Hmm. Let's be real; Linus has shown time and time again that nothing would've happened had GN Steve done that. He's an overly emotional lasher-out and doubler-down on bad takes. Even I could tell that and I haven't really watched much of his — honestly — low quality content.
Hell, in that "apology" video he's still acting like a victim starting off by showing what people are saying about him in YouTube comments and making sure to add "valid" as a qualifier to "criticism". That was not a master class in humility.
I dunno, the only other thing we've got to go on is the "trust me bro" video, which he states he was ambushed by. If he was told in private, what would he have to complain about without being dishonest? Saying "I spoke to him in private but he didn't change" would absolve Steve of any blame.
Regarding Billet Labs, I can say that Linus sourced some bad-faith comments (making it sound like he auctioned it for money, when the real complaint is his nonchalant attitude threatening a startup), while also stating his attempts to fix the situation once informed.
I'm not defending either party. It's just this looks like a classic takedown, where you weaponise the audience because you don't have a smoking gun. All the drama channels stop posting about Brie Larson for a day and jump on the latest tasty morsel. Gotten wise to them over the past few years.
GN had two very specific call outs in the past: Kitguru on watercooling the Fractal Torrent and Braethorn on pre-builds. Both played up the fear of offending 'tech Jesus' like Steve did with Linus. But neither went as far as to air so much dirty laundry. Steve has this Simon Cowell "tell it like it is" persona, and there'll be a time when that comes under attack too.
As for the apology, it's bad, but there's not much else he can do. If the Internet brands you villain of the week, you're done. The more you grovel, the more you cement it. Best he can do is tell his side of the story so undecideds make an informed decision. Between this and pulling out a ukulele and singing, I'd say this was better.
Ranking the apology itself, I would say he utilised his staff well (minus their stiffness); kept himself in the background; introduced the new CEO properly (to quote Succession, he has a full hazmat suit in the form of Terren Tong); laid out future steps to avoid mistakes; took an L in the form of a week off; and open sourced Mark Bench, something they should've done ages ago.
I would've laid off the humour. I get that it makes the apologee more relatable, but it feels overdone. And Gary Key said he didn't agree with all the criticisms. He sounds petulent fighting back, but in this situation, he should've listed them, and made sure they were bullet proof.
However, without being there, none of this determines whether they chose to cooperate or "cooperate". In a way they got lucky their week off happened literally hours after a serious allegation came out. Now they have an excuse to not address it, and the audience will probably lump it in with this week's drama, completely forgotten by next week. Would probably take 2-3 more of those ASMs to sink this ship.
