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the dan and phil phandom was more of a toxic experience than I remember

Allie Tricaso | November 6, 2025



Yeah, so I guess creators and some of these fans owe Dan and Phil an apology…

DISCLAIMER: This video is not meant to hate on fans who are very invested in their favorite creators’ lives, but more on that there is too much. This too much is usually when the creator ends up going out of their way to express that certain things people are doing make them very uncomfortable. Keep supporting those you love on the internet, but please do it respectfully and within their boundaries:)

business email: allietricaso@algebramedia.com

My links:
https://linktr.ee/allietricaso

Intro/My phandom experience 00:00-01:36
How did the phandom become so large in the first place? 01:37-03:18
Dan and Phil being EXPLOITED 03:19-06:34
How the phandom became so toxic 06:35-11:33
Dan and Phil new era 11:34- 12:42
Outro 12:43-13:43

Tagged as , , , , , , .

Written by Allie Tricaso

Comments

This post currently has 49 comments.

  3. @baguettegott3409

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    Funny, the video is only two and a half years old, but it already feels so outdated and so… of its time. From a phandom inside perspective you know. Not that the stuff in it isn't true anymore, but this it still feels like looking for closure in a way that we aren't anymore post gaming channel comeback and post TIT. We're finally over it now.

  6. @ChelCM03

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was 14 when I was in the phandom and I did ship them and watched the "Phan proof" video compilations on YouTube and read phanfiction about them and stuff and it wasn't until a few months of being in the phandom that I realized how weird that behavior was. Even as a 14 year old I made sure to sort of distance myself from the phandom for a while because I felt so awful for perpetuating the same behavior.
    Now I'm 21, I saw TIT in Red Bank, and the vibe is so different in all the right ways. I'm glad they can be upfront with everyone with how traumatizing of an experience the early phandom was. I'm glad they feel like they can be honest with their phanbase both about their sexuality and how the early phandom made them feel.
    I'm happy they get to "take back what the internet took from them", and I happy that the phandom responded well to that.

  7. @tobybalogna

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    off topic , does anybody remember like totally Eden? they were a big phannie back in the day and made that 2009 and 2022 song 😭 I really wanna see how they're doing now but I can't find them on any social!! Pls help

  8. @sonic_scout

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    This is such an eye opener for me as a ghost phandom member way back when. I considered myself a part of the phandom but never took part in any of the shipping culture because I found it really weird and invasive (also because I hated anything romantic or sexual so I tended to avoid shipping culture in general). I never had a tumblr account either (oh how lucky I was) so I had NO IDEA that people were this obsessed over the concept phan. It's both strange and gratifying to look back and realise I really didn't have a clue what the phandom were up to when I was so convinced I was in the know💀

  9. @ticccylikeasniccy4651

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was a fan in 2011 (still watch from time to time. I like their content lol) after a friend recommended them. I was an older fan (19-22)when they really got popular in the early/mid-2010’s. I saw the downward spiral of fandom online as the younger generation started being online and it was awful. It was toxic, cringe, and embarrassing. It honestly made it hard to be a fan for a while.

  10. @lll.24601

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I don’t know if I’m the only person but when I first saw Dan and Phil (I was 13? 14?), I got that feeling they were… just friends? I didn’t see why people would ship them? I just thought they were acting more like friends? I also saw that with Larry Stylinson (but more like Harry being one of the sidekicks to Louis’s tricks).

    I thought that wasn’t normal at the time because people shipped them and I was just like… “oh, I don’t see them as a couple”. But I was too scared to say that, so I stood away from the Phan fandom. I was happy Dan came out, but I never really cared on who he would be attracted to. I was like “he likes men? Cool! Let me study for the rest of my exams!”.

    After Ashley Norton and your video I was like… wow, I did actually do the right thing as a child.

