These YouTubers flew too close to the sun. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most infamous times a well-known YouTuber wrecked their career, tarnished their reputation, or lost major opportunities after an on-camera scandal came to light.
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00:00 I've made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don't expect to be forgiven.
00:06 I'm simply here to apologize.
00:08 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most infamous times a
00:12 well-known YouTuber wrecked their career, tarnished their reputation, or lost major
00:16 opportunities after an on-camera scandal came to light.
00:19 Disney has dropped one of YouTube's most popular stars.
00:22 Number 10. Laura Lee
00:25 In 2018, beauty YouTube was thrown into the drama again, as one scandal after another came out.
00:30 Laura Lee was one such influencer who found her reputation in tatters after historical
00:35 racist social media posts were discovered. As the backlash grew, Lee released an apology
00:40 video that soon became notorious, as many viewers saw it as insincere.
00:44 Regardless, it didn't stop 300,000 subscribers from leaving her channel and causing a host of
00:54 sponsors and business associates to drop her. Reportedly, various stores such as BoxyCharm
00:59 and Ulta Beauty stopped selling Laura Lee Los Angeles Cosmetics products. As a result,
01:03 the original apology was deleted by Lee's channel and replaced with another a month later.
01:07 Number 9. Trollstation
01:17 Practical joke channels tend to reach the point where they go too far,
01:20 and in 2015, the time came for Trollstation.
01:22 The Ensemble channel staged two robberies at the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Britain
01:30 Gallery in London, England. At the first location, a stampede of visitors rushing for the exits
01:34 caused injuries while one woman passed out from fear. At the second, a fake kidnapping took place.
01:39 Unsurprisingly, the members that took part were arrested.
01:41 In 2016, after pleading guilty to the two charges, each person was sentenced to eight
01:48 weeks for the Tate Britain event. For the Portrait Gallery, they received jail time
01:52 between 12 to 20 weeks. When you run around the museum with gloves and masks on, screaming,
01:58 "Let's get out of here, it's a robbery," you gotta freak a lot of people out.
02:02 Number 8. Ravanna
02:03 When you run a lifestyle channel, you have to practice what you preach. Otherwise,
02:07 people will find out and will be furious.
02:17 Well, in 2019, Yovanna Mendoza, under the name Ravanna, made that error. As she was in Bali,
02:22 the vegan influencer who sold plans on the lifestyle was recorded by a vlogger friend
02:26 at a restaurant. However, if you look closely, you can see Mendoza trying to cover her plate.
02:30 That's because she was consuming fish, which of course isn't vegan. As the backlash grew,
02:34 Mendoza released a long apology video where she detailed her health problems
02:38 that led to a change in her diet. Later, Mendoza dropped the Ravanna branding and
02:42 pivoted her channel's content to her current lifestyle.
02:45 The onion liver is ready.
02:48 Number 7. It's Aria
02:50 Oh boy. In 2018, the UK had a series of terrifying acid attacks. With this going on,
02:55 YouTuber Aria Masala, under the name It's Aria, chose to create a practical joke video
02:59 on the streets of London. In this part 2 content, he walked around with a cup and
03:07 threw water into the faces of unsuspecting people. Of course, viewers were livid. After
03:11 they removed the video from their platform, YouTube went further by deleting Masala's 650,000
03:16 sub channel. Masala then created a second account, and after putting up some videos,
03:20 it was taken offline and hasn't had any new content since. In interviews, Masala
03:26 apologized for the video and claimed it wasn't related to the real attacks.
03:29 Number 6. Nicole Arbour
03:35 On top of being a former cheerleader, a singer, an actress, a comedian, and a choreographer,
03:39 Nicole Arbour also has her own YouTube channel. And this latter career got her in a host of
03:43 trouble in 2015 after releasing the video "Dear Fat People." The cringey skit was rife with
03:51 fatphobic content that angered the public. While Arbour claimed it was meant to be satire,
04:00 YouTube briefly removed the content before allowing it back on. The backlash even caused
04:04 Arbour to be dropped from working on the 2017 film "Don't Talk to Irene." Later,
04:08 she stated she made the video for marketing reasons, which explains the similar videos
04:12 that followed, as well as a part two to "Dear Fat People."
