| Million Dollar Extreme | |
| Medium: | Internet and television |
| Nationality: | American |
| Active: | 2009–2016 |
| Genre: | Post irony Sketch comedy Surreal humor |
| Notable Work: | |
| Past Members: | Carroll |
Million Dollar Extreme (MDE) was an American sketch comedy troupe known for their alt-right and white supremacist fans, cultivated by founder Sam Hyde.[1] Nick Rochefort and Charls Carroll joined Hyde as group members. The group has been inactive since the cancellation of their show World Peace in 2016.
The group's YouTube channel was permanently banned in 2018 for violating the website's community guidelines. A ban on the group's subreddit on Reddit followed a few months later.
Million Dollar Extreme started out making sketch comedy videos on their YouTube channel, which David Weigel described as "absurdist" and "transgressive", often centering around themes mocking political correctness.[2] Sam Hyde's monologues, recorded on his iPhone, were also a staple for video content on the channel.[3]
Hyde also performed numerous public pranks that he uploaded to the MDE YouTube channel. In 2013, Hyde delivered a fake TEDx talk titled "2070 Paradigm Shift" at Drexel University.[4]
The troupe had various issues with online terms of service violations due to their content and fanbase. Their first ban from YouTube was in 2013, although the group continued to post online videos on several related YouTube channels after the initial ban. On May 4, 2018, their channel was permanently removed from YouTube for a violation of the site's community guidelines.[5] On September 10, 2018, the group's subreddit on Reddit was permanently removed for violations of their policy regarding violent content.[6]
See main article: Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace. In 2015, MDE were slated to have their own live action 15-minute sketch show on the cable network Adult Swim.[7] It was to be set in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world that satirizes the current political climate.[8] Titled , the series premiered on August 5, 2016.[9] Three weeks later, after World Peace was subject to internal controversy at Adult Swim due to Sam Hyde's connections to the alt-right,[10] [11] [12] [13] it was announced that the show would not be renewed for a second season.[14]
Christian Williams of The A.V. Club described them: "Some videos borrow Wonder Showzens toolkit, wielding subliminal blips and eye-straining text in service of subversive ends. Some make use of the Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! aesthetic, and some are surprisingly slick, with excellent, eardrum-shredding music courtesy of talented mystery-men like Orangy and Vaervaf."[15] In the view of Philadelphias Andrew Thompson: "The mission of Million Dollar Extreme has always seemed a spin on afflicting the comfortable, except its targets usually aren't the comfortably powerful. To the extent that satire exists in MDE's comedy, it feels like more of rationalization than a reason for the shock itself."