What happened
Through mid-June 2023, chief executive Steve Huffman publicly refused to reverse the API changes despite a widening protest. In a June 9 AMA he defended the pricing and escalated a dispute with Apollo's developer, accusing him of inconsistent communications and of recording a private call. A leaked June 12 internal memo told staff the blackout had not materially hit revenue and that, like other blowups on Reddit, this one would pass.
On June 16, Huffman compared protesting moderators to a 'landed gentry,' arguing their entrenched control was not democratic and signaling plans to make it easier for users to vote moderators out. The remarks hardened the protest, with thousands of subreddits extending their blackouts indefinitely and some shifting to other forms of malicious compliance.