Carpetbaggers

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Carpetbaggers are people who exploit Chris's own infamy for personal gain, typically for money. Trolls of years past sometimes acted this out in order to rile up Chris, such as Liquid Chris, Jimmy Hill, and Jeff Ouzuo, though this was all part of their act, and no attempts at making a business out of it actually occurred. Several Chris orbiters in the late 2010s and 2020s have actually done so for business purposes. In a few cases, carpetbaggers have sought out Chris to collaborate with him.

Examples

Dillin Thomas

Dillin Thomas is a YouTuber who formerly covered Chris. On 2 February 2020, he began selling a "Sonichu and Rosechu Valentines Day" shirt on Teespring, featuring art his girlfriend Taylor had drawn of Sonichu and Rosechu.[1] When Dillin promoted the shirt on Twitter, Chris replied, expressing interest in one of them.[2]

In the wake of the Affair with Mother, Chris was arrested at Regency Inn Richmond while wearing the shirt. Dillin decided to further capitalize on this by relisting the shirt on Redbubble with the title "Chris Chan Arrest Shirt".[3]

Ethan Ralph

After the fallout of the incest revelations, Ethan Ralph jumped on the opportunity to exploit Chris for views. Ethan, who had a history of vitriolic feelings towards Null, sought to interview Chris, in particular about Null.[4][5][6][7]

When Chris was located at Regency Inn Richmond, Ethan livestreamed himself driving to the motel in search of him, knocking on every door on the second floor and ordering pizza in a failed attempt to lure Chris out. After being kicked from the motel premises for loitering, Ethan soon returned upon being notified that police were in the area and filmed Chris's arrest, all the while screaming comments and questions at Chris.

It should also be noted that Ethan goes the extra mile by attempting to sell t-shirts with Chris's likeness on it in his online store,[8] without the latter's knowledge or permission, with no plans to compensate Chris for any sales made.

Geno Samuel

In 2018, Geno Samuel began producing Chris Chan: A Comprehensive History, a video series on YouTube. When Geno submitted his YouTube channel for monetization review, YouTube instead terminated his account over the clips of bullying within the series.[9] Geno set up another channel to continue the series.

Although Geno claimed in 2023, while advertising other video projects, that he would be preparing for a "post-CWC timeline,"[10] he instead doubled down. Later that year, Geno began selling items based on Chris's infamy without his approval. These include knockoff Sonichu medallions and a shirt with "WANT WOMAN!" printed on it (a reference to Chris's infamous outfit at Fridays After Five). Geno did not compensate Chris over using his Sonichu character.[11]

In response to seeing the items, Chris posted a tweet criticizing the medallions,[12] and he also posted a YouTube comment requesting Geno cease selling the shirt.[13]

Kenneth Engelhardt

In 2022, Kenneth Engelhardt wanted to collaborate with Chris on a Sonichu-themed business project during the Jail Saga. Kenneth envisioned it as an "extended universe" of Sonichu.[14]

Upon learning of Chris's scheme to try to pay off Barbara Chandler to move out of 14 Branchland Court, among other disturbing comments, a disgusted Kenneth wrote Chris to inform him that he was planning to kick Chris out of the project. Kenneth told Chris that the project would be run by himself, Helena Fiorenza, and Eels and the Egg-man, by their agreement, and that Sonichu and Rosechu would be "broken down and recreated from scratch."[15]

Chris ignored Kenneth and stopped responding to his letters. Kenneth has apparently since abandoned his plans.

Luke

In 2020, Luke mailed a large box of random items to Chris - which included things with relevance to Chris like video games. Luke paid Chris to autograph each item. On 8 October, Chris drove to Pennsylvania and dropped off the package at Luke's house.[16] Luke then listed the items on Mercari as the storefront "CWCStore", but deceptively claimed that the items had belonged to Chris or his family members.[17][18][19]

Null

Main article: Kiwi Farms silver coin

Praetor

In September 2020, Praetor met with Chris and arranged a business partnership with him.[20] Praetor's first item put up for sale on the group's shop OfficialCWCmart was a Sonichu-style medallion. The medallions were produced by Praetor, who paid Chris a royalty for the usage of his Sonichu character.[21]

OfficialCWCmart later expanded to other offerings, some produced by Praetor, and some by Chris.

In mid-2023, Praetor leader Caden Peck was involved with financing the Big Island, VA house. Chris currently lives in it and pays rent.

Chris and Praetor's partnership remains active as of 2025.

Rex Rowan Nabours III

Main article: Trollsta's Paradise: A True and Honest Tribute to Christian & The Hedgehog Boys

Sonichu Solutions

Sonichu Solutions.jpg

At the June 2024 Fan Expo Dallas, a booth named "Sonichu Solutions" was set up. According to a customer, the owners of the booth were not affiliated with Chris.[22] The owners copied from Chris's Sonichu design and offered knockoffs of his medallions. Further, they also sold printed-out copies of Chris's jail art for $15 a piece.[23]

Winfield Winfield

Cro-magnon looking ween.png

Dylan Winfield, also known as Winfield Winfield, is a self-published horror novel author, intending his debut novel Cult of the Eclipse to be the first in a series. Dylan seemed to have found promoting his book by spamming Reddit and Twitter ineffective, so in June 2021 he hit upon the idea of requesting Chris do a video review of his book. Although Chris agreed,[24] the review did not come to pass, particularly due to the subsequent incest revelations and Jail Saga.

