Hey guys!. In this post, I’ll be discussing a list of Top 5 BIG YOUTUBERS Who Had a Massive Downfall. Youtube has always been the go-to place for people to find all kinds of random stuff on the internet. From life-saving content to people doing the absolutely dumb things, there’s something for everyone!
The platform has grown so far and wide that some of the popular YouTubers are earning way more than Hollywood movie stars. Names like PewDiePie and Mr. Beast might be ruling this video sharing network, but there have been many other popular YouTubers in the past, who might have made it to the top, if it weren’t for their past mistakes.
We have scoured through the depths of YouTube to find out the 5 BIG YouTubers who had a massive downfall! So, stick around till the end, because some of these names might just shock you! Now let's get started!
1. James Charles
James Charles made quite a name for himself for his incredible makeup art that started with his viral makeup shots back in 2017 that got millions of views, helping him botch up hundreds of thousands of subscribers every month. His rise to stardom was pretty quick, James also became the first boy to get featured as Covergirl’s first coverboy.
However, it wasn’t without controversies, from getting criticized by popular celebrities to facing some serious allegations for his actions, a lot happened throughout his early years YouTube. But if we were to pinpoint a single event in his past that started his downfall, it would be James’ insensitive joke about getting Ebola from Africa.
He tweeted (in a now-deleted tweet) a conversation between him and his friend, where he said, “I can’t believe we are going to Africa today OMG what if we get Ebola?”, to which his friend replied “James we’re fine we could’ve gotten it at chiptle last year”. Many people found this to be insensitive and got offended by James’ tweet, which he tried to defend first but later issued an apology for.
This was just the start of a series of controversies that James had to go through. Later in 2019, his conversation with Jeff Witteck about him being “not fully gay” became a hot topic of criticism for discrediting transgender men as “actual men” to which he eventually apologized for.
But the same year, his friend Tati Westbrook uploaded a video named “Bye Sister” in which she publicly ended her friendship with James stating her concerns. James Charles’ YouTube took a major hit, losing millions of subscribers in a matter of days.
Westbrook later did take down the video but the damage was already done. James managed to eventually rise up again but the last blow that sent his career tumbling down came from one of his former employees who went to court with allegations of wrongful termination and mistreatment.
2. Jenna Marbles
Jenna Marbles is one of the earliest YouTube stars who made a name for herself on the platform even before YouTube itself went mainstream and people started racking up millions of views. Her comedy sketches and satirical videos got many people hooked to YouTube. Things were going smoothly for her and she managed to get over 3 billion views in total on her videos.
But after a decade, some of her old videos back from 2011 and 2012, got noticed by some of her viewers, where she had “Blackfaced” herself to impersonate rapper Nicki Minaj and in another video made an offensive sexist joke about women. She didn’t try to defend herself but instead, she realized what she had done in her past and apologized for it.
But these were just a couple of the many videos where she had made racists and sexists comments. Following a huge backlash for her actions, Jenna decided to quit YouTube altogether saying it was never her intention to hurt anybody and that she wishes it wasn’t part of her past.
3. Ray William Johnson
Since we are talking about earliest YouTubers, many people out there are wondering “what happened to Ray William Johnson”, one of the Pioneers of early YouTube who managed to get millions of views in an era where many people struggled to get past the 10 thousand views mark.
His “Equals 3” show, where he’d review some of the world's craziest videos on the internet, was so popular with a huge fan base that it essentially helped him get millions of subscribers on the platform. People were addicted to his quick-witted humor and funny nature, which is what made him so popular in the first place. So what really happened to him?
Well, there are theories out there suggesting that he got burnt out from his daily “Equals 3” routine and wanted to explore other stuff like making his own music and being a full-time vlogger. But this change didn’t come out of nowhere, his show Equals 3 apparently received a number of DMCA notices from JukinMedia, to which he replied by filing a lawsuit of his own.
In the end, Equals 3 ended up losing the legal battle, which highly affected Ray in many ways, mostly mentally and emotionally, which lead him to stop the show. You can still find him on YouTube and Facebook but things haven’t really been the same after “Equals 3”.
4. Shane Dawson
This YouTuber has had lived one of the most controversial life on the Platform. Shane Dawson started all the way back in 2005 with short comedy sketches and music, which earned him quite some viewership and subscribers on YouTube. He even started a new channel in 2008, where he posted longer comedy sketches and other short video content.
However, in 2014 some of his old comedy videos resurfaced, receiving a lot of criticism by his viewers for having offensive jokes. Shane apologized for his actions and decided to move on from comedy sketches to making a different type of kitchen videos. It went on for a few years before he faced yet another backlash in 2017 for making insensitive jokes about paedophelia in his videos.
Following which Shane decided to move on to a different type of content, conspiracy theory videos. Which again, ended up with yet another controversy. This became more of habit for him, to which a lot of his fans called out for cancellation.
5. Jeffree Star
Last but definitely not least, we have the beauty guru of YouTube Jeffree Star, known as the Makeup Mogul. Just like Shane Dawson, Star’s YouTube career has seen a LOT of controversies, most of which he managed to climb out of… up until 2020, the time his controversies caught up to him after years of scandals.
Back in the days, Star used to mock TJ Maxx makeup for reselling outdated and undersold products and even publicly criticizing other influencers for selling their products at this bargain retail chain. But later, Star was found selling his own beauty products partnering with none other than Shane Dawson.
Although their partnered product “Conspiracy collection” did outsold many other products on its launch, the demand quickly faded when both were accused of manipulating Tati Westbrook into publicly shaming James Charles for predatory behavior. The scandal spread far and wide globally, literally putting an end to his one’s shining YouTube career with millions of fans cancelling him out.
That is it from today’s post on Top 5 BIG YOUTUBERS Who Had a Massive Downfall. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below.
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