Critical Rolehas taken down every video featuring Brian Wayne Foster from its official YouTube channel. Hundreds of videos featuring days worth of content are now inaccessible in an effort to completely remove the bad actor’s presence fromCritical Role’s history.
Earlier this year,Critical RoleandThe Last of Usstar Ashley Johnson separated from Foster, her long-time partner and fiance, after a history of verbal abuse, control, and substance dependence. These behaviors intensified after their separation, leading Johnson to file a restraining order against Foster in May.
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Now, in solidarity with their friend and fellow actor,Critical Rolehas completely scrubbed Foster’s presence from its public history on YouTube. For several years, Foster acted as the host ofCritical Role, appearing in the talk back showTalks Machina, several one-shots and side campaigns, and multiple spin-off shows. The only footage of Foster found on theCritical RoleYouTube now is his brief appearance at the beginning of a handful of live shows he hostedduring the Mighty Nein campaign.
Foster is not the first bad actorCritical Rolehas had to deal with. The earliest episodes ofCritical Rolefeatured Orion Acaba as an eighth member of Vox Machina. However, disagreements and personal reasons led the actor to be removed from the show, going so far as to erase his character entirely fromThe Legend of Vox Machinashowand other retellings of the campaign’s early history. That said, the actual episodes featuring Acaba are still available on the Geek and Sundry YouTube and are linked to the officialCritical Rolewebsite.
Most fans agree this situation is extremely unfortunate. Despite everything, much of what Foster appeared in was entertaining and valuable.UndeadwoodandHoney Heistwere considered to be some of thebest spin-offs inCritical Rolehistory, and the interviews fromBetween the Sheetsrevealed some truly personal and touching sides of the cast. Additionally,Talks Machinaprovided tons of behind-the-scenes context and entertainment for fans of Campaign 2. Losing access to all of that content is a huge loss forCritical Rolefans.
That said, nearly every fan is gladCritical Rolemade this decision. As hard as it is to let go of that much content, most agree removing the association with Foster and supporting Johnson is more important. For now, fan transcripts of some of this removedCritical Rolecontent still exist, but fans shouldn’t be surprised if these are also eventually thrown away as well.
