British social media stars Josh & Jase say their otherwise sunny Michigan summer journey is facing a dark edge.
The pair is pushing back on online criticism for their visit to Traverse City.
“There are local groups in Traverse City that people aren’t saying very nice things and saying we’re things that we’re not,” Joshua Cauldwell-Clarke said in a video on X and on Facebook on Wednesday.
He showed some of the social media posts about him and his media partner, Jason Riley, in the video. Some read “Go home scalawags!” “F@#$ those dudes,” and “Why should anyone care about these two? TC hates tourists but loves these freeloaders. I don’t get it.”
What they are saying
The duo from Nottingham, England, visited Michigan in the winter and announced last month they were returning. They said they would stay in the state from July 24 through Aug. 17.
The pair have been sharing positive posts about the state’s scenery and destinations they visit, from downtown Detroit to Saugatuck.
Cauldwell-Clarke responded to the criticism by saying: “We don’t come to cities because we’re paid to go to the cities, because we’re told to go to the cities. We go there because we choose to.”
He added: “So when people are saying things like this — Go home — we don’t have to put up with it.”
Cauldwell-Clarke said the disparaging online comments “leave a sour taste in our mouth because these groups where you talk about the city you live in, we’re here to promote your city, put it in a good light, show off local businesses.
“We don’t want to read these comments,” he went on. “It just makes us not want to explore these cities.”
Cauldwell-Clarke urged people who criticize the two online to research and “have a second thought before you assume and judge and leave these comments.”
He also addressed the critics on his “Josh From England Facebook page.”
Riley said they understand the derogatory comments come from a small minority, but still are uncalled for.
“We have our families here,” he said. “We want this to be a positive, nice, fun experience, and this is kind of putting a dampener on that. It’s a shame, because so far everybody that we’ve met in Traverse City have been beautiful, amazing, they’ve been very friendly, haven’t they?”
Riley also said that not everyone has an agenda and explained that he and Cauldwell-Clarke have been posting about their travels for years, and they randomly pick destinations.
“We promote small businesses,” he said. “We’ve raised money for foundations up and down Michigan and down different states in the country.
“Please, before you put comments like this, do some research, look into us, and understand that we’ve been doing this for a few years. We just want to explore and shine a positive light, and luckily, we’ve grown a platform to be able to do that.”
This isn’t the first time either of the two have spoken out about what they saw as negativity associated with their time in Michigan.
During their January visit, Cauldwell-Clarke said he was injured and briefly hospitalized.
He announced shortly after in a Facebook post that he had received a letter informing him that several hospital employees had accessed his electronic health record “without a work-related reason for doing so.”
