Smosh

Smosh is an American sketch comedy YouTube channel created by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox.In 2002, Anthony Padilla had created a website named "smosh.com" for making flash animations, and he was later joined by his friend Ian Hecox. Soon afterward, they began to post videos on Smosh's YouTube channel in the autumn of 2005 and quickly became one of the most popular channels on the site. As of March 2019, the Smosh channel has over 8 billion video views and over 24 million subscribers, putting it just outside of the top 50 most subscribed channels on YouTube.Since 2012, the Smosh brand has expanded to consist of multiple channels, including a Spanish-language channel (ElSmosh), a channel focused on video gaming content (Smosh Games), and a variety channel (Smosh Pit). The sketches have also included more actors. Padilla left Smosh in June 2017 to pursue independent ventures. The Smosh channel has experienced three different spans as the most subscribed YouTube channel. The first period spanned from May to June 2006, the second spanned from April 2007 to September 2008, and the third span lasted from January to August 2013.On November 6, 2018, Smosh parent company Defy Media abruptly closed without warning. On November 12, 2018, the Smosh cast released a video announcing that production of Smosh, Smosh Pit, and Smosh Games content was still ongoing, and that existing videos would be finished and other content would be released independently by Smosh on their YouTube channels. They subsequently joined Mythical Entertainment after their company was purchased by Rhett and Link on February 22, 2019. As of 2019, the channel has a considerable cast, with a core group of Hecox, Courtney Miller, Damien Haas and Shayne Topp running the majority of content.