama as possible and like being as big as a nuisance as possible.
Punishing Myself in 202500:15:22
Like I always, you could, like, I joke around and I say like Ron is like a nuisance streamer.
You know, you know the content I'm talking about?
Like obviously like kick streamers and nuisance streamers like people like what's his face?
Don't say that about my Ronald.
Yeah, they think that fucking that's my favorite streamer.
He's the goat.
He was my most watched in 2025.
Isn't that funny?
What's the name of the kid with the busted ass face that like fucked up as McLaren?
Jake Jordy.
Jake Doherty.
Yeah, Jack Dordy.
Jack Doherty.
Like that.
He's got a gay brother.
You know that?
I did not.
Yeah, that's why he can say the Epsler.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, that's right.
He said that.
Oh, yeah, it's true.
If I could say the Epsler for every gay brother I have.
And I joke that Ron is like, I know.
But I don't think Ron is like that because he does actually have like timing and talent and he's actually very funny.
I hope he never hear me say this.
He's so unbelievably talented.
Yes.
And he doesn't even realize, like for your red carpet.
So good.
That little butthead.
For your red carpet, like he was so nervous.
He's nervous every year.
He's so stressed.
Like he's always like he gets in his head and he doubts himself.
And he's like, but he's so quick.
Yeah, but he's literally the perfect person for that.
And I sit there and I tell him, I'm like, Ron, you understand?
Like, I couldn't put like dream of a better scenario to like drop you into where you could be yourself and shine and show everyone and entertain people and make them laugh than this.
And he did a great job last year.
He did an even better job this year.
He's, he's the first person that I've ever like brought back intentionally with like, I don't know if I can ever get rid of him because he's so fucking good at it.
He's so funny and so funny.
Like just and he reaches across all the aisles too.
Like he knows.
And even if he doesn't know the person, you have no fucking clue he doesn't know the person.
Yeah, but you don't.
And he like leans into it.
So it's like funny, you know what I mean?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna play this.
I want you to play this clip that I'm pasting, copying and pasting to you right now.
It's a TikTok clip.
I want you to.
He was so funny.
I didn't, I didn't, I haven't said this anywhere.
I don't think you'd get mad at me.
But he called me like day of the show and I was pissed at him because I was like, Ron, I'm so fucking busy.
He calls me day of the show and he's like, QD, I don't get it.
Like if you're letting everyone stream, like, you know how I let people stream their red carpet this year?
He's like, then what, like, what makes me special?
Like, what makes the red carpet, my spot special?
And I said, Ron, you're fucking wrong.
Like, what do you mean?
He was like, yeah, but everyone's going to get viewers.
I said, no one's going to get as many viewers as you.
Like, you, you are the stop.
Like, you're, you're the main show.
Yeah.
He was like, he, oh, I guess like gets in his head.
Was he nervous about like the fact that like it wouldn't work?
He was nervous that it wouldn't perform as well because everyone would be streaming it.
And I'm like, you don't get it.
I want you to play this.
He anticipated.
Yeah, you're the entrepreneur.
I want you to play this clip that I saw on my For You page a while back when he wasn't even live streaming on his stream at all.
He was just like fucking around with rage.
And I think this is like a little bit of a testament to how fast he is and how quickly he can snap into making content, not just for himself, but for other people as well.
Oh, I've seen this.
This is hilarious.
It isn't in your ear.
If it isn't in your nose, oh, what's that down below?
It's the key.
I'm going to give you a radar and you have to solve it.
Or the key goes to the bottom of the page.
I'll solve it.
What goes up?
What goes down?
What makes you sad when you've got to frown?
What makes you have a frown in a town that you're not used to being around?
Crocodile.
The answer was Stable Ronaldo because I'm Crocodile in a town of Friday.
I'm looking for a quote, a very direct one.
What has four eyes?
What has one God?
Despite all the hate in the chat, what is the quote of the guy?
Hitler.
The answer I was looking for was Stable Renardo, what made you wear glasses.
If it isn't in your ear.
But like, but like, that was off the cuff.
