In time has elected to try to get interviews with Mr.
Kyle Curtis, and Mr. Steve McRae, regarding the breakup of The NonSequitur Show YouTube channel which they both hosted
and ostensibly owned.
In each interview, we will be providing the guest with a
list of questions in advance.
The questions appear in roughly in the order in which we
intend to ask them, but the dynamics of the interview may cause the order to
change. Based on the answers, we may ask follow-up questions which are not on
the list. However, the follow-up will always be within the context of the
original question asked, and/or another question on the list.
Once the guest is in possession of the questions, they may
send any slides, audio, video, or other digital media to In Time which they
would like to have available for the interview. Due to time constraints, media
submitted less than twenty four hours prior to the
show may not be included.
Mr. Kyle Curtis:
The
interview will start with Mr. Curtis hidden. Mr. Souter will cover a brief
history of In
Time’s coverage of YouTube and it’s related pitfalls
and hazards. He will then cover the history both of in Time’s coverage of the
non sequitur show, and give a rough outline of what happened, covering the
history of the breakup. He will then explain why we have decided to interview
both men in this issue.
Then
Mr. Curtis will be introduced.
Primary Questions:
1)
You declared an end to broadcasts of The NonSequitur Show on August 27, 2019. What have you been
up to since?
a.
At one point started a channel that was going to
go behind the scenes at restaurants, discussing food and the restaurant
business. Is that something you’re still interested
in? Will you continue that show? If not, do you plan on ever returning to
YouTube?
b.
Where can people find you and your work?
2)
Where were you born?
3)
What religion was your family growing up, and
what were your views on it? Did these views evolve over time, and why?
4)
At some point you decided you want to get into
podcasting. What got you interested in that, and what did you want to
accomplish?
5)
How did you meet Steve McRae? How did you meet?
What were your impressions of him early on?
6)
The two of you agreed to start a podcast
together, and eventually went into YouTube. What are some of your favorite
episodes of The NonSequitur Show and why?
7)
What, if any, agreements were there between you
and Steve in regards to responsibilities, the division
of labor, accounting, control, and ownership of The NonSequitur
Show and/or its properties?
8)
Did you ever tell Mr. McRae that he was a partner,
and/or did you ever propose a formal business arrangement with him as a
partner?
9)
Who acquired and set up the initial YouTube
channel, the website, and the TeeSpring store?
10)
When did Mr. McRae first start requesting a draw
from the income from The NonSequitur Show and
access to the books? When did you first promise him these things?
11)
At some point friction between you and Mr. McRae
started. In your view, what was the source of the friction, was it a problem,
and why?
12)
At some point, Mr. McRae began complaining that he
was being cut out from the show, that you were taking over more and more of his
responsibilities such as booking. He also began claiming that he was not be
told that a show was scheduled until after it had aired. Was this happening,
and if so was it deliberate and why?
13)
Mr. McRae claims that he asked to see all the
financial records, repeatedly, since the beginning of the show, and that you repeatedly
claimed that these records would be made available to. In December of 2018, you
told him that these records, necessary for him to pay taxes, would be made
available in March of 2019 so as to allow him to meet
the April 15 tax deadline. You also said that the full books, including tax
records, for The NonSequitur Show, would be
available to him on April 16. In March you reiterated that he would get the tax
information shortly. The tax information was not forthcoming in March, nor was
it made available when he asked for it on April 16. Indeed
he has never seen any tax records nor official accounting (including invoices, receipts,
bank records, payment records, or canceled checks) from The NonSequitur Show. Why were these documents not made
available as promised?
14)
On Monday, May 27, 2019, you reduced the YouTube
Channel permissions of your producer, Booleanator,
and Mr. McRae, from Admin to Communications Director. What reason did you give
them for the reduction? Was this the real reason? What was the timeline you
gave for restoring those permissions? Did you restore your producer’s
permissions ahead of this timeline, and then instruct him that, if he was
asked, he was to lie about it?
