Late Wednesday, all human moderators of Reddit’s r/art subreddit quit en masse, leaving the 30-million-member community locked and bot-run with no new posts allowed. The trigger was Clay’s ban under Rule 9, which strictly prohibits any mention of sales, commissions, or prints to keep focus on art critique. Clay shared screenshots of the curt mod response and his locked view of the pinned resignation notice, calling it absurd while selling prints of the moment. The episode exposed ongoing frustrations in online art communities over rigid rules and moderator decisions.