Like, he just came in, he handcuffed himself to rage, and then he was just like dropping riddles off the cuff.
And it's like, I feel like a lot of people don't understand or take for granted.
Like, you know, it does require a level of understanding your presence on camera and being quick on your feet to be able to just like, you know, drop that and be able to make content for other people.
So I really appreciate his talent.
All right.
Having said that, let's get into some drama.
Okay.
Oh, shit.
Lucky.
Rank the new phase streamers go.
No, we're not going to make you do that.
That's such, it's so evil.
Yeah, you can't fucking.
You know, you got to rank.
Behind the payload.
Ain't nobody paying for this shit.
I literally did my Twitch recap.
You can see one through five.
They're all in there.
I know.
I've spent the most time watching Ron.
But I mean, in terms of like watching specific phase members, it's hard because a lot of time I'm on camera with them during the day.
Like by the time I end, I normally don't stream that late into the night.
Sometimes I'll go home and like it'll only be Rage who's live or Silky who's live.
You know what I mean?
And so I'll tap into their AMP Rage.
AB Rage, yeah.
But I am a fan of all of them.
I love all of them equally.
And I think they're all great in their own individual ways.
And that's what makes our collective so special and our group so special.
It's because we all are great in our own ways and can do our own thing, but then come together and have that like dynamic that we have where we can just have fun on camera.
And, you know, it's a blessing.
Like how you were saying, we're all like so fortunate to be in the position we are.
That's what I always remind the guys like whenever shit is stressful or people are tripping about this or that.
It's like, yo, you guys understand we get paid to be on the internet, be on camera and hang out with each other and have fun.
Yeah.
And do and laugh.
Like, you know how many other people would kill to have a group of friends that they could do that with?
Yeah, 100%.
Really be friends with me.
Me, I would kill to have a group of friends that I could hang out with on the internet.
Excuse me.
I've never laughed at a thing you've said ever.
So I would also kill for that.
Hassan, you don't have time for me.
All right.
So the end of the year is here.
And a question I have for you is a New Year's resolution.
It's kind of corny to do, but I wanted to go around and see what everyone's New Year's resolutions were and a look back on some of the highs and lows of the year, the W's and L's of 2025, what you want to do in 2026.
And I also want to ask you about FaZe in general, FaZe New Year's resolutions.
So let's start with you, Adapt.
Not to put you on the spot.
If you want, I could put Austin on the spot.
Are you ready?
I could go.
I could pop it off.
Tremendous at it.
I haven't really thought about New Year's resolutions in terms of like...
Let's start with W's and L's of 2025 for you.
W's and L's.
I mean, I feel like I've grown a lot as a person.
I feel like I've matured.
W Growth.
I won an award for streaming.
I feel like I worked really hard this year and pushed through a lot, not just myself internally, but with FaZe and all the guys and being able to win back to back or the org of the year and breakout stream of the year.
It means a lot to me.
It was really special.
Getting to do some of the things I've done on stream, like there's been so many cool things I've done on stream that I didn't think were possible this year.
And going into 2026, I am.
I'm excited because there's a lot of things I left on the table, like a lot of ideas that I didn't fully get to hone in on and like try to execute because it's some of those, one of those things where you have to really sit down and like give time to like plan it out.
And it's hard when you're still caught up in the day-to-day of doing daily streams and things like that.
So executing on some of those bigger ideas in terms of like resolutions, I mean, get back on a consistent schedule in the gym.
Since I got sick over the sub-authon, I haven't really been on like a good schedule, you know what I mean?
And I'm the type where it's like, all right, I can't just go hit the gym once and be like, all right, like if I go to the gym, I got to be able to commit to like, okay, I'm back on a schedule of like going five days a week, six days a week, eating clean, eating good.
So I'm excited to do that.
I have a gym being built at the FaZe house right now, a whole recovery area, and just get back on like a healthy schedule like that.
Keep doing more of the same.
Really?
All right.
Cutie Cinderella.
My W's or L's and then my resolutions.
Is that what you did?
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll be honest, 2025 was not my year.
Don't think so?
It's been a bad year.
Yeah.
