Why Is ‘Anthony Fantano’ Getting Cancelled? The Resurfaced ‘Trayvon Martin’ And ‘N-Word’ Clips Explained

The most popular music critic on YouTube, Anthony Fantano, is in hot water after some shocking alleged past clips resurfaced on Twitter.

One of the clips seems to show Fantano using a racst and a homophobic slur and another shows him laughing at a joke relating to the death of Trayvon Martin. Now, Fantano has responded.

So, are the clips real and how are people reacting to them? Here’s what you need to know.

Why Is Anthony Fantano Being Cancelled?

Recently, two old videos of Anthony Fantano have been spreading on Twitter. In the first video, Fantano is commenting on fellow YouTuber iDubbbz’s controversial past catchphrase, which was the n-word followed by the homophobic f-slur. The catchphrase is inspired by a content creator named Pisces, who once used the slurs against iDubbbz

In the clip, Fantano says the n-word and f-slur in reference to this. It’s worth noting that he is not calling someone the slurs.

In the second clip, which started going viral that same day, Fantano is seen during a live stream with three other creators. A chatter sends them a message joking about the death of Trayvon Martin. In the clip, one of the other content creators makes some jokes targeted at Martin and Fantano is seen laughing at the jokes.

Some X users are not being very kind to Fantano after seeing the clips. Many are criticizing him for using the racist and homophobic terms, even in the context of explaining iDubbbz’s catchphrase. The Trayvon Martin clip is inspiring similar criticism, with many finding it inappropriate to even laugh at the jokes about Martin, regardless of whether or not he made the jokes himself.

Fantano is even getting some flack from people in the music world, like music producer Alchemist.

On the other hand, some are defending Fantano. In defense of Fantano, they’re noting that the clips seem to be old and might even be related to his now-deleted comedy YouTube channel ThatIsThePlan, which garnered controversy years ago. Some are claiming that Fantano has changed and he should not be blamed for his past edgy comedy.

They’re also lobbing insults at the account that originally shared the N-word clip, which belongs to DJ Akademiks, who doesn’t exactly like Fantano.

What Are Some More Reactions To Fantano’s Cancellation?

How Did Anthony Fantano Respond To The Allegations?

On August 1st, 2025, Fantano posted a response to the controversy on X. In the video, Fantano talks about how back when the n-word clip happened, he had a different opinion on using slurs and language like that in quotes. He believed it was okay to say the word as long as he was quoting someone and wasn’t directing it towards anyone.

Fantano claims he has changed his opinion on that. He apologizes for saying the words.

In response to the Trayvon Martin clip, he admits it “doesn’t look good,” but says that the clip is edited and taken out of context. He says that it comes from an episode of the Drunken Peasants podcast and that their humor “runs edgy,” but they are not right-wing. He then shows the full context of the clip, in which the host mixes up Trayvon Martin’s name with someone else’s and Fantano calls him a “moron.”

For the full history of the Anthony Fantano Trayvon Martin / Racist Slur Controversy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia entry for more information.