Reddit’s r/Art subreddit was sent into chaos after artist Hayden Clay received a ban for mentioning prints, with Reddit mods resigning over it.
Reddit has sub-forums – subreddits – for pretty much every niche you can think of. Some of these have millions of subscribers, while others just have a few hundred or maybe a few thousand users checking in.
The Art subreddit, which has over 22 million subscribers, was plunged into chaos on November 24, after artist Hayden Clay posted a photo of one of his new pieces, entitled Clear Boundaries.
Clay, who posts on Reddit under the username Strawber, also mentioned prints of his work, prompting the subreddit moderators to message him about it, citing a rule break. He received a permanent ban from the subreddit over it.
Hayden Clay reveals messages with r/Art Reddit mods
The artist revealed that he had been in a fiery back-and-forth with the moderators and had apologized for the rule break. He also called them “power hungry” and questioned if there was a “vendetta” against him.
“I don’t even know who the fu*k you are. That is some major main character energy there,” one message sent to him said.
The mods also reported him for harassment.
r/Art users protest against ban
The artist was also given a three-day Reddit-wide suspension over his dispute with the r/Art moderators, which sparked backlash from fans and other users.
Many users started posting the word ‘print’ under different posts as a protest towards the mods. As a result, all posts on the r/Art subreddit were locked, meaning that no one could leave comments or give awards to posts.
“r/Art has quietly gone into lockdown and is no longer accepting submissions after mods began facing severe blowback for banning @haydclay for mentioning the word “print” on the subreddit,” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter).
r/Art mods lock sub and resign
On November 26, moderators from the r/Art subreddit resigned from their positions, with a simple post of “we out.”
“You win. We all resign,” the moderators added. That comment has since been downvoted by users, sitting at over 23,000 downvotes.
As it stands, the subreddit remains in lockdown as there have been no new posts since before the mods’ resignation.
Clay’s posts about the drama have gotten millions of views on social media, with many backing the artist
