While the Discord ERP was definitely the tipping point, Smug was seen as a joke starting with the Woods incident. I'm pretty sure around that time is when she got a burst in popularity (at least it's how I first found out about her), and so many people knowing her for dishonesty really set in stone what the rest of her reputation would be like. It's also important to note that the fake tweets were made and exposed a few weeks before this thread was made, meanwhile Jeko didn't really get exposed for his CP defense until later, if I recall.
Also, Pedantic is really respected by most of the trans community, which has a lot of crossover with the anime community. If the only extent to which you follow them is when you see them getting dunked on by a lot of people then you're missing a good chunk of the story. Same with Mother's Basement if you consider him anitwitter, because he has a much bigger presence and fanbase as an anituber.
It's sorta the same with Jeko. He definitely went on a downward spiral when his mass blocks and harassing children got people to pay enough attention to him and dig up his past to see the creepy shit he's said, but besides that? Before he was just seen as your average "anitwitter lolicon defender" account, and after, he hasn't really been called out by anyone on anitwitter besides Smug. I assume because he ties his identity to "defending free speech/anime" and most big anitwitter names either see him as a necessary evil because of it or are too afraid to start shit with someone who's got that reputation, lest they be seen as opposing those ideals.
