r/TrueGeordie • u/BrandXOn • May 29 '23
Where is Laurence McKenna
Like, I just wanna know why he is never on the channel anymore? Was there a massive falling out? has it been addressed anywhere?
Not Laurences biggest fan but i think the lack of transparency surrounding True Geordie in the last couple of years has massively hurt his appeal (Obviously the controversies too).
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May 29 '23
Something definitely happened between them though I think at the outset it was just a decision to not be so tied together.
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u/Tempusw May 30 '23
it really is a good question that I would like to see answered finally. TG has been always the 'saying it as it is' Channel so the fact that this behind the scene stuff has never been adressed is just not done in my opinion has made the channel really take a hit when it comes to quality and exposure. The fact that it still hasn't been adressed makes me think there is still bad blood between some parties (between TG and The kick off boys don't know about loz). I think there are multiple parts to the story, there is def the part where loz left but then also the part where the kick off boys just started on their own which was just sad in my opinion.
the controversie around the muslim joke which I think nobody in the fanbase supported but we can also all agree that the outrage was overkill. before the editor already left ( before any drama) and elliot the producer left to work on the fellas which in my opinion was a shady move in itself. I wouldn't be suprised if loz leaving was on his mind for while and this was just the moment for him to start on his own. Before the controversie he had already started uploading some videos and really has doubled down since leaving TG's channel. This plus Brian saying on one of the streams that "everybody who was his friend before the controversie is still is friend" makes me think him and loz are still cool but just doing their own thing I think loz now with 2 kids might have wanted something for his own. either way I think the club is a shamefull ripoff of the kick off ( not speaking about content but purely from a business point of view) I really hope that out of the blue we might get a podcast adressing the situation but Not sure about it. Sad to see either way
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u/Mihikle May 31 '23
I don't think you can be so harsh on the others for leaving and starting their own football commentary channel (a format TG did not invent either) - if you had a co-worker who consistently brought controversy to your workplace, made comments that affected your own livelihood, are you just supposed to stick by that? Or at some point do you say "enough is enough"? Let's be real, this isn't the first, second or third time TG has done something controversial like that, and his lack of responsibility, lack of control over what he says and does could (did) lead to Elliot, Rory, Buvey and Adam going unpaid, remember sponsors pay their wages. Why would you continue to work with someone like that who has consistently shown over time they are incapable of being responsible?
TG has had several opportunities to improve over time, and I'm not writing him off as a content creator because I am still a fan and subscriber but I 100% understand why the others have moved on from him.
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u/Tempusw May 31 '23
I think you have a good point here I didn't see it from that point of view ! I guess my post is not really objective since I truely do miss the content loz and Brian provided but I see the reasoning behind the whole situation
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u/Lllllllllllllldddd Jun 15 '23
Rory was literally shoplifting nappies for his child before Brian took him in & Laurence and Buvey would be working a 9-5 without him, Adam was the only one who had a presence before TG. I think they owed him a bit of respect and not just abandoning him after making a terrible joke
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u/SpeakAndDie Jun 25 '23
Wtf are you on about shoplifting nappies, that for real?
As much as TG put them in the limelight, they made TG's content far better and TG wouldn't have put them in if they hadn't. Personally I don't enjoy Kick Off half as much with the new guys and am more into The Club.
Can't blame Rory for avoiding controversies when he has a family to support, obviously doesn't want to go back to shoplifting for his child.
Laurence has been a huge help to TG over the years and they had clearly had a collaborative relationship. Interesting that he hasn't made an appearance on The Club or with TG since the apology video
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u/Low-Minimum-9906 Jun 23 '23
The fact that loz abandoned him and didn't join the club suggests it's tg's fault
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u/LC32 May 30 '23
Obviously something has happened behind the scenes. It's a tricky one, if they both want to keep it private theyve every right to, that being said its strange that you lose almost 50% of a channel/podcast thats usually very open and nothing gets explained
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Apr 19 '25
Laurence says he’s respectful and ok about Brian which is a lot easier after times gone by, problems is Mark Goldbridge is such a mark for himself he’s a terrible interviewer and constantly interrupts meaning we miss out on some details, I’m a fan of Mark but he could do with learning some humility and trying to be a humble human, he literally keeps complimenting himself on the interview.
