On the sixth day of Perezmas, pop culture gave to us… six YouTube scandals!!!
In 2018, more than maybe EVER before, YouTubers were getting in the news for all the wrong reasons… and we kept up with them as they disappointed their fans, said remarkably offensive things, did bad stuff to loved ones, and even made entire countries seethe with anger at their dumb, dangerous, and/or downright stupid actions.
So without further ado… here we go!!!
Logan Paul’s Suicide Forest Controversy
Ironically, the biggest YouTube scandal of this year technically first hit LAST year when, on the very final day of 2017, Logan Paul uploaded a video to his channel that showed him visiting Aokigahara, a forest on Mt. Fuji in Japan that has become known as the “Suicide Forest” because of the high number of suicides that take place there every year. Paul’s now-deleted video included him finding a body hanging from a tree and filming it. Immediately, the video was widely considered insensitive to the forest itself, and to Japanese culture, as well as being extremely tone-deaf to both suicide and mental health issues. Celebs around the world condemned the video, subscribers fled Logan Paul’s channel, he lost a YouTube development deal he’d been working on, and YouTube eventually even cracked down on his monetization. In some ways, he’s still feeling the pain from this terrible decision. Yikes!!!!
TanaCon, The Disaster!
It just wasn’t supposed to be like this, y’all!!! In response to what she felt was a snub by the folks over at VidCon, YouTuber Tana Mongeau created TanaCon, originally planned as an all-access weekend event for her subscribers and fans to be held at a hotel in Anaheim, California just down the street from VidCon itself back in late June. One problem: festival organizers didn’t exactly organize ANYTHING. More than 5,000 people bought tickets only to be left waiting outside in long lines in the sun for up to six hours at a time, while those who bought VIP passes found themselves indoors with… no creators, no activities, and a goodie bag that included condoms. No, seriously. The host hotel and the Anaheim Police Department shut down the event after just one day, and Mongeau took a few months off social media before returning with an apology video.
Jake Paul’s Bizarre Behavior
Logan Paul’s little brother Jake saw his older bro’s start-of-the-year misstep and must’ve said ‘hold my beer,’ because 2018 was NOT the best year for little Jakey and Team 10. The controversies this year swirled around a docuseries produced and released by fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson, who followed Jake around to try to get into his mind a little better… and came away with a feature on a man many argued was both a psychopath and a racist. Not exactly the kind of image you feel like Jake would want to project after getting dropped from Disney and all that back in 2017, but what do we know?! Oh, and BTW, this year it was also revealed that Jake makes his “friends” PAY LITERAL MONEY to be in his dipsh*t fake gang his weird friend group Team 10. How embarrassing!!!
Meg Turney & Gavin Free’s Deadly Home Invasion
Back in January, YouTube stars Meg Turney and Gavin Free were forced to hide in their Texas home in the middle of the night after an armed man broke in. The man turned out to be a deranged fan of Turney’s channel, and had driven all the way from Albuquerque, New Mexico to try to track down the couple. After hiding in a closet, the pair called police; when cops arrived on scene, they exchanged gunfire with the suspect and eventually shot him dead. Police later determined the shooting was justified, and that the deranged suspect had gone to the couple’s home with deadly, violent intent. Wow…
Gabriel Zamora & Laura Lee
SO MUCH DRAMA this year for YouTube beauty vloggers like Gabriel Zamora (pictured here), Laura Lee, and Jeffree Star (though, more on Star separately in a moment…). Zamora and Lee — along with Manny Mua and Nikita Dragun — got caught up in an ugly back-and-forth with Star’s fans earlier this year when, after posting a group photo on social media that appeared to throw shade at Star, his fans attacked. They began digging up old, racist tweets sent by the foursome — most notably from Zamora and Lee, who were forced to issue multiple public apologies. Lee may have been hit the hardest in terms of lost subscribers and lost revenue.
Jeffree Star Can’t Relate!
Controversy just seems to find Jeffree Star, and so we’d be remiss not to include the beauty guru on this list. Granted, Star was the beneficiary of the Gabriel Zamora/Laura Lee drama (above), but internet sleuths did uncover some of his old, racist tweets, too, so there’s one. Star courted controversy again in September, when cultural appropriation allegations flew after he wore cornrows in a video that month. He also appeared in his own Shane Dawson documentary earlier this year — just like Jake Paul — and while Jeffree had his moments, overall he came off as… unique. Oh, and let’s not forget the time he may have leaked the name of Manny Mua’s palette… or the time he got in that vicious, public cat-fight with Kat Von D. It’s always something!!!
So there you have it, Perezcious readers… six of the most shocking, salacious YouTube scandals form 2018!! What’d U think of our list this year?? Weigh in with your comments in the section (below)!!
And as always… have a VERY happy Perezmas!!!
[Images and graphic via Brian Doherty/YouTube.]
Related Posts