Undeterred, on 6 September 2021, Dylan traveled to Ruckersville, where he trespassed at the yard of 14 Branchland Court while taking photos and recording video of its neglected state. During his video commentary, he advertised his book. The following day, he uploaded the video and messaged GiBi on Twitter. This resulted in his exposure and doxing on the Kiwi Farms, and several people calling him out on his clout-chasing attempts, after which he deleted his video within an hour, suggesting he was following the thread. Why, then, he didn't know better is a mystery.

Arguments against carpetbagging

Like the rest of the Unholy Quintet, there are plenty of good reasons to not become a carpetbagger.

Associating yourself with Chris is never a good idea

Chris has an infamous reputation, cultivated through years of bad behavior both online and offline. Most notably, he committed a sex crime by engaging in incest with his mother. Even though the charges were dropped by the state of Virginia, the knowledge of Chris's actions will never fade from public consciousness. If you connect yourself to Chris, that will be the first thing many people think of whenever they hear your name.

You will be actively selling bootleg merchandise

Sonichu has always been a ripoff of Sonic and Pikachu, two copyrighted characters owned by major video game companies. Nintendo in particular is known to harshly defend their copyrights, ordering the takedown of many fan projects under threat of legal action. Chris has managed to sail under their radar for years, not because they are unaware of him, but likely because they have concluded he is just a strange, overzealous fan. Unlike with fan-created games, there is no chance of Sonichu being mistaken for a genuine Sega or Nintendo product. For now, they see Chris's creations as posing no serious threat to their brands and thus simply not worth the hassle of dealing with through legal channels. However, that could always change, especially if enough people start producing their own Sonichu junk, so why take the risk of getting stuck with a bunch of crappy merchandise you're no longer allowed to sell?

Besides, anything that wasn't made by Chris himself is not "TRUE and HONEST" Sonichu merchandise. The only reason most Chris followers would even want something like a medallion is because it came from Chris himself.

Technically you will be leeching money from Chris

As sad as it is, Chris's Etsy store is probably the closest he can ever get to earning income on his own. By making and selling unofficial Sonichu merchandise, you're depriving Chris of some of that money, and thus making it harder for him to do what people have always told him he should do (earn a living for himself and stop leeching off government programs).

The negative attention you will receive makes it not worth it

Historically, Chris has always attracted the worst kinds of people, and that negative attention extends to anyone who becomes even tangentially involved with him. Geno's documentary series is beloved by many Christorians, and even he received plenty of harsh criticism when he began selling his own line of Sonichu medallions and other Chris merchandise. Should Chris ever mention you, it could lead to you getting doxed by weens, your face being posted on the CWCki for everyone to see, possibly even a Kiwi Farms thread. There are far better ways to eke out a few extra dollars online, which don't involve painting a Chris-shaped target on yourself.

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20210802031401/https://twitter.com/MerloTart/status/1422032803424727046
  2. February 2020 social media posts#Sonichu and Rosechu shirt
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20210802031723/https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Chris-Chan-Arrest-Shirt-by-DillinThomasDHT/84254092.WFLAH
  4. https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1421892854973091848 (archive)
  5. https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1421893664108949508 (archive)
  6. https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1421896486359547905 (archive)
  7. https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1421905699391614982 (archive)
  8. https://shop.theralphretort.com/the-moment-chris-chan (archive)
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/ChrisChanSonichu/comments/bpe1lz/comment/enu9fug/ (archive)
  10. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3pplzbKMZsP5zBH_6SVJQ/community?lb=Ugkx1NS-4BZN8YLim5ATFO2M6WDj1qzPHZ5P (archive)
  11. https://www.reddit.com/r/ChrisChanSonichu/comments/18i2bgw/chris_responds_to_a_customer_buying_genos/kodn5gj/ (archive)
  12. December 2023 social media posts#Criticizing Geno's medallion product
  13. List of Chris's comments on YouTube#Geno selling Want Woman shirt
  14. The Sonichu Project
  15. Excommunication letter
  16. The Place chats - Pennsylvania Trip
  17. https://archive.ph/ipaiV
  18. https://archive.ph/DRQFv
  19. https://archive.ph/0nb2M
  20. The Place chats (September 2020)#The "New Associates" (and Helena Hate)
  21. Praetor#Royalty payment
  22. https://x.com/BitchAssBowie/status/1799594576405282826 (archive)
  23. File:Jail Art - 05Jun22 - An Honest Self-Portrait from June, 2021.jpg
  24. June 2021 social media posts#Interdimensional travels
The Unholy Quintet
White Knights  • A-logs  • Enablers  • Weens  • Carpetbaggers