Ray William Johnson Sets A March 12, 2014 End Date For ‘=3’

Back in December 2013, YouTube star and burgeoning director Ray William Johnson announced to the internet he would end his incredibly popular =3 show sometime in 2014. He revealed the exact date in 2014 on Sunday, March 9, and it’s coming a little sooner than any of his fans anticipated.

Back in December 2013, YouTube star and burgeoning director Ray William Johnson announced to the internet he would end his incredibly popular =3 show sometime in 2014. He revealed the exact date in 2014 on Sunday, March 9, and it’s coming a little sooner than any of his fans anticipated.

After 5 years and 400 something episodes, it finally comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/6aLrXqpoSn

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— Ray William Johnson (@RayWJ) March 9, 2014

Johnson will end the viral video clip show that started, established, and grew his YouTube presence to an incredible 10.7 million subscribers and more than 2.6 billion views on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. In a recent installment of his and Anna Akana’s (who is not only Johnson’s girlfriend, but a fellow burgeoning actor/writer/director) Runaway Thoughts video podcast, Johnson lends some insight into his reasoning.

“Not only am I getting burnt out,” Johnson says into the mic, “But I feel like I need to move on. To put it into context, I’ll be 33 in August and the show is a performance…but it feels way immature. It’s just not me anymore.” Johnson goes on further to explain how the =3’s “not much of a challenge anymore” and he doesn’t want the show to turn into something he’s doing just for the paycheck.

Johnson will end the viral video clip show that started, established, and grew his YouTube presence to an incredible 10.7 million subscribers and more than 2.6 billion views on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. In a recent installment of his and Anna Akana’s (who is not only Johnson’s girlfriend, but a fellow burgeoning actor/writer/director) Runaway Thoughts video podcast, Johnson lends some insight into his reasoning.

Not only am I getting burnt out,” Johnson says into the mic, “But I feel like I need to move on. To put it into context, I’ll be 33 in August and the show is a performance…but it feels way immature. It’s just not me anymore.” Johnson goes on further to explain how the =3’s “not much of a challenge anymore” and he doesn’t want the show to turn into something he’s doing just for the paycheck.

But fans of Johnson shouldn’t be concerned his presence in entertainment will diminish as a result of him closing shop on =3. In fact, leaving the show behind will free him up for potentially bigger and higher profile projects. “I’m already developing a ton of shit,” he says in the video podcast. That “ton of shit” may include a television deal with FX and more projects like his and Akana’s slick, kinda sci-fi web series Riley Rewind.

In the meantime, Johnson has no plans to end his Runaway Thoughts video podcast anytime in the near future, so fans can still stay up to speed with his ongoings and get some cameratime with the man at least once a week at YouTube.com/RayWilliamJohnson.