Andrew Callaghan

• Name — Andrew Callaghan • Birth Name — Andrew Thomas Callaghan • Born — 23 April 1997 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Education — Loyola University • Occupation — Journalist • Years Active — 2019–present • Notable Works — All Gas No Brakes Channel 5 This Place Rules • Youtube Handle — @Channel5YouTube • Youtube Display Name — Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan • Youtube Genre — * Gonzo journalism • Satirical social commentary • Alternative news • Human interest • Youtube Subscribers — 3.52 million • Youtube Views — 538 million • Stats Update — May 11, 2026

Andrew Thomas Callaghan was born in Philadelphia on April 23, 1997, and grew up in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. He is of Irish and Italian descent. Callaghan has said that he "hated every class from the first day of kindergarten to [his] last day of college" except for a journalism class he took in his junior year of high school (although he later clarified he was bored by most of the required core curriculum, but once allowed to pursue his own interests, he did enjoy things like astronomy, creative writing, and New Orleans mythology). The teacher of that journalism class convinced him to pursue his passion for journalism. During high school and a gap year before college, he interviewed people associated with the darknet market Silk Road, Occupy Seattle protesters, and juggalos. He later relocated to New Orleans, where he studied journalism on a full scholarship at Loyola University and worked as a doorman on Bourbon Street to support himself. He was a contributing writer for The Maroon, Loyola's university newspaper.

While working as a doorman on Bourbon Street, Callaghan saw what he described as "hellish scenes" and wanted to find a funny or clever way to document them. He quit his job and began interviewing people on the streets of the city about their secrets while they were intoxicated, which he compiled into a YouTube and Instagram series called Quarter Confessions, named after its location in the French Quarter.

In 2019, Callaghan published All Gas, No Brakes: A Hitchhiker's Diary, a memoir-zine recounting stories from a 70-day hitchhiking trip across America that he undertook two years prior at the age of 19. The idea for the YouTube series All Gas No Brakes was conceived from this memoir, before beginning his journalism studies at university. Quarter Confessions led to a partnership between Callaghan and Doing Things Media, who agreed to fund All Gas No Brakes. In early 2020, Callaghan started an All Gas No Brakes podcast in response to travel restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. On the podcast, he interviewed past subjects from his All Gas No Brakes series via video call. In May 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, Callaghan felt that news outlets were consumed with the looting and fires and failing to address the anguish of the protesters; his impression was that "Media is not covering this. The media is not talking to the people causing destruction in Minneapolis and figuring out why." The team produced a video on the protests in Minneapolis. In the words of Nate Kahn who worked as a videographer, the content "went from funny one-minute Instagram clickbait to an actual boots-on-the-ground news source." The production company became uncomfortable with the political content of some episodes, specifically those covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis. According to people working on the show, producer Reid Hailey of Doing Things Media asked Callaghan to make “party content” instead of news. By the end of 2020, Callaghan attempted to renegotiate his contract, which was set to expire in February 2022; he and his crew were locked out of the franchise's social media accounts and were fired in March 2021. In March 2021, Callaghan announced that he and his team were no longer involved with production of All Gas No Brakes nor the television adaptation that was in development. He wrote on Instagram, "I am no longer associated with All Gas No Brakes. I no longer receive any of the Patreon crowdfunding, YouTube monetization, or any other show income. Nic and Evan, who lived in the RV and created the original show material, are also no longer involved. We have no control over the accounts or future of the show. When I was 20, I wrote a book called All Gas No Brakes about hitchhiking around America as a teenager. At 21, I pitched the idea of a video-based road show to a production company, who loaned me an RV to make videos and explore America with my best friends. I was ecstatic, so I signed an employment contract without reading it. Lesson learned. Thank you for supporting me these past years. It's been the time of my life. I can't wait to show you guys what I'm doing next." On March 23, 2021, details of Callaghan's contract emerged in The New York Times. Doing Things Media had signed him to a contract granting him a $45,000 salary plus expenses covered in exchange for the intellectual property rights to the All Gas No Brakes brand. Callaghan was required to produce a set amount of content, but was otherwise granted creative freedom. The Patreon page set up for the show also paid out a further 20% to Callaghan, 20% to the crew, and 60% to Doing Things Media.

