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Valnet
Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In this way, it has become the parent company of several internet media publications including TheGamer, Collider, Comic Book Resources, MovieWeb, Screen Rant, Game Rant, XDA Developers, and MakeUseOf. There have been complaints from writers about working conditions and the low pay offered by the company, and employees have said the company prioritises "mass quantity over quality" and "SEO bait" content.
Students Matt Keezer, Stephane Manos, Sam and Hassan Youssef met through their common interest in competitive foosball, and started a business in online pornography in 2003, growing their successful enterprise under the Brazzers name. Keezer began Pornhub under the company Interhub separately from Brazzers, and the businesses remained silent partners. In 2009, Interhub hosted videos of the rape of an underage girl according to a BBC News report in 2020. In October 2009, Federal investigators of the US Secret Service's Organized Fraud Task Force seized millions of dollars from Brazzers parent company, discovering millions in wire transferred money from banks in Israel and other countries to two separate Mansef accounts. The founders sold their pornography assets in March 2010 to Fabian Thylmann, while the Youssef brothers took time off from business, until they eventually founded Valnet in August 2012. Youssef later invested in Constellation Software, which business model he reportedly loved.
The company started a YouTube channel in January 2016 called "Little Angel", which provides animated content aimed at toddlers. By April 6, 2016, the company acquired Comic Book Resources, with Valnet CEO Hassan Youssef retaining the editorial team and taking over their offices. On November 17, 2020, Valnet announced that it had acquired Collider. Valnet acquired XDA along with four other websites—Pocketnow, AppAdvice, BackyardBoss and Hook&Bullet—from Busy Pixel Media in February 2022. Also that month, the company sold Little Angel to Moonbug, the owner of Cocomelon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In May 2023, it was reported that Valnet had laid off several key figures at subsidiary Comic Book Resources (CBR), including editor-in-chief Adam Swiderski, senior new editor Stephen Gerding, and senior features editor Christopher Baggett. In June, it was reported that CBR's employees had been finding difficulty in keeping up with Valnet's content demand. The company was reportedly "seemingly firing those who try and stand up for writers" in its bid to attempt to improve its work culture and performance. Fired staff vocalized discontent for these firings on Twitter, due to what was allegedly the full shutdown of the website news section, which the company refuted.
Valnet acquired OpenCritic by August 2024 in an attempt to integrate the aggregator into its other businesses in the gaming sector. It announced plans to turn the site into a social media platform. The company signed a lease for the 740 Broadway building in New York City by October 2024, being the company's first offices in the city.
TheWrap spoke to 15 current or former Valnet contractors in 2025 regarding alleged exploitative working conditions at the company; one freelancer had also recently filed a lawsuit against the company for exploitation. TheWrap's article led to Valnet and Hassan Youssef filing a lawsuit in April 2025 against the website's company The Wrap News Inc. for libel.
On May 1, 2025, Valnet acquired Polygon from Vox Media.
Collider is an online entertainment publication, with a focus on the film industry and television series. Collider focuses on entertainment news, analysis, and commentary, along with original features, complementary film and television reviews, editorials, and interviews.
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Valnet
Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In this way, it has become the parent company of several internet media publications including TheGamer, Collider, Comic Book Resources, MovieWeb, Screen Rant, Game Rant, XDA Developers, and MakeUseOf. There have been complaints from writers about working conditions and the low pay offered by the company, and employees have said the company prioritises "mass quantity over quality" and "SEO bait" content.
Students Matt Keezer, Stephane Manos, Sam and Hassan Youssef met through their common interest in competitive foosball, and started a business in online pornography in 2003, growing their successful enterprise under the Brazzers name. Keezer began Pornhub under the company Interhub separately from Brazzers, and the businesses remained silent partners. In 2009, Interhub hosted videos of the rape of an underage girl according to a BBC News report in 2020. In October 2009, Federal investigators of the US Secret Service's Organized Fraud Task Force seized millions of dollars from Brazzers parent company, discovering millions in wire transferred money from banks in Israel and other countries to two separate Mansef accounts. The founders sold their pornography assets in March 2010 to Fabian Thylmann, while the Youssef brothers took time off from business, until they eventually founded Valnet in August 2012. Youssef later invested in Constellation Software, which business model he reportedly loved.
The company started a YouTube channel in January 2016 called "Little Angel", which provides animated content aimed at toddlers. By April 6, 2016, the company acquired Comic Book Resources, with Valnet CEO Hassan Youssef retaining the editorial team and taking over their offices. On November 17, 2020, Valnet announced that it had acquired Collider. Valnet acquired XDA along with four other websites—Pocketnow, AppAdvice, BackyardBoss and Hook&Bullet—from Busy Pixel Media in February 2022. Also that month, the company sold Little Angel to Moonbug, the owner of Cocomelon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In May 2023, it was reported that Valnet had laid off several key figures at subsidiary Comic Book Resources (CBR), including editor-in-chief Adam Swiderski, senior new editor Stephen Gerding, and senior features editor Christopher Baggett. In June, it was reported that CBR's employees had been finding difficulty in keeping up with Valnet's content demand. The company was reportedly "seemingly firing those who try and stand up for writers" in its bid to attempt to improve its work culture and performance. Fired staff vocalized discontent for these firings on Twitter, due to what was allegedly the full shutdown of the website news section, which the company refuted.
Valnet acquired OpenCritic by August 2024 in an attempt to integrate the aggregator into its other businesses in the gaming sector. It announced plans to turn the site into a social media platform. The company signed a lease for the 740 Broadway building in New York City by October 2024, being the company's first offices in the city.
TheWrap spoke to 15 current or former Valnet contractors in 2025 regarding alleged exploitative working conditions at the company; one freelancer had also recently filed a lawsuit against the company for exploitation. TheWrap's article led to Valnet and Hassan Youssef filing a lawsuit in April 2025 against the website's company The Wrap News Inc. for libel.
On May 1, 2025, Valnet acquired Polygon from Vox Media.
Collider is an online entertainment publication, with a focus on the film industry and television series. Collider focuses on entertainment news, analysis, and commentary, along with original features, complementary film and television reviews, editorials, and interviews.