SPECULATION: Jay's apologetic retirement may actually be evidence of the American Eastern hierarchy cracking down on the Orthobros.
First, it's notable that he chooses to emphasise how no one "told" him to do this, at least not "as of yet." This most of all suggests to me that he (and likely others, as I'll show) got a love tap from the hierarchy "suggesting" that he change course, with the implicit threat of real consequences if he refuses.
The more telling point is when Jonathan Pageau announced that his own bishop suggested last Sunday that he step away from apologetics. A priest would be one thing, but a *bishop*?
I was also just made aware of testimony from laymen who apparently know of actual moves being made by the American hierarchy to this effect. I don't have them directly, but through a reliable intermediary, so I won't press this hard.
Still, taken together, it appears that the American Easternist clergy are taking serious action against the Orthobros, which I suspected since at least back when the Australian Eparchy cracked down on "clergy influencers" (article link below).
Once again, this is just speculation. And tbh it reads like the plot of Goodfellas.