In May 2020, Doing Things Media and Abso Lutely Productions entered a deal to develop a television series based on All Gas No Brakes. Callaghan said the partnership began when Eric Wareheim, one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric alongside Tim Heidecker, privately messaged him on Twitter to ask about creating a television series. As the co-founders of Abso Lutely, Wareheim, Heidecker, and Dave Kneebone would serve as executive producers; Callaghan, Reid Hailey, and Max Benator would serve as executive producers for Doing Things Media. Following Callaghan's departure from Doing Things Media, Heidecker confirmed that Abso Lutely would still be working with Callaghan on "something major". On the Fear& podcast in July 2021, Callaghan revealed he had created a documentary film with Abso Lutely about the 2020 United States presidential election. The title was later revealed to be This Place Rules. Directed and executive produced by Callaghan, the film followed him as he interviewed people involved in events leading up to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. It was released by HBO Max and A24 on December 30, 2022, with Jonah Hill being added to the list of executive producers. On January 5, 2023 the first of several accusations of sexual assault and sexual coercion by Callaghan surfaced. On January 12, Tim Heidecker said on his weekly Office Hours Live podcast that he and his comedy partner Eric Wareheim have “no plans” to work with Callaghan in the future, effectively ending Callaghan's relationship with Abso Lutely Productions.

On April 5, 2021, Callaghan released the first content for Channel 5 through Patreon. The show is created by the same core members of the crew in a similar style to All Gas No Brakes. The first episode was uploaded to YouTube on April 11, 2021, and documented spring breakers in Miami, it was removed by YouTube shortly thereafter due to being accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation. It was reinstated five days later. The former association between Callaghan and Abso Lutely Productions has generated some confusion in the past between the Channel 5 (web series) and the fictitious Channel 5 television station which appears in several Abso Lutely Productions, including Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Check it out! with Dr. Steve Brule. The two are completely unrelated, as explained by Heidecker: “There’s been a little confusion about the Channel 5 name. That’s Andrew’s name, Channel 5. It has nothing to do with Eric and I." On September 7, 2026, Hunter Biden, whom Callaghan had befriended after making several long-form interviews together on Channel 5, launched $LAPTOP, a Meme coin which he promoted as a "symbol of resilience, redemption, and recovery." According to an Instagram post and subsequent YouTube response video by Callaghan on the C5 channel, Biden contacted him and asked for a list of Callaghan's supporter's emails to promote the coin. Callaghan stated that Biden presented the crypto venture as a way to "give back" to Callaghan's supporters with "free money", so that Biden could act like the "anti-Trump." Callaghan said that he provided Biden's team with a list of 5,000 emails from people who had bought Channel 5 merch and opted into promotional emails. After the coin was launched on September 9th, it surged to a high of $222 USD, before crashing to $1.79 only three hours later. Callaghan said in the response video that he received backlash from his supporters previous to the launch of the coin, causing him to ask Biden to remove his subscribers' emails from the list. Callaghan claims that the list was deleted before the promotion was sent out, and says that no Channel 5 subscriber ever received a $LAPTOP promotional email. Callaghan also stated that the Channel 5 organization does not approve of cryptocurrency as a safe investment and would not knowingly promote it. A large number of commenters underneath the response video expressed disapproval of Callaghan's perceived participation in a so-called 'crypto-scam', noting its conflict with the publicly touted ideals of the channel.

On January 15, 2025, Callaghan released the documentary Dear Kelly through the website DearKellyFilm.com. The documentary focused on the life of Kelly Johnson (who referred to himself as Kelly J. Patriot), whom Callaghan originally interviewed at a White Lives Matter rally in Huntington Beach, California. Johnson is a far-right conspiracy theorist, adherent to the beliefs of QAnon, participant in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, former bankruptcy attorney, and father of three. Johnson had caught the interest of Callaghan after he stated that his multi-million dollar home was taken from him by a financier named Bill Joiner using falsified legal documents. It was later clarified that Johnson alleged that Joiner had falsified paperwork necessary to send a notice of default in the midst of the Great Recession on a $100,000 loan Johnson had applied for through Joiner's company years prior. Around this time, Kelly had also been disbarred and separated with his wife, who took custody of their children. The film follows Callaghan as he tries to fully understand what happened to Johnson's home as well as Johnson's struggles and radicalization. Following the release of a trailer for the film, Joiner filed a lawsuit against Callaghan and the documentary team in federal court. After a legal process that incurred over $800,000 in costs for Andrew Callaghan and Channel 5, Joiner's legal team agreed to dismiss the federal lawsuit entirely on May 19, 2026. However, on July 9, 2026, Callaghan was served with a second, modified lawsuit filed in California state court alleging defamation, stalking, false light, and trespassing. On July 10, 2026, Callaghan published a video titled "We're Being Sued," stating that Channel 5 lacked the financial resources to sustain a second lawsuit and risked staff layoffs, office closures, or the independent nature of the company. The video included a link to a GoFundMe campaign for legal defense fees; within the first six hours of its release, the campaign raised nearly $1 million from over 28,000 donors.

