Did James Pumphrey Leave Donut?: What We Know So Far.

***Update: New information is out following the initial creation of this video.***

Either this is all an elaborate publicity stunt or there's some major shakeups in the automotive YouTube space. Either way, the situation is weird...but I have some thoughts.

The following is my educated guess on the subject, but I do not have trusted or reliable information confirming these statements.

Intro 0:00-0:23
Recap 0:24-1:25
Where's James? 1:26-2:25
Big Time 2:26-3:27
Sleuthing 3:28- 4:34
More Evidence 4:35-5:19
Why James Left 5:20-6:02
Where Will he Go? 6:03-7:05
So What's next? 7:06-7:37
Outro 7:38-8:27

#donut #donutmedia #jamespumphrey #bigtime

[jvinclarence]

Honestly donut almost lost me a few times. First it was science garage then it was up to speed. After the lose of their big 3 faces they’re done for. Yea Nolan might be there now but he doesn’t have the personality to completely capture an audience ( to me at least). I’d always see him as the 2 guy

[BTFWayne]

MO POWA BABEH! The Up To Speed videos on Donut rekindled my love for cars. James is the man.

[rjcote]

Donut is absolutely cooked. Zero chance to stay afloat without James, that’s just a fact.

[bren.nan_]

I love James. He's like the big brother who got me back into cars after the original Top Gear stopped making episodes before their Amazon series. I just really hope he's doing well, he's always been one of the faces of automotive YouTube imo

[someperson]

James will have a role in in "Fast And Furious Part 87: E-Boyz" next to Sung Kang and a lead footed Capybara with a heart of gold.

[ryanm.]

It’s sad to see this downfall of such a hugely loved automotive channel. Hopefully the takeover company will realize the viewers are losing interest since they took over, especially considering their hosts left for the same reason as the viewers losing interest.

Maybe it’s for the best that “Donut” as it is today dies and this group of car enthusiasts, friends, and creators can all reconnect and make the content THEY want to, which we already know is the stuff we want too

[whoizthedrizzle]

i feel so bad for the hosts at donut, especially justin. dude joined at such a bad time, plus everyone hated him at first. he couldnt find his place for awhile but once he did, everything went down

[-gnicE-]

James would be a perfect fit to the cast on Tires with Shane Gillis as a greasy car salesman or something.

[wolfden]

Yea if James leaves it's over for donut. Nolans good but he's a great co host the way he plays off others but he's not a main man. James & Nolan both should go to big-time

[Harry_Gersack]

I don't think he's gonna start his own youtube channel. Maybe a podcast.
But I'm honestly more concerned if he's fine. I haven't watched donut in a while, but over the past few years he sometimes seemed sick somehow. Maybe he was just stressed out or something.. Either way, I started to worry about his health years ago.
I hope he is ok

[francisphillipeck]

Donut is dead. Investors, and the need to make money, and creativity dont mix, its been proven over and over.

[alanaritchie]

I personally think everyone at donut needs to leave and start their own stuff. The owners of the donut channel are holding them back and I doubt that they are paying them what they deserve since they are the only reason donut is donut

[AdamOliverDensen]

Props to the theory of James' profile pic. Let's just hope that he is still in the production. ⚡️

[mrjklee]

As of late, I've slowly started watching less and less of donut l. Things are just not the same anymore.😢

[NahshonWebb]

James got me to even know donut media in the 1st place with "up to speed" that playlist was a great binge. The brand is gonna miss him for sure. Cool vid bro. ✊🏾

[ianADFE]

I've worked for 3 (tech/cybersecurity) startups, and it's insane to me that it's always the same story. Investors come in and refuse to invest in people and talent for a quick buck and run the company into the ground.

[MisterLowrider]

Around the time other people were added to the show, and they started doing other projects, the show wasn’t as good as it once was. James personality made the channel. When they were doing the hi low Subaru wrx series, James popped into some of the episodes and that made it better but i could tell he wasn't the same.

[naveepenniman]

If james joins Big time, dounut is definitely done

[Dunkskins]

Donut only pulling 500-600k on their current videos so the shareholders are getting the message so fcuk em

[upinarms]

It's all speculation but the total lack of acknowledgment and communication form everyone involved, especially from Donut after they already talked about everything else, suggests that James didn't leave on the same good terms as Zach and Jeremiah. I'm guessing the new corporate direction didn't mesh well with what James wanted and may have left while still under contract and it probably can't be talked about until it's legally settled. That's just speculation, but it's kind of the only thing that makes much sense at this point. If James had just left to do his own thing freely, he'd already be talking about it on social media.