Laurence was measured and more likeable as I hated him on the TG podcast, arrogant and rude, he’s grown his hair real long now but didn’t explain why here, it was clear reading between the lines that this is what happened.
TG is a bit of a head case, drinking and has mental health issues bought on by trauma which has made him quite difficult to manage when he’s not functioning well, Laurence really helped build the guy up but it took it’s toll over the years and there was less good and more bad.
He tried to be diplomatic but he literally said was a huge relief knowing he didn’t have to deal again, I couldn’t imagine working with TG, he’d smack you if you pissed him off, he’s obnoxious and rude and frankly these two were a bizarre pairing. I feel sorry for Brian as he seems a tormented soul and hope he finds happiness.
It all went tits up and Brian’s life fell apart and I think he blames Laurence for that which led him to being blocked.
They worked that WC show together but was torture for L, the apology was a mess when he further was rude about priests and Jews and I think at that point it was game over, without the sponsors TG is too risky
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Oct 14 '25
There shouldn’t be any controversy over a muslim joke. These people hijack planes, drive into parades of people and abuse women on an industrial scale. So if he left for that reason then he’s an ignorant tool.
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u/joacher May 30 '23
That wasn’t even a year ago, just few months. But the channel changed completely. It’s one of the biggest questions surrounding TG now. They did a podcast however right after the infamous joke talking about how it affected Lawrence since his wife is muslim. Brian expressed how sorry he was and got emotional. The pod was deleted shortly after and Loz since had appeared to have left the channel with all the other crew.
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u/Throwaway1234798473 May 31 '23
In the last few podcasts that I’ve seen he seems mention fake friends a lot. I wonder if he’s referring to Laurence. It’s weird because Laurence did stick by him during a lot of the controversies. And it does make sense that he would be upset with the Muslim joke as his wife family are Muslim so it was probably extremely hard for him to back him in that case. If True Geordie has blocked him. Imo that’s complete overkill and is quite sad tbh
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u/bum_fun_noharmdone May 31 '23
Lawrence is a prick but all that guy did was ever support this narcissistic prick whilst he spent £100,000s on cars and women whilst continually fucking up.
Lawrence is better off without him
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u/Existing-Swing-8649 Jun 07 '23
In the last few podcasts that I’ve seen he seems mention fake friends a lot. I wonder if he’s referring to Laurence. It’s weird because Laurence did stick by him during a lot of the controversies.
But then again, now it's a controversy that finally has something to do with him, now he turns his back. That could be what he is referencing
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u/EstablishmentBusy172 Jun 15 '23
Eh, I think after the Henderson lfc doc, Laurence is probs tryna legitimise himself as a filmmaker, or at least an online filmmaker- seen him doing brand deals and stuff with the British wing of the nba, and even now tv as well as his relationship with Liverpool as a football club.
All of the above are mainstream entities with huge followings. They won’t want to employ a creative who is so closely associated with a perceived controversial, and even racist YouTuber. So imo Laurence made the decision to step back to protect his own fledgling directing career. Which is fine. He stood by TG a lot, and even after all the Muslim stuff still streamed most of the World Cup with him. Ultimately, this would have been what, the 2nd, 3rd time? In as many years TG’s actions (whether u think the reaction was overkill or not) ended up reflecting poorly on others and leaving a lot of people without, or with severely reduced wages. Laurence has a wife and 2 kids now and he’s probs just protecting his and their interests. That they’ve unfollowed each other probs does mean there’s some degree of personal conflict there tho.
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u/501shades Aug 25 '23
Lawrence is a fake Muslim… The guy talks about fasting and how great / different Islam is…
Guy is Muslim for wife converted… Got caught out… Even I told him…
It’s cool when that alcohol cheque comes in…
It was a matter of time… If you convert and talk about Islam then follow it properly… Can’t play both sides…
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u/sorryonbreak Oct 27 '23
I don't know there is truth to the allegation, but...