I started with my, so my L would be my uncle dying.
God, that happened right off the cup.
That was like the first week.
Yeah, it was really sad.
And she stayed and finished the dinner.
We're like, you don't have to.
I was just in shock.
Yeah.
It was a whole thing.
It's okay.
It's all right.
It was just, it's been a crazy.
I don't think I had one month where something like traumatic didn't happen in 2025, unfortunately.
There's been like a lot of behind the scenes.
Like I, I had a, I had a stalker show up with a gun.
I had like all sorts of shit.
It was definitely a bit of an L.
It's been a W.
It was not my favorite year of all time.
But I do think that the W's that I've, I learned a lot.
And so that's exciting.
I think I've, I think I've, I, I have, there's a problem with streaming that I think everyone understands, but I have a really hard time like applying it where it's like you, you, as much as you want to be your authentic and true self, um, it's not like sometimes the healthiest thing to be.
So even if you are upset, even if you are tired, even you do have to like, you have to suck it up and you got to put, you know, that show biz baby.
And that is part of the job.
And I think I have gotten better at that.
And I think it's just a learning curve where you have to like slow down and like think exactly how you're articulating yourself.
And I think as crazy as it is, even though I've been doing this for six years, that was an epiphany that I had this year is just like slowing down with how you're saying things and like, I don't know, just being more responsible in that way.
And so I feel like that was a really good epiphany.
But I think going into next year, my biggest thing is just Pelotoning more.
I love my Peloton.
Okay.
I'm very excited about that.
That's good.
And maybe you could watch anime while you are on the Peloton.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what Ludwig does.
And so that.
And then I'm going to finish my cookbook in 2026, I decided.
And that's kind of it right now.
Austin.
W's and L's.
W's and L's and New Year's Resolution.
Okay.
W's is, I actually did stream a lot more this year on a personal level.
How many hours?
Actually, I think I went up by like three or four hundred percent in the previous year.
I don't know how many hours it was.
Yeah, you hit your 200.
I've been in this industry longer than you have.
That's not a tremendous amount of time.
In one year, some of us are bitter.
In one year, I have outstreamed you.
Some of us are in one month.
Some of us are.
How many hours did you stream this year?
Probably around like 2,000.
I think that's unrealistic.
I will never get there.
My point is, I stream more, right?
That was a good thing.
I sat down and I, I, for me, it was a personal goal.
I have had my entire career, I have done shows.
That's all I've done.
And I've had an aversion to sitting down at my computer alone.
And damn, look at that growth, baby.
2,400.
Wow.
I think I streamed around the same hours.
Wow, and you did a sub-author.
I think 2,000 hours I streamed.
I don't know.
Yeah, I've done 2,409 hours streamed.
So, anyway, I had an aversion to sitting down alone.
I've always been surrounded by people my entire career.
So I did that a lot more.
I don't like it.
I do not like it.
It's hard.
I don't like it.
I don't enjoy it.
And it's very obvious.
I do not enjoy it.
I do not like sitting at a computer.
It doesn't, it's not my passion.
I've never been into it.
But I forced myself to do it.
The L of this year is because I focused all of that energy into trying to do something that I felt very deeply uncomfortable with and not something that I really enjoyed as much, but I felt like it was a necessity.
Is I stopped doing what I love to do, which is doing gay shit.
No shows.
I really enjoy doing shows and content like that.
And the L is that I think that one of my, to move into my New Year's resolutions, is to not let fear dictate my things that I do.
I have a lot of things.
And a lot of people, you know, a lot of people say, I, you know, I don't sit there and work.
No, I actually do.
Busy.
No, no, I'm, I'm actually busy ideating.
There are so many things that I have in my ideas and things that I have that have come right and died before I allowed them.
And I killed them because I was afraid that I didn't have the tools that I needed to make this thing as good as I wanted.
I was afraid that this thing would fail.
And so in 2026, my goal is to just go for it.
And this is why I admire you: you don't let you have an idea.
You take that idea and you go for it.
You don't give a shit.
And also, I also let you know.
I also let money dictate.
I want something.
I've lost so much money.