  13. @thatmpgirl

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    being chronically online at the peak of youtube from 2011-present day oh boyyy have i seen and been thru some shit. im heavily embarrassed at my past self (cough cough my 13 year old demon phannie self who i locked in a basement forever) im so glad we all have collectively grown up, learned better, and reflected on ourselves. honestly proud of us for that cuz never thought i'd see the day where that would happen in the phandom especially from 2013-2017ish whew

  17. @ingtve7261

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was never in this mindset, thankfully. Sadly, I did watch shane dawson content, and i remember how he tried to out them and then he got mad at them because they blocked him. I think their sexuality was in one of his conspiracy videos, and it's so frustrating because I feel like I'm the only person who remembers this. I'm glad you mentioned shane's sick behavour in this. I couldn't watch him after that conspiracy video, and it also opened up my eyes to how shitty of a person he is in every other context too.

  18. @itsguuud

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I started watching them in 4th grade. I'm glad I never got THAT deep into the fandom. They both seem like genuinely sweet people and it's sad that the fandom affected them this much

  19. @yt-ru7dv

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I've actually not watched a single one of these guys videos and the only reason I even know him was because one of the YouTubers I watch made a song not an original one a parody of a song that was instead focused on Dan and Phil it actually sounds pretty good it's called FANBOYS made by Robert idk also this guy posts a lot of music content and a lot of reaction content so if you like that type of stuff

  20. @fentymoonlightz

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was aware of the phandom from 2014-2016 but i was actively avoiding watching their content because of the phandoms annoying behaviours like raiding the comment sections of every youtube vid when dnp crafts posted, but from 2016-2018 i became a big fan overnight and it was the most chronically online time of my life😭 I stopped watching in 2018 cause they weren’t posting anymore

  21. @authenticallypenelope

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    damn i’ve been watching d+p for 10 years and i hated how i acted as a phannie. overtime i slowly realized how invade we were being and toned things down. i remember people spreading the vday video and that made me so upset that they would bring up something like that to two real people. i feel like we sometimes acted like they were characters in a tv show. i’m so happy to see how much the phandom has matured and grown up, and seeing them back on the gaming channel, out, and making content they love, it brings me so much joy. they deserve the best.

  22. @elliart7432

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    Ok, they psychic thing was REALLY fucking sinister because she isn't just going off of YouTube, she had them on the show and therefore saw them in person, and likely spent some time with them in a much more casual, non-public setting. So the best case scenario is that she's pulling things out of her ass for clout, and the worst is that she SERIOULSY violated their trust but is able to play it off as "psychic power"

  23. @elliart7432

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    It honesty really sucks that the phan ship was the biggest draw/ what Dan and Phil were known for, because they are SO fucking funny. No joke, literally every other thing that comes out of their damn mouths sends me into the fucking stratosphere. People have this perception that they're where they are today because people like to imagine their relationship, but no, it's cause they're genuinely very talented in what they do

  24. @megalexander905

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    i think a lot of it was us being 12 and not knowing how people in a relationship act. the “proof” was such a stretch, i have a long term boyfriend now and all of the assumptions seem so crazy. if they had genuinely been dating since their early youtube days it wouldn’t be impossible to not kiss eachother for 5 minutes to film a video. you aren’t cravey and desperate for affection when you live with them lol

  25. @DrCoxHugeNews

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    The best part of people's realisation of how absolutely insane it was to behave that way at the time, still refuse to acknowledge that they openly called anyone who disagreed with them homophobic

  26. @blueserenity7

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    As someone that has been watching their videos since about 2015 for the humor and distraction from real life but is close to their age, I've always felt estranged from the phandom and very put off by the toxic depths of it. But for whatever reason, I used to follow some blogs that gave commentary on the worst of the stalkers (DEF not good for the mental health lol). Something that I think needs to be addressed more in some of these "retrospectives" is the forum "In Depth Bants", which to my knowledge was (is?) a mix between people who just spent entirely way too much time analyzing their lives, and at worst, had some of their harshest critics actively hating on their content but still inexplicably staying in the forum (??) Also, there were DEFINITELY a number of grown ass adults in that forum. They damn well knew better. Some of the worst of the floor plan stalkers and people who would dox their hotels when they were on tour seemed to originate there.

    On another note, I hate to say it, but plenty of y'all who WERE kids knew better too: why else call yourselves "demon phannies" if there wasn't at least SOME self-awareness in what was being said was wrong and harmful? But it was almost worn as a "tee hee" badge of pride for some fans, like who's the MOST obsessed with gathering accurate "phan proof", who is the MOST committed to the idea of them being in a secret gay relationship, etc. I genuinely hope that we get media literacy courses in school ASAP and that parasocial relationships are addressed as part of it, because the phandom was such a case study in literally everything that can go wrong with them. It's a miracle that D&P didn’t go completely off the grid or at the very least, aren't more bitter towards their fans after everything they've been through.