Callaghan has cited gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, documentary maker Louis Theroux, and anarchist art-collective and filmmakers Indecline as influences upon his own documentary style and works. Theroux has also described Callaghan as "Gonzo journalist par excellence". Callaghan has disputed the characterization of his work as Gonzo journalism. In July 2026, in a video discussing a lawsuit against Channel 5, Callaghan stated, "No, I'm not a Gonzo journalist", describing gonzo journalism as combining nonfiction with fictional or fantasy elements.

As a teenager in Seattle, Callaghan was moved by the killing of John T. Williams, a 55-year-old deaf Native American woodcarver, by a Seattle police officer, into protesting and joining a black bloc group. From there, Callaghan became an anarchist and began reading material from authors such as Emma Goldman, Angela Davis, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Later in life, Callaghan moved away from the anarchist viewpoint, stating that he "grew up to realize how incompatible that anarchistic worldview is with reality and with American society. It can only exist in a small, little chamber. You can’t apply that to the industrial heartland of the country". Although Callaghan no longer identifies as an anarchist, he supports radical prison reform and values elements of prison abolitionist theory. In a 2022 interview, Callaghan stated that he supports Black liberation and critiques what he calls “white liberalism” in cities like Seattle, where he feels progressive rhetoric masks gentrification and rent-gouging that displaces marginalized communities. Callaghan voted for Jill Stein in the 2024 United States Presidential election; however, he thereafter expressed regret in his decision. Callaghan stated that he found Stein's rhetoric impressive during a pre-election interview, particularly regarding the Gaza war, and felt comfortable giving her a protest vote as he lived in a "safe" blue state. However, following the election, Callaghan was dismayed by the Trump administration and by Stein's post-election irrelevance. Callaghan stated this had been his first time voting for a third-party candidate.

Callaghan has said that he experimented with psilocybin around the age of 13, and suffers from hallucinogen persisting perception disorder as a result.

In January 2023, two women posted TikTok videos accusing Callaghan of trying to pressure them into having sex with him. A reporter at The Stranger then interviewed two other women who alleged that Callaghan tried to pressure them into having sex with him and made them uncomfortable. On January 12, his legal representative responded to the allegations in a statement released to Variety, saying in part: "Conversations about pressure and consent are extremely important and Andrew wants to have these conversations, so he can continue to learn and grow. While every dynamic is open to interpretation and proper communication is critical from all those involved, repeated requests for money should not be part of these conversations." On January 15, Callaghan responded to the allegations in a YouTube video, stating that some of the allegations about him are "not true" or "missing important contextual information"; he apologized for his behavior and revealed plans to attend therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous. On February 28, The Stranger published an additional story with two more women accusing Callaghan of rape and sexual assault that took place at Loyola University in 2017. One woman alleged Callaghan raped her while she was heavily intoxicated, and later mocked how she repeatedly said "No" during the assault. Another woman alleged that Callaghan followed her to her dorm room and refused to leave, before grabbing her and sexually assaulting her as she cried and told him 'No' "at least three times". The allegations were corroborated by dated text messages and email exchanges, interviews with health professionals and personal associates, and a journal entry. Callaghan's legal representative denied the allegations as "patently false", stating "Andrew has taken accountability for his role in other situations and will be the first to admit his shortcomings; however, these accusations go further and are completely without merit. Andrew will utilize every option he has in order to clear his name and protect his reputation."

• Year — Work — Role — Notes • 2019–2020 — All Gas No Brakes — Himself — Creator and host • 2021–present — Channel 5 • 2022 — This Place Rules — Director, executive producer Documentary • 2025 — Dear Kelly — Director and writer • Surrounded — Episode "1 Journalist vs 20 Conspiracy Theorists"