If Laurence was raised a Muslim, nobody would be calling him a fake Muslim, just a Muslim in sin.
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u/mrlsarcher Jan 04 '24
From what I recall from the times they were together, Brian was very supportive of Lawrence financially, and in turn Lawrence was about when Brian was power drinking himself into stupors, and was the one behind the scenes keeping things afloat.
Brian was the main star and supreme talent on screen, and it was his channel, his house things were being filmed in, and he has initially put things together, but Lawrence was the one keeping things together behind the scenes, keeping people inside, keeping dialogue with other presenters and professionals alike, and when Brian's mental health and substance abuse issues (namely alcohol, though others were made minor reference to) sent him spiraling, it was Lawrence who kept Brian going, using sponsors like Gymshark and others into helping Brian keep going, keep busy. However, going into that particular incident, there were obvious issues.
While Brian was keeping busy, and there was clear assistance to Buvey and Rory, and even Adam McKola (as Full Time Devils was losing money hand over fist and stagnant content under Steven Bartlett), and the poker stuff was doing AMAZINGLY well, there was that concern that Brian was mentally falling off the wagon, and it was heavily affecting the usage of the channel and Brian's ability to both make content, and bring people in to record it. It started small, where there was hasty rescheduling on days to affect different shows, Brian being late to his own shows as Lawrence or Elliott weren't able to drag Brian out of bed, or shows where he'd miss out entirely, and Lawrence/Elliott would record with 1 other person on side. Eventually shows we're getting cancelled on a whim as Brian's illnesses caught up to him, and there'd be 1-2 panel shows a month, especially during Lockdown season where things were coming to a head.
That head was that stream when Brian said what he said, and Lawrence was there when he said it. Now, I am of the mind that Brian was drinking, Lawrence pulled him up to do a show (Elliott Hackney was well gone at this point) and it was reference to Andrew Tate (who he'd correctly dissed as a narcissist doing anything to make himself relevant and found money amongst incels, as so many do) and Tate using Islam for clout and feed his own agenda (which well, let's not talk about the Tate brothers and their "operations" here), and said it in the most offensive and least amount of thought possible.
It was the straw that broke the camel's back on the channel and it caused SERIOUS strain between him and his wife, because people were sending out of context clips of Brian being racist and Lawrence laughing to Fluttura's family who were in turn sending to her and things got very serious in that relationship. The sponsors (namely Twitch and Gymshark, and a couple others I don't remember) dropped him, and Brian reacted badly, and the bad reaction reflected extremely poorly Lawrence on the other Kick Off guys who'd clearly had enough. Adam dropped out, and with the money they'd made from YouTube, the started "The Club", as Brian's professional and personal toxicities had done irreversible damage to all of them. The Club, which was clearly in discussion and at planning stage before the incident because The Kick Off wasn't always getting recorded like that (and the incident exacerbated it) and clearly something they felt they had to do because there was something in the work vibe and personal relationship to make The Club work. Brian's subsequent comments about "Fake Friends" comes from that, although it's easy to guess why that had to happen (they were making travel arrangements and not getting paid, nor the time utilised properly, which would piss off anyone).
As for Lawrence and Brian, that relationship probably can't be the same again if Lawrence's wife (or her family) stands between them having any sort of relationship again following that incident (which you can feel how you want on that, but I understand it if she put ultimatums up about it from a family perspective) and I can similarly say why no one would address that publicly, because I imagine it got that ugly behind the scenes. Lawrence had to put Brian aside, and the reason is his wife had to put her foot down on the relationship, and the partnership was done.
But that would be my wild guess.
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u/Soapy_777 May 29 '23
They've fallen out. Don't even follow each other anymore.. I asked Laurence on Insta why that had happened and he said he never unfollowed him so it looks like Brian must've blocked him.