The CEO and co-founder of Patreon has intervened in one of the wildest internet dramas in years — which all centers on a "stolen" collection of Star Wars LEGO worth more than $200,000.
In a video posted on YouTube, Patreon boss Jack Conte revealed that the crowdfunding platform had been sent a legal notice from LEGO reseller Bricks & Minifigs, insisting it shut down a campaign meant to support Reckless Ben, a YouTuber currently covering the "stolen" LEGO controversy.
"After an extensive review and investigation by Patreon's trust and safety team, we have in fact unfortunately determined that Bricks & Minifigs... can stuff it. We're keeping Ben's page up. And if Bricks & Minfigs doesn't like that, they can sue us," the CEO said.
It's an extraordinary statement, but just the tip of an even more extraordinary iceberg of internet drama, fuelled by several high-profile videos chronicling the situation from Reckless Ben — who now claims to be in Mexico to avoid arrest, and relying on his Patreon for funds.
How did things get here? It's worth rewinding two weeks to when Reckless Ben's first video emerged, highlighting a missing consignment of Star Wars LEGO handed to a Bricks & Minifigs outlet in Keizer, Oregon back in 2024, by an 83-year-old man and his son Bryan.
Bryan and his elderly dad had spent years building an enormous collection of Star Wars sets and rare minifigures, though now wished for it to be sold to pay for Bryan's children's college fees. The entire collection was taken on by Bricks & Minifigs' Kezier outlet on consignment — to slowly be sold over time, with the money split between the store and Bryan's family. But then the outlet abruptly changed hands, and ownership of the collection came into dispute.
Reckless Ben's video alleges that Bricks & Minifigs' corporate ownership installed a new owner of the Kezier outlet, who it's claimed then began selling the Star Wars collection without paying further money to Bryan.
The Kezier outlet's previous owners, meanwhile — the ones Bryan dealt with — have also raised awareness of the situation, and alleged that Bricks & Minifigs' corporate managers seized their inventory and forced them out. In a video titled "They took our LEGO store and life savings," the owners share evidence they say proves they were told to accept the situation or be buried in lawsuits leaving them in "a whole lot of s***." The owners had been planning to leave the Bricks & Minifigs franchise, but in a manner that would allow them to sell up and move abroad. Instead, they say, they invested $30,000 in legal fees to combat Bricks & Minifigs' hostile takeover. A GoFundMe set up to support them has now raised more than $66,000 in response.
Perhaps the wildest parts of this story relate to Reckless Ben's own involvement, however, and the manner in which Bricks & Minifigs has responded to being in the spotlight. After initial antics by the YouTuber to gain information, Reckless Ben succeeded in filing a lawsuit against Bricks & Minifigs alleging it had stolen the LEGO collection. Within days, the company's Kezier outlet permanently closed, something he alleges was done to avoid the litigation going further.
As Reckless Ben investigated the story, the YouTuber found himself repeatedly encountering police and arrested — in one instance, he filmed himself being stopped by cops who claimed he was driving under the influence of drugs, and his car was searched for heroin. Ultimately he was arrested under a stalking charge, following earlier claims he and others were harassing individuals, and trespassing by visiting the Bricks & Minfigs outlet, or the house of its current owner.
In his latest video, partially filmed in Mexico, Reckless Ben contests many of the local police department's official statement of claims against him — such as that he was observed with "glossy" eyes, the reason given in a lengthy statement by local police for his drugs search. Indeed, the YouTuber provides dashcam footage obtained from the police that suggests the officers involved believed he was sober, and were just trying to "scare" him. It's in this video that Reckless Ben alleges that local police are supporting Bricks & Minifigs' corporate ownership, as well as the current Kezier store's new manager, due to shared links with the Mormon church.