15)
Mr. McRae claims that as he noticed he was being
cut out from shows, and an increasing number of show asset and responsibilities
were being consolidated under you, he began to worry that you were making
deliberate preparations to remove him from the show. He began requesting a meeting
to discuss these concerns. He claims you repeatedly postponed these meetings over
a period of six weeks, until a confrontation was forced on June 11, 2018. Did
he request these meetings, where they postponed, and if so why?
16)
On June 11, 2018, right before a show, you told the
day’s guest, Mr. Reds Rhetoric that Mr. McRae would not be present for the
show. Mr. Rhetoric explained that he would not come on the show or participate
in any way without Mr. McRae. This precipitated a confrontation which ended
with you locking Mr. McRae and your producer out of the show. What precipitated
locking them out. What were you thinking when you did it, and immediately afterwards?
Was there ever a time that you regretted this? Would you change anything if you
had to do it again.
17)
During that hang out, Steve said that the
original deal had been that he would be a 50-50 partner, what he called “in
perpetuity”. You did not appear to deny this. Instead, you seemed to agree, but
said that while that was the deal, you were changing the deal, and there would
be a new one going forward. On what grounds did you believe you were able to
change this deal going forwards without Mr. McRae’s concent?
18)
About a week later, in a meeting between you and
Reds Rhetoric, Mr. Rhetoric asked you for an accounting of The NonSequitur Show finances, “the books”, including
income, expenditures, and taxes filled. You appeared to suggest that, while you
would give them the books, you you would be willing
to “return” steve to his prior position, which included partnership with 50/50
rights “In Perpetuity”. If
he had not been a full partner prior, or if he did not deserve to be a full
partner, why would you offer to restore him to that position now?
19)
Once it became clear that this will become a
legal matter, you went into a supporter hangout and assured Patrons, as you had
assured your audience on air, that you both had a lawyer, and that you were
working in earnest to resolve things amicably with Steve. Repeated requests by
Steve, Steve’s Power of Attorney, and finally by Steve’s lawyer, for the
contact information for your lawyer, went unanswered. Legal documents,
including demand letters from Steve’s lawyer, went unanswered, or were answered
by you in the comments section of The NonSequitur
Show YouTube Channel. You claimed that you did not have a lawyer, and never
had. Did you or did you not have a lawyer, and if not, why did you lie about
it? When did you decide to tell the truth and why?
20)
Several months ago, you came into the The NonSequitur Show
Discord, and said that your lawyer had just filed a motion against Steve just
shy of the deadline before defaulting on the case. No suck motion was ever
recorded. Did you file the motion as you claimed, and if not, why would you go
on to Discord and make claims which would obviously be disproven?
21)
During the last days broadcasting, you appeared
to be sweating profusely, glass eyed, and clinching your jaw. There has been
concerned that, paired with what appeared to be rather erratic behavior, that
you might have been under the influence of controlled substances. What would
you say to people who have this concern? Did you ever broadcast under the
influence of a controlled substance?
22)
You were found liable, by default, of breach of
contract, conversion (commonly referred to as theft), breach of fiduciary duty,
unfair and deceptive trade practices, unjust enrichment, and fraud. You were ordered
to surrender the YouTube channel, Discord, Twitter, and other NonSequitur Show properties within 30 days.
You failed to do so.? Why?
23)
Before telling Steve that you would hand the Twitter
account over to him, you deleted all of the contents
of that Twitter account. Why?
24)
You have filed a motion to dismiss, with
prejudice, on the grounds that you are not properly served. However, the
service was sent to the business address registered to The NonSequitur Show, and was signed for by a family member. If this was
your official business address, on what grounds you say you were not served?
25)
Did you create an Amazon account for non
sequitur gifts? Did you tell Mr. Steve McRae of that account? A number of people reported buying gifts for the show from
the Amazon Wishlist. Where are those gifts now?
