The last show he did two Fridays ago seemed like a breaking point. He admitted that he was doing shows he hated for the benefit of the audience but that the audience is still angry. Just admitting that his audience is pissed is a big deal for him. He spent months trying to pin the criticism as emanating from small groups of people, whether it was this thread, or Claire's audience of 150-200 people, whatever.
Just reading the Friday comment sections on YouTube is funny. Lots of people who don't like his two favorite guests in Masterson and Camelot.
The one element you're missing is the lawsuit. In the next month we should expect to find out whether Monty's case is dismissed or if he's allowed to advance into discovery. If Nick loses he will be apoplectic. If he wins he will feel on top of the world and do something stupid.
Realistically they signed him around the peak of his relevance on social media (Twitter, that is) after he got banned. That relevance has, er, waned quite a bit.