  27. @wirrukey3428

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    Ooooh boy I was a closeted teen in those days. I remember some weeeird stuff (waves to the hat fic in the deepest part of hell) and some toxic af shit. But when I heard (late) of the video we shouldn't name… damn I realised even more of this fandom. Because lets be honest. I loved the idea of them being more than friends, being soulmates, but I dont think I've ever been invasive. I did enjoy some content that were based on parody tho. I did have some of those "omg they touched" moments that's true. Maybe I was compensating what I didnt have. Always keeping to myself tho. But seeing people trying to force them to come out damn. That scared me for them as much as I was scared my catholic familly would find out about me. And that psychic twins thing, I already loathed that creator for, you know, reasons. And posting that ? Bro, stfu please that aint you're business.
    Nowadays, I still think of them as soulmates. But I realised something in those years. Soulmates can be friends. My soulmate is my dearest friend. So. They're married ? Good. They're not ? Good. Theyre actual roommates? Good. No matter what they are. In my heart they are the definition of caring for each other, without having to know what's theyre relationship. You dont have to want to marry or f someone to care for them. So. Yeah. Just wanting the boys to be happy.
    Our fanbase crawled up from Lucifer's personnal collection. I dare to think we're doing better now. Because I'm sure part of it was started by how teens are… cringy, weird, and over involving on shaddy shit. And we, supposedly, got better with the years. Some people did not, I'm sure. But the majority is trying.

    Ps: English is not my first language. I learned all by myself sorry for the mistakese

  29. @kindleevee07

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    the parasocial relationship i had at a very young age was not okay. if only i could tell them im so sorry for literally putting them on a pedestal for the weird shipping and thinking i know them (literally im 24 now and i couldn't imagine having millions of teens just fantasizing about your relationship and shit). i've learned and honestly just got off the internet and lived my life, not having to rely on youtubers for my "social" life. i recently got back into their channels and the amount of growth theyve had is tremendous and i wish them all the best. of course, ive never met them and don't really think i will, i'd just want to thank them for making me happy during my hs years, but apologize profusely about how it was at their expense and mental health. no wonder they could not be open about anything, i don't blame them. i'll continue being a fan from a far and be rooting for their success with everything <3

  30. @RaeCharm

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I didn’t ship them, but I think it was because I’m an ace lesbian and not any moral high ground. (Well, I didn’t know I was a lesbian yet, but I realize now that’s probably why I didn’t ship them.) It felt voyeuristic to be obsessed with gay people.

  31. @what_u_pizdish

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I think that the life of a silent lurker since the very day I joined the Phandom made me realise that everything had a terrible side way, way later. I've joined Phandom in 2016 and had never left it since, but, maybe, because I'm from quite a specific country, where D&P were not much of thing, and I myself was very shy (and struggled with my mental health issues that gradually got worse and worse), I never reached that bottom of invading people's privacy — and never wanted to. I found them cute, yes, but much more than that — talented, entertaining and… Idk how to explain it, but I just felt, like, safe watching them. The joy, laughter and emotions. That happiness I felt can't be explained and measured. And what I felt for them was admiration and appreciation, because it couldn't be anything else in my case. And I'm proud to tell that I always looked at them as people, people like everybody else, and I valued them just for who they are.
    The realisation of everything they went through hit me in 2020, mostly because of my brother. He always knew he was gay, but the immense pressure of other people's curiosity, anger, envy, hatred and other stupid things turned his life into years of struggle and rejection topped up with harassment and complete inability to accept himself just the way he is… A pure agony it was. Perhaps, for them too.
    My brother still cannot fully accept himself. Our closest friends, foster family memebers, his crush and me myself are trying to help him. We give him all the support we can, because we know how hard it was for him to simply wake up alive… Trying to look like everything's okay, hiding his feelings, being unable to feel free and happy without anxiety torturing your mind… So, now that I'm here, I'm glad I've learned more to be a better person.
    (Sorry for that long ass comment, I do not leave them very often, so, um, it went that way xD. And for any possible mistakes or something, 'cause English is not my native language-)

  33. @hopesmusicvids

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    As a bisexual woman, that was exposed when I was 14/5 and the whole school was constantly asking me if I was gat, and being rude to me, I found comfort in these men that were clearly at least also bisexual, even if they didn't want to talk about it at the time. That being said, I FULLY regret constantly looking up "phan couple confirmed" videos.

