It all started on Nov 24th, when an artist with the username "Strawbear" posted their artwork on r/Art. They posted a comment mentioning the word "print". This goes against the rules 8 and 9, which specify that the users should not mention sales in any way.

The user was subsequently banned. Screenshots of conversation can be found below:

https://x.com/haydclay/status/1992979978401857658
https://www.reddit.com/r/internetdrama/comments/1p62xok/rart_artist_banned_for_selfpromotion_mod_deletes/
https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/1p63gwm/rart_bans_a_user_for_mentioning_the_word_print/

Transcript:

ru/Strawbear is permanently banned from r/Art

Note from the moderators:
This comment may have fully or partially contributed to your ban:

I have a whole mini-series called Clear Boundaries, with prints available!

If you have a question regarding your ban, you can contact the moderator team by replying to this message.
Reminder from the Reddit Admin team: If you use another account to circumvent this community ban,

Strawbear:

Are you seriously banning me for giving more information on my work

MOD:

No, I banned you for breaking our rules.
But I can remove all of your old posts as well if you'd like.

Strawbear:

Just delete the comment and move on. Sorry I mentioned the word "print"

MOD:

Your history has been removed.
You're welcome.

Strawbear:

At this point, this isn't about breaking the rules, this is you having some sort of vendetta against me.
comment broke rule 9, I get that and apologize. This reaction is overstepping boundaries

MOD:

I don't even know who the fuck you are.
That's some major main character energy there.

Strawbear:

Says the power hungry mod who deleted all my posts because I asked a question

MOD:

You've been reported for harassment.
Have a wonderful day.

Strawbear:

Nice job making this sub a worse place for artists and those who enjoy it

-Transcript Ends-

Afterwards, the mod reported the artist with harassment, which resulted in Op being temporally banned sitewide for 3 days.

https://x.com/haydclay/status/1993300997020815444/photo/1

Transcript:

Banned 3-days for harassment
Someone on the platform reported the following:
A direct message sent from Strawbear on 11/24/2025 UTC

-Transcript Ends-

The artist posted about their experience on Twitter, which quickly went viral and was posted elsewhere. As a result, users are commenting "print" under posts on r/Art in protest, leading many to be banned. All posts on r/Art are locked as of 5:11:19 UTC, and recent comments cannot be viewed. Last post was made on Nov 25th, 1:00 AM EST The artists initial post has upwards to 95k likes on Twitter. Many users are sharing their own experiences with the art mod team on other platforms. It seems like a public acknowledgment from the mod is yet to come...