News: 0144857854

QAnon "was [1]all but confirmed to be a hoax by the person who ran the hoax," writes Mashable, citing the finale of a six-episode documentary on HBO by Cullen Hoback.

"All of it leads back to the same place — that there are very few other people who could have and would have made the Q drops other than [2]the person who ran the place where they were posted ," notes Newsweek:

> Ahead of the first episode, Ron Watkins posted on encrypted messaging service Telegram stating: "I am not Q. I've never spoken privately with Q. I don't know who Q is." However, during the final episode, Hoback suggests that Ron Watkins slips up and inadvertently reveals that he posted as Q on 8kun

A BBC investigative reporter on disinformation tweeted [3]that climactic moment from Cullens' documentary , adding "It was so good it made the whole six hours worth it."

Or as Mashable puts it, "Ron Watkins seems to admit he's Q, in the dumbest possible ending to QAnon," calling it "so anticlimactic it bordered on absurd."

> The previously camera-shy Watkins — who runs 8kun [formerly 8chan] alongside his father, Jim — has long been [4]the key suspect for the identity of Q... But his accidental reveal, the slip of the mask is huge, if anticlimactic, news... It's wild and so...dumb...that this is how we all find out — because Watkins slipped up for a second.

>

> It makes sense since Q had somewhat inexplicably tied its fortunes to posting only on 8chan/8kun. It's inexplicable unless, you know, the Watkins family was behind the ordeal.

Insider notes that Fredrick Brennan, the software developer who created 8chan and has since become a vocal critic, [5]also believes Q is one of the Watkins' — a theory investigated last June [6]by the Atlantic .

> And in a [7]September investigation , ABC News reported on the likelihood that Watkins is Q, finding that he and his son, Ron, were the "two Americans most clearly associated" with Q drops. The theory was also popularized by a September "Reply All" [8]podcast episode ...

>

> At the end of February 2020, Watkins registered the PAC, "Disarm the Deep State," with the Federal Elections Commission.

They also note that after the documentary aired on HBO, "the community reacted as many experts suspected it would: denial and accusations of 'fake news.'" Watkins had apparently gone to great lengths to suggest to Cullen that Q [9]was instead former Trump advisor Steve Bannon . And last week, the BBC reporter points out, Watkins' father [10]began suggesting a new theory : that Q was actually....documentary maker Cullen Hoback. But the BBC reporter [11]adds :

> Based on the finale of #QIntotheStorm Q drops are over for good. Both Jim and Ron told Cullen Hoback Q would end after the election, and that's exactly what happened.

>

> We already had proof of the end given there haven't been any drops since 8 December, but we can now be certain.

Hoback's tweet specifically says that "Both Ron and Jim, but especially Ron, told me multiple times over the years that [12]they believed Q would cease at the election ." And Hoback adds:

"Ron implied on more than one occasion it *might be* a marketing campaign."



[1] https://mashable.com/article/q-identity-revealed-hbo-documentary/

[2] https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-hbo-ron-watkins-8kun-1580989

[3] https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1378916248063463428

[4] https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/llhe5nm

[5] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/q-popular-theory-says-qanons-132841935.html

[6] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/

[7] https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/men-qanon/story?id=73046374

[8] https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/llhe5nm

[9] https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-q-tried-to-pin-the-whole-thing-on-steve-bannon

[10] https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1378940826311663620

[11] https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1379097929072443400

[12] https://twitter.com/CullenHoback/status/1378981135540047872