  34. @jack-wulf

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    As someone who was a fan back in the day (and still am to an extent now), I am incredibly glad I never interacted with the wider fandom. My only knowledge of it was through d&p themselves, which gave me the impression the fandom was really strange and disrespectful and that I should stay away.

  35. @just_a_butterfly

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    My biggest flex is that i was in the phandom since i was 13-14 and i was never a toxic fan.

    I was too antisocial to interact with the fandom lmao my social anxiety saved me from being a weirdo

  36. @33dam00

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    This video was recommended to me…i gasped at 0:30 because i followed that account when i was in my phandom phase…you are danthetrashcan!!!! very cool

    I was also a huge fan of them during my teen years but completely stopped watching them during my university years. the things you mentioned in this video are all spot on. This reminds me that the teen years are such a dark and awkward time in our lives. I'm 23 now with a full time job and ive repressed my memories during my teen years because i am in "adulting mode" after graduating university. but it's good to be reminded of my teen years (no matter how cringey they are) to show to myself how much i've grown. we really think we're so "mature" at 14 but we were still kids.

  37. @fateweaver9325

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    As someone who wasn’t online when they were popular, but now am into the Danny phantom fandom, the term ‘phandom’ is so confusing for my brain if I don’t focus 😂

  38. @trikitrikitriki

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I only very occasionally watched Dan's videos and sometimes saw Phan stuff on Tumblr. I think I started watching him around the time where he made that video about his 12 year old self's website. But I have a distinct memory of complaining to a friend about, and I quote, "the yaoi girls who ship Dan and Phil." Not because I didn't think they were gay and dating each other. I did. But it has always annoyed me when people shipped real human beings. It was gross. I also didn't watch any of Phil's content. Didn't find it entertaining.

  39. @skrtskrt22

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I love my internet dads and am so happy that they finally seem happy. not that they weren't back in the day, but they just seem much more at peace and I love it.

  43. @xoticalpha432

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was never into their content as an angsty youth, but I remember I had an ex in middle school that OBSESSED with everything they did to the point where anything involving them annoyed tf out of me

  45. @pinnkkplaysdrums

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    Watching this whilst binging your vids as I just found your channel (And had a very similar youth and grew up on Tumblr/YT) and I'm 99% sure I used to follow your "danthetrashcan" Tumblr page, holy crap lmaoooo

  47. @ATragicSquirrel

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was a huge Phan in 2012-2014 Honestly I’ve been trying to understand why I was so obsessive about them coming out. I feel like I just absorbed the content, I didn’t really want to create much of the “proof” but just memes and maybe an edit or something… I love this video talking about it though.

    Now as an adult, I saw Dan’s live show and seeing him in this new way was honestly so healing for my younger self??

    I honestly think a lot of my wanting them to come out and be openly gay was me projecting onto their relationship, because I was shamed and made to feel confused in regards to my sexuality and I saw these 2 people who were closeted and I wanted to know if it would ever get better for myself. I was projecting who I was onto them so much and I wanted to see them open and proud and that’s all I asked for man.

    Also can we just take a moment because I was a huge shane supporter (i know, cringe) back in 2011-2015 and there was a point that he literally outed Joey Graceffa for views? He kissed him with a hidden camera and even as teenager who was like bad at boundaries and whatnot… it felt wrong seeing Joey be essentially outed on camera because he wasn’t out as gay yet and he was so “oh okay… 😮 :)” when Shane kissed him. YUCK. I don’t miss these days.

  48. @jamietherelentless2670

    November 6, 2025 at 12:31 pm

    I was to ace to even realize Dan and Phil were being sexualized tbh. I was just a lonely teenager who really related to Dan and watched all his videos and the videos with the both of them were very funny and reminded me of being a kid and hanging out with my friends.

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