But I admire that.
And I say this privately, and I've never told you, but I admire the fact that you will go out and you will lose money on something and you will just go and do it.
That scares me.
And so there's a lot of things that I have never done because I'm afraid to lose money on it.
And obviously, like, I have to be intelligent.
I can't just blow a bunch of money on stuff.
And I'm not saying you've been stupid.
Like, you obviously, but like, there's a battle.
I want to strike a balance.
You did put on a production of The Wizard of Oz.
But no, but like, but like, I admire the fact that you go out and you do shit.
I have things that I want to do, but I'm like, oh, I need to wait for the brand to sell it.
That's a good, that's actually a great resolution.
Yeah.
I mean, I think I, even to add to that, if I, even myself from my own experience, if I let like fear or self-doubt or discomfort ever dictate me in a way, I probably wouldn't have accomplished a lot of the things that I've done.
And a lot of the bigger things that I've done, the bigger moments I have had over my career and with streaming leading into it, I was hesitant and I was always like, do I do this?
Do I almost always?
And then every time I'm like, just click the button, just hit the go.
I just need to click the fucking button and not think about it.
The first like three months of this year, half the time I was streaming, I still didn't know what I was doing.
Yeah.
I'm like, but just click the fucking button.
And that's why when people ask me, they're like, do you have any real advice?
I would say just like literally just do it.
That's it.
Stop thinking in your head.
That's it.
Just clear it.
Just fucking do it.
And it's obviously easier said than done when it's like so many people get in their own heads and don't let themselves reach their potential or even see the chance of the shock going in.
They won't even put it up.
Yeah.
They don't even put it up because they're afraid.
Yeah.
It broke.
COVID broke my brain.
Not like the era, but like the era broke my brain because this is an era where you could sneeze and get 150,000 viewers.
You know what I mean?
Overcoming Career Doubts00:06:19
And then you're constantly chasing that high constantly, constantly, constantly.
And unless you can achieve that particular high, you don't do it.
And so that for me in particular.
And so like, I've been constantly chasing that high and you just will never achieve that high.
You know what's funny?
I lost that, that like chase or desire ever since the first streamer awards when I went from like 300,000 watching me one day and then the next day I went to 3K.
I was like, nope, that's just how it works.
And that's gone.
And that's a healthy mindset.
And I still, the reason why I sat at my computer and I was almost punishing myself in a weird way this year, I would sit at my computer.
I'd wake up in the morning at eight o'clock in the morning at like 7 a.m. or whatever for multiple days in a row.
And I was like, almost like, Austin, you have to do this.
You have to prove to yourself that you can sit here alone and do this.
And I was like punishing myself.
I was like, I don't want to collaborate.
I'm going to do whatever.
But it's almost an L because it's like, wait, no, collaboration and doing the things that made you popular to begin with.
But it's good.
You're training yourself.
But I'm trying to do, I was trying to do that.
But the L, like I said, was like, I can't get away from what you're, you know.
Yeah.
All right.
Before we wrap this up, I'll give you guys my W's and L's of the year and my New Year's resolutions.
W of the year, Zoromdani, most impactful year that I've had politically in my entire career.
I've been doing this for like, what, 12, 13 years at this point.
You know, played a, played a role in getting the mayor of New York elected.
It's a pretty solid thing, especially underdog, long shot, a person who has very close ideals and a very similar worldview and a very similar background even to someone such as myself.
That was a big deal for me at least.
And hopefully I'll be continuing on that journey in this upcoming year.
That was definitely a big W. Watching people's attitudes shift so dramatically in the exact way that I said it would, whether it be on certain domestic issues or whether it be on foreign policy, like on Israel, it felt fairly lonely.
Obviously not with you guys, but like it felt fairly lonely in this space that I was where a lot of people were just like fearful of speaking out, whether it be against the Trump administration, whether it be against Israel,
whether it be against like the right-wing shift that I was noticing in the spaces that we occupy, people being very careless with their language, people being very hurtful to others and the toxicity in this sphere and the overall silence that I saw from many people who are like-minded individuals who just like were worried about getting harassed endlessly.
