Many in the hobby continue to call for change two weeks after Backyard Breaks co-founder Grant Telford was suspended from the streaming platform Whatnot following a series of offensive comments.
Though Telford has temporarily stepped away from Backyard Breaks, and his Whatnot account has been suspended, the company and its corporate partners have offered few details after the initial announcement.
Here are the basic details of the controversy and everything we currently know:
What is Backyard Breaks?
Backyard Breaks is a popular brand in the trading card community that hosts live card breaks and other events on the streaming platform Whatnot.
According to the company website, it was founded by Grant Telford, Nick Telford and Michael Bracciale in 2021. Since forming, it has grown from five employees to more than 80.
The company website specifically lists the three co-founders, 23 breakers and nine “front office” employees, which include a chief of staff, head of customer service and director of inventory.
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What happened in the Backyard Breaks livestream?
The company has faced significant backlash over the last two weeks following a series of comments made by breaker and company co-founder Grant Telford during a stream Jan. 28.
Telford, who is also the company’s chief marketing officer, and breaker “Bugzy” exchanged a series of remarks referencing Telford’s hypothetical future daughter that were considered to reference the sexualization of a child and termed highly offensive. Cllct has chosen not to quote Telford directly due to the sensitive nature of the comments.
During a stream Jan. 30, Telford appeared to offer an apology as his comments spread across social media. The stream eventually ended early as community members criticized his apology as insincere.
Telford offered an additional apology on his personal Instagram account later that day, adding he was stepping away from the company temporarily.
“An apology alone isn’t enough. I will be taking some time off and stepping away from the Backyard to reflect on my actions, and I will be seeking help to hold myself accountable moving forward,” the post read.
Backyard Breaks posted its own apology Jan. 31.
Multiple attempts by cllct to reach Grant Telford, Nick Telford, Michael Bracciale and additional Backyard Breaks employees for comment went unanswered.
How popular is Backyard Breaks?
According to the company website, Backyard Breaks has served more than 50,000 customers since being founded.
The company has also amassed more than 750,000 followers across its six listed flagship Whatnot accounts, which includes Backyard Breaks, Backyard Rips, Backyard Hits, Backyard Juice, Backyard Baseball and Backyard Grant.
According to Whatnot’s public transaction statistics, those accounts have collectively sold more than 1 million items.
Which companies have direct relationships with Backyard Breaks?
Backyard Breaks has an official partnership with Whatnot, the same streaming platform the controversial comments appeared on.
Whatnot told Sports Card Investor founder Geoff Wilson it wouldn’t be making any public comment on the incident.
Though Whatnot has largely avoided public remarks regarding community controversies, it has made exceptions. The company announced in 2023 that it had permanently banned NFL linebacker Blake Martinez and his Blake’s Breaks account following an investigation that found misconduct and company policy violations on the channel. Martinez had been accused of fraudulent activity, including pack swapping.
More than a dozen requests for comment made by cllct to Whatnot have gone unanswered.
Trading card manufacturers Panini America and Upper Deck confirmed to cllct they have no partnership with Backyard Breaks and don’t provide the company with an account to receive direct allocation.
A request for comment on Telford’s remarks or clarify any partnership was declined by Fanatics and Topps.
A request for comment by PSA, which hosted Backyard Breaks at its company headquarters for a multi-day event in early 2024, wasn’t returned.
A request for comment from the National Sports Collectors Convention on whether Backyard Breaks would be welcome at the event later this summer wasn’t immediately returned.
What actions have partnered companies taken in the aftermath?
To date, the only public-facing change is Telford’s personal Whatnot account has been suspended. When attempting to reach the “Backyard Grant” account, which has more than 86,000 followers, users are met with a notice the account is temporarily inactive.
“The user associated with this account has been temporarily removed for violating Whatnot’s community guidelines,” the notice reads.
It’s currently unclear whether any action has also been taken against the breaker “Bugzy” by either Whatnot or Backyard Breaks.
Backyard Breaks has continued to host breaks and stream shows on Whatnot since the controversial remarks were made.
What rules did the stream officially break?
In addition to being considered highly offensive, Telford’s comments break Whatnot’s Youth Safety Policy.
Under the policy, Whatnot states it has “zero tolerance for any activity or interactions that endanger the safety and well-being of minors,” which also includes “any activity, comment item or display sexualizing minors, or otherwise encouraging the physical abuse of a minor, whether real or fictional.”
What has the community done so far?
Beyond comments condemning the remarks made by Telford and calls to spend money elsewhere, the largest action appears to have been the petition started by Kasey McDonough on charge.org.
The petition, which has been signed by nearly 7,700 people as of Friday afternoon, calls for Backyard Breaks to be banned from streaming platforms Whatnot and Twitch as well as the National Sports Collectors Convention and Fanatics Fest.
According to McDonough, the petition was created after several community members saw her social posts condemning Telford’s behavior and requested she make one.
“Although the petition gained support from many real, verified people, the key decision makers remained silent,” McDonough told cllct.
What happens next?
The community has largely been divided on what, if any, additional actions should be taken against Telford and Backyard Breaks. The temporary suspension has received criticism from both collectors calling it too lenient and a number of Backyard Breaks supporters calling it an overreaction.
For those calling for additional action against Telford and Backyard Breaks, the silence from corporate partners has continued to become a larger and more prominent piece of the story.
“Personally, I believe Whatnot should have taken a public stance explaining how they plan to prevent similar incidents on their platform rather than giving Backyard Breaks what seems like a symbolic 'timeout' ...” McDonough said.
“In an ideal scenario, events like NSCC or Fanatics Fest would ban Backyard Breaks from attending this year. Emotions are running high, and the hobby community is justifiably upset. A clear, decisive response from major organizers would show that this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated.”
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.