True and that is of course their right, which many of us followers understand and respect.
However, bear in mind that C&E invited us in.
What some of the more critical responses on this thread don't seem to understand or fail to acknowledge is that these YouTubers set that very intimate boundary. You don't get a P.O. Box and tell your viewers about it if you don't expect to get mail from them. You don't post a video asking for advice on parenting or gardening if you don't expect responses.
Chris & Eve asked for comments, advice, and interaction. They set-up a P.O. Box so followers could send them cards and gifts. So I ask you, how is it "entitlement" or an "invasion of privacy" when one is asked to participate in a semi-physical way and one does so?
When one invites others in (and guests accept the invitation), then they host their guests by their own free will. Those who don't accept the invitation, and choose to stand outside and criticize those who do, are the only ones who see a "supposed" problem of privacy invasion; certainly not the invitees.
Conversely, when one invites guests, and then decides the party is over, it only seems polite for the hosts to eventually say, "Thank you for coming, however, we won't be hosting anymore."
I think what is concerning for many who accepted that invitation is the "Scorched Earth" way C&E's disappearance has happened - with no sign off. I mean, what if they died? Isn't that a tragedy? Wouldn't someone with a modicum of humanity be concerned, strangers or not? If the neighbor down the street with whom you only had a nodding acquaintance got mowed down in the middle of the road, would you care? Or just pull a Seinfeldian "That's a shame" and walk away?
Those commenting here who never chose to subscribe to C&E's channel/follow them on Instagram and FaceBook, or don't know about the level of interaction C&E allowed, even encouraged, really shouldn't criticize. For some on this thread trying to say that those of us who interacted with C&E are somehow bad people, is both inaccurate and unfair.
We were invited in; many of us, like me, love animals and were first drawn to C&E's channel via the cats, Turbo & Jet; it was a bit of harmless fun to send the cats birthday cards . . . from my own cats, I might add.
In the name of my cats, I send cards to other animal YouTube channels that allow it. It's cute and funny.
Like I said, I have followers on my YouTube channel asking me to set up a P.O. Box for my cats, but I can't do it because I don't have the time it takes to film the elaborate "Unboxing" videos such an invitation requires (check out Sherpa or Keyush). That's why C&E shut down their P.O. Box after the children arrived. Followers dealt with that just fine and continued to interact via messaging/comments.
A few trolls on this thread who put out click-bait responses of "an affair" or other trashy comments should just be ignored, as they don't represent who the bulk of C&E's followers were. For example, we appreciated that Eve turned vegan like many of us who love animals and won't eat them.
We're not "bad/sick" people. I think we're all hoping C&E just got bored (they were just "phoning it in" since the start of 2024) and decided a clean break was best, as is their right. But I also think that what is niggling at the back of everyone's mind is that there was some kind of a tragedy, which no person with an ounce of humanity would want to have happened. So they're venting here to assuage those fears, as any psychologist will tell you.
A bit extreme, I'll warrant, and that's only been escalated by some of the attacks placed upon those venting, which is the "Dark Side" of Social Media. I had a commenter on my channel criticize me for "having no life" by putting cat videos on the Internet. I reminded him that he was the one watching cat videos on the Internet . . . at 4 a.m., no less - according to the message timestamp. That's 21st Century life now.
As I teach students in my communication theory courses at the large university where I'm a professor, "Perspective is subjective: Its influenced by our personal attitudes, values and beliefs that we develop growing up, which are themselves influenced by culture, region, and fluctuating societal norms."
People on this thread have their own perspective of their "relationship" with C&E - from friends to just a bit of fun. If it's helpful to read/share thoughts and move on, that's fine. Trolling and criticizing, not so much.
For me, watching "Another episode of Chris and Eve." was fun while it lasted. I'll treasure my Turbo & Jet Christmas cards that C&E mailed to me and which I still have and nestle into the branches of my Christmas tree every year (since 2015) as a reminder of a cute, fun, and brief interaction between my (former) cats (who since passed away) and those two adorable British Shorthairs. I'm sentimental like that. There's even a video on my own channel of one of my late cats watching Turbo & Jet and it's dear to my heart.
You can hate on that all you want. Meanwhile, I'll go on interacting with some other good YouTube channels featuring lovable animals because "There's nothing wrong with that."