Now that's going away.
Now people are a lot more forthcoming about their worldview.
And I guess the woke is coming back is what I'm saying.
And that's a good thing.
So that's another, I will say that that's another W. As far as L's goes, I think like there was, this was a very chaotic year for sure.
There was a lot of, I mean, the year started off with my former podcast co-host trying to like quote unquote end my career in the way that he spoke about it.
And we didn't really ever broach the subject matter on the podcast at all.
Part of the reason was because, once again, the environment, the media environment, the landscape was very different as opposed to where it is now, where like, you know, a lot of things are considered established truths.
And it started off with that bang and it didn't really go away.
That wave after wave of harassment never really went away.
The L's on that front were not as significant, but still hurdles that I had to overcome.
And it was nuisances.
It was annoying.
As far as New Year's resolutions goes, I think this upcoming year, it's the midterms.
So obviously I have a lot of candidates that I'm in the tank for.
But what?
That's like.
Oh, I thought you were like wrapping up.
No, he's ready for the midterm.
But yeah, midterms are coming up.
Obviously, it's a big deal.
Hopefully we'll be able to reshape American politics in a significant way that reflects on people's values and puts empathy first.
But beyond that, as far as my own personal resolutions goes, I still want to take a step back and dial back on the maximum politics of it all because I've been doing eight-hour streams where it's all politics and I fucking hate that.
I used to have so much more variety in my content.
So I will be doing more collaborations.
I'm going to be doing a collaboration with you.
I'm going to be doing a collaboration, hopefully with you guys as well.
In the tub.
Not in the tub, because that's my other New Year's resolution.
I got to get back on the health train.
Because I look back in the beginning of the year and I was like so insecure and so I had so much body dysmorphia about where I was with my with my physique, with my health.
And now I look back at it and I'm like, damn, I was in fucking fantastic shape as opposed to where I'm at now with the injuries and everything else.
And I want to diversify the type of physical activity that I engage in as well.
I can't be just playing basketball and fucking concrete outdoor court anymore.
You know, I'm a big boy.
My knees can't handle it.
My bones can't handle it as we've seen this past week.
So these past two weeks.
So yeah, my news resolutions are focusing more on my bodily health.
And also in order to preserve my mental health, trying to get back to doing more fun stuff, more fun content, collaborations, not expressly political things that I'm doing in this sphere.
Absolutely.
I hear you on that.
You're going to accomplish it.
Yeah, hopefully.
Inshallah.
We're out of time.
But before we do that, where can people find you?
What do you want to promote?
You could just find me on Twitch, adapt, twitch.tv slash adapt, YouTube, Adapt, TikTok, Adapt, TikTok, Adapt.
Instagram, Reels, Instagram, Adapt.
Talk about the trial.
That is real.
Where Adapt will put me through the ringer on nicotine addiction with all the information that he has.
Yes.
And Dr. Austin will write me a prescription about what I'm doing.
And nurse Cutie Cinderella will also aid and abet in the process behind the paywall at patreon.com slash fear.
And thank you so much for your contributions, everybody.
And we'll see you there.
Peace out.
Pushing Through Three Days00:00:57
That whole three days leading up to, I was freaking out.
I didn't know that.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
Was there any debate you were like, I'm not going to go?
Ah, no.
I mean, a lot of people told me not to go, but there was just no way, especially because I'm like, okay, I'm going to keep.
I took like three days and it was 24 hours before.
And my manager and a bunch of my friends were like, bro, just push it a day, push it a day.
And that was.
That flight.
Yeah, I know exactly the schedule.
Their schedule was insane.
That would have literally just fucked everything up and I would have felt awful.
And I really, it's something I want to do.
I really wanted to do.
And she and her and Connor and her whole team really helped put this together and worked really hard.
So I would have.
Did you keep it from Maya that you were going through this the whole time or did you tell her?
Yeah, I was going to say this is my first time hearing this.
I kept it a secret.
You didn't want to stress her out.
No.
You just kept it all to yourself.
Yeah.
She doesn't even know that you were in pain on the plane.