26)
You have repeatedly stated that you owe Steve McRae
50% of the revenue from The NonSequitur
Show up to July 11th, 2019, and that you intended to pay him. You’ve also stated that this money was in fact already being
held in escrow until your accountant could be sure thet
Mr. McRae had not committed fraud. Given that it appears you never had an
accountant nor an attorney, on what grounds were you withholding the money?
27)
KC and GE were two regular hosts on the non
sequitur show. They called you family, and were
married in a ceremony over-which you presided. After Mr. McRae was removed,
they continued on the show, arguing that you were within your rights to remove
him, but that none the less he was entitled to be paid fully for the work he
did until then. On October 3, 2019, the day after you lost your judgment by
default, the following appeared on each of their Twitter accounts:
“This
is the final statement we will make on this issue: From the beginning we have
both maintained that Kyle made mistakes and did some things wrong and that
Steve deserve to be paid for his work on the non sequitur show. We were told
that he would be paid. We believed are very dear friend, who was not only an
online friend, but our family Kyle performed our wedding. And finding out that
we been betrayed and that the things he’s been telling
us for months are not true, is extremely hurtful.” At this point, they appear
to have completely severed any and all relationship
with you. Do you still speak with them? What betrayal
are they talking about?
28)
You have repeatedly stated that no matter what
happens going forward, you would give Mr. McRae his earnings from the show.
Every person ever to appear as a guest host on The NonSequitur
Show, save one, has stated publicly that Mr. McRae should be paid for his
work. Several months ago, Katie Joy Paulson released DM’s between the two of
you in which, after she asked you if you are going to pay him, you said “after
what he’s done? No. Fuck Steve”. What has he done that made you decide you
would not pay him?
29)
Jammy Sizlo, a Patreon
of the show, donated two seats of the production software known as “Vmix”, valued at $1200, to the show. Having ultimately
produced upwards of three hundred episodes for the show, and having received no
compensation whatsoever for his work, was there a discussion between you,
Steve, McInnis and Bool, about turning the licenses over to his producer so
that he may both receive some compensation, and use those licenses to produce
for other channels which might be able to pay him? If there was such an
arrangement, why is he not in possession of those licenses?
30)
At some point you decided to close the channel.
If you had no interest in running it any longer, why not remove your name from
the channel, hand it over to Steve, allowing him to broadcast without you, but
such that you could still earn 50% royalties off the show so long as it
continued air?
31)
If Steve McRae was an employee or independent
contractor on the show, how was it that you, as an independent contractor, have
been paid, but neither he nor Boolenator have been?
If he was a co-owner, did you involve him in any way in the decision to pay
yourself, an independent contractor, but to not pay any of the other people
working at The NonSequitur Show?
32)
At some point you changed the about page of the
YouTube channel to suggest that Steve was in fact not a cohost of the show, but
rather a guest host, along the lines of other guest host such as Shannon Q, GE,
and KC, and Katie Joy Paulson. Did you ever offer any equity or revenue from The
NonSequitur Show, to any of the other
guest hosts? If so, where they paid?
33)
Steve McRae has said that he is willing to show
his taxes for all of the applicable years, and that he
can demonstrate that at no time was he guilty of any fraud. Are you willing to
reciprocate, and make your taxes available to show that the income was reported
as you claim, and the taxes properly filed? Have The
NonSequitur Show taxes been properly
filed, and will you be making those available?
34)
Numerous people associate with the show have
suggested that one of the largest problems that caused non sequitur to fail,
was your inability to communicate. It’s been said that you were not effective
at communicating your intentions or your desires, or resolving
hostilities or contentions before they escalated out of control. Do you concur
with this assessment, and if so, how would you on correct it? If not, what do
you believe was the biggest obstacle The NonSequitur
Show’s success?
35)
Do you regret starting the non sequitur show? Do
you regret working with Steve? If you were starting over with Steve, what would
you change?
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