'Smosh' opens up about 20 years on YouTube

Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, who created the popular YouTube channel Smosh back in 2005, have opened up about entertaining masses online for two decades.

The duo, along with their team, are set to celebrate the channels’ 20th anniversary on November 19, 2025.

Earning several subscribers over the years, the channel currently holds 27 million subscribers and have garnered millions of views on their videos.

Who are Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla?

The pair, born in Sacramento, created the fan-favourite YouTube Channel on Nov. 19, 2005, and began filming videos for fun with just a camera and a computer in Carmichael.

They met back each other when they were in sixth grade and became friends when they got paired for a group project together and have been best friends since.

Anthony, 38, moved to Los Angeles and Ian, 37, followed him in 2014.

Despite their move, they continued to film videos Sacramento until 2017 because it was more budget friendly, as per their chat with ABC10. 

The two founders recently sat down with ABC10 on Tuesday, November 11, and looked back on the 20 years of creating content.

While talking about why they chose to film in Sacramento, despite moving to LA, Ian stated, "We could also get away with a lot more in public."

Continuing, "In LA, if you try shooting outside for like five minutes, you'll have a cop show up and give you a fine. In Sacramento, we did some crazy stuff outside, and cops would just drive by and not even give us a second glance."

As their YouTube success grew and their channel began to thrive, the duo ditched their part-time jobs and settled into a home in Rosemont. Ian used to work at at Chuck E. Cheese and sometimes spent sweaty days in the mascot’s costume. Meanwhile Anthony did freelance web design.

"We shot every single corner of that house in Rosemont,” Ian playfully added. 

At some points, Smosh had the most subscribers of any YouTube channel in 2006, 2007 and 2013.

While sketch comedy remains the Smosh’s signature content, they have built an entire network of channels under their brand, like Smosh Pit, Smosh Games, Smosh Alike, Smosh Cast, and El Smosh.

Different Smosh Channels

Smosh Games

The channel mostly features cast members playing a variety of board games, card games or video games.

Smosh Cast

This channel is mainly their podcast channel, with Smosh Mouth being hosted by Shayne Topp and Amanda Lehan-Canto.

Smosh Pit

It is home to popular shows like Reading Reddit Stories, Try Not To Laugh, Culinary Crimes, and more.

Smosh Alike

This is an interview style show, which is now under Smosh but was Anthony’s project on his own channel during his brief hiatus from the brand.

El Smosh

Videos/Content from the main channel are dubbed in Spanish but haven’t been updated since 2024.

Smosh Members

By 2025, Smosh had evolved into a full ensemble, regularly featuring 13 additional cast members, from Courtney Miller and Shayne Topp to Keith Leak Jr., Olivia Sui, Noah Grossman, Damien Haas, Spencer Agnew, Tommy Bowe, Amanda Lehan-Canto, Angela Giarratana, Chanse McCrary, Arasha Lalani and Trevor Evarts.

Reminiscing their past: 20 years of Smosh

While talking about why the two friends decided to make filming videos for YouTube a fulltime gig, Anthony revealed two reasons: they enjoyed doing it so much, and they knew they had an audience, sharing, "We just found ourselves really wanting to make these short clips just to make each other laugh because it was so much fun for us. So, we were going to keep doing it regardless."

"We just knew that if we could dedicate more of our time to it, and we could put more of our money into it, that we could grow it bigger and bigger. We didn't know what it would become."

Anthony’s exit from Smosh

In a move that shocked many fans, in 2017, Anthony had decided to call it quits from Smosh creative differences with the then-parent company Defy Media.

However, the very next year, in 2018, Defy Media shut down leaving Smosh stranded. 

It was then acquired by Mythical Entertainment, operated by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal of YouTube’s “Good Mythical Morning” fame in 2019. 

Anthony’s comeback

In 2023, Anthony and Ian then reconciled, with the former joining the brand again and buying Smosh back from Mythical.

"I think for me it's just that there were definitely rough times at Smosh at certain periods of the 20 years, but I always believed in Smosh and believed in the whole story and what it could be for so many people,” Ian, who stayed and tried to keep Smosh afloat through thick and thin and all the ups and down remarked.

"I think that making it to 20 years is just a very validating experience for me, being like, ‘OK, I believed in it and it's still going.’ So, I think that celebrating 20 years has been validating. I could tell everyone I was right."

Anthony, acknowledging his partner’s dedication and hard work over the years, expressed, "Ian stuck it out during the hardest of hard times, even when I was like, ‘I can’t anymore.’ So, yeah, Ian deserves his flowers."

After 20 years of being in this industry, Anthony noted that looking back, what matters to him the most is building space where everyone, whether on-screen or off-screen can experience the same creative dream they were once lucky enough to have.

Talking about what they hope to accomplish in future, he shared with the outlet, "We want to continue expanding what we do and what we're capable of while staying true to the root, the heart of Smosh, which is comedy rooted in friendship."

Continuing, "That same friendship that Ian and I were able to capture in our early days, we want that to be the same feeling that people walk away from when they watch a Smosh video now and into the future."