04:14 Number 5. Ned Fulmer
04:17 Labeled as the "wife guy" as part of the Try Guys, Ned Fulmer promoted his devotion to his
04:21 family with his partner Arielle and their children. But in 2022, something strange was
04:29 going on with the channel. Seemingly, Fulmer was nowhere to be seen and appeared to be edited out
04:33 of content. Rumors then began to leak, and eventually, there was visual confirmation.
04:37 Fulmer had been having an affair with channel producer Alex Herring. With the vast
04:41 inappropriateness of a boss having relations with a subordinate, the Try Guys released a
04:44 statement and a video that confirmed Fulmer had been dropped by the company due to the controversy.
04:49 Since then, Fulmer has vanished from social media while the channel continues on.
04:58 Number 4. Brookhouse
05:04 As a channel that featured lifestyle videos, Brookhouse also got her dog,
05:08 Sphinx, into some content. But in 2019, the behind-the-scenes cruelty between
05:12 human and pet was accidentally exposed. As House released a video about playing a
05:20 practical joke on her Doberman, some clips were included that showed her hitting,
05:24 pushing, and seemingly spitting on Sphinx. While the segments were removed and the video
05:33 was re-uploaded, it was too late. People were absolutely livid at the clips, and there were
05:36 calls for the police to intervene. While they investigated and ultimately didn't take action,
05:40 House eventually deleted her channel. When she attempted a comeback, she later explained Sphinx
05:50 had been rehomed. However, the return collapsed, and House has seemingly retired from content
05:55 creation. Number 3. PewDiePie
05:57 As famous as Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie is, he could have been so much more
06:01 had he not thrown it away in 2017 with a terrible judgment in content. At the time, he created a
06:09 video where he paid people on the job website Fiverr to do controversial things, including
06:13 getting people to hold up an anti-Semitic sign. While Kjellberg apologized and claimed the video
06:30 was to showcase the state of the modern world, the backlash was bad. This, mixed with further
06:35 incidents of anti-Semitism and racist incidents in his content, led to Kjellberg being dropped
06:40 from the Disney Digital Network community, previously called the Maker Studios. He also
06:44 had his YouTube Red web series Scare PewDiePie cancelled after one season.
06:47 Number 2. Sam Pepper
06:50 Once again, a practical joke channel came into controversy. But this time, it wasn't with one
06:55 incident, but two that destroyed a popular creator. Sam Pepper went to the Third Street
06:59 Promenade and had a fake arm that looked like his hand was in his pocket. In 2014, Sam Pepper
07:05 released a video where he went up to women and pinched their buttocks when talking to them,
07:09 which he claimed was a social experiment. Yikes. This caused a host of people to come forward with
07:13 assault and harassment allegations about Pepper. Meanwhile, Lacey Green wrote an open letter to
07:19 Sam Pepper saying, "Please stop violating women and making them feel uncomfortable on the street
07:24 for views." In 2015, he faked the kidnapping of Sam Goldbach and Colby Brock. Pepper then
07:29 pretended to slay Brock, disturbing viewers further with a very upset Goldbach. The outrage
07:33 was loud. After apologizing, Pepper deleted most of his YouTube videos, attempted a brief rebrand,
07:38 and launched a comedy TikTok. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the
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07:55 on notifications. 1. Logan Paul
08:00 Logan Paul became one of YouTube's standout stars. It seemed like he was on the verge of breaking
08:04 into the starry lights of Hollywood. But then he visited Japan in 2017, and that all vanished.
08:09 After a host of issues in the country, in one particular video, Paul and his team discover
08:18 a body in a notorious forest. While the person was censored, Paul and his team's reaction was
08:22 bizarre and uncomfortable. People were livid, turning the Paul brand into the most toxic around.
08:27 Various films, TV shows, and web series that featured Paul were paused or cancelled.
08:34 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson also distanced himself from the creator.
08:37 Since then, Paul still has his channel, but he's pivoted to a boxing and wrestling career.
08:42 On a lighter note, which YouTube channel is your go-to for wholesome content? Let us know below!
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