Budden’s questions continued from there, with Punch asked if he currently purchases bots (“Absolutely not”) or ever has (“I’ve never”). Punch, however, offered an “of course” when asked whether he’s heard of others in in the industry employing the practice. He went on to say that he isn’t knowledgeable as to how one might purchase bots, nor is he aware of what they might cost.

As Punch sees it, versions of the practice, despite receiving more attention in recent years, actually date back to the MySpace era.

“But our whole thing was like, if we do that, how are we going to know who the actual fan is?” he said, as seen in this clip . “Like, we do a show, [and] don't nobody show up because it was all fake.…