- 6/30/2025
From massive public meltdowns to scandalous behavior caught on livestream, these content creators lost it all in an instant. Join us as we count down the most spectacular falls from grace on the platform! These YouTubers went from fame and fortune to infamy and failure with just one catastrophic moment captured forever online.
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00:00That's not me, dude. I don't do that.
00:02Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most infamous times a well-known YouTuber wrecked their career,
00:08tarnished their reputation, or lost major opportunities after an on-camera scandal came to light.
00:13By now, we're assuming you've seen the Reddit threads, and TikToks, and tweets, and news articles.
00:20We want to give you a timeline of what's transpired.
00:23Number 10, Laura Lee.
00:25In 2018, beauty YouTube was thrown into the Dramageddon, as one scandal after another came out.
00:30Laura Lee was one such influencer who found her reputation in tatters after historical racist social media posts were discovered.
00:36I'm so sorry to you guys.
00:38As the backlash grew, Lee released an apology video that soon became notorious, as many viewers saw it as insincere.
00:44I have no excuses here today. I'm not here to give you an excuse. I have no excuses.
00:49Regardless, it didn't stop 300,000 subscribers from leaving her channel and causing a host of sponsors and business associates to drop her.
00:57Reportedly, various stores such as BoxyCharm and Ulta Beauty stopped selling Laura Lee Los Angeles cosmetics products.
01:02As a result, the original apology was deleted by Lee's channel and replaced with another a month later.
01:07I'm taking the video down because it doesn't represent me well.
01:10I'm not taking the video down to try to hide it from you guys or pretend like it didn't happen.
01:15Number 9, Troll Station.
01:16Practical joke channels tend to reach the point where they go too far.
01:20And in 2015, the time came for Troll Station.
01:22Are you drunk? Get the planes! Are you drunk? Get the planes!
01:25The Ensemble channel staged two robberies at the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Britain Gallery in London, England.
01:31At the first location, a stampede of visitors rushing for the exits caused injuries while one woman passed out from fear.
01:36At the second, a fake kidnapping took place.
01:39Unsurprisingly, the members that took part were arrested.
01:41Tell them it's a prank.
01:42No!
01:43No!
01:43In 2016, after pleading guilty to the two charges, each person was sentenced to eight weeks for the Tate Britain event.
01:50For the Portrait Gallery, they received jail time between 12 to 20 weeks.
01:53And when you run around the museum with gloves and masks on, screaming, let's get out of here, it's a robbery, you go to freak a lot of people out.
02:02Number 8, Ravana.
02:03When you run a lifestyle channel, you have to practice what you preach.
02:06Otherwise, people will find out and will be furious.
02:08I know that so many of you, you trust me, you listen to me, and you probably feel deceived and lied to.
02:17Well, in 2019, Yovana Mendoza, under the name Ravana, made that error.
02:21As she was in Bali, the vegan influencer who sold plans on the lifestyle was recorded by a vlogger friend at a restaurant.
02:27However, if you look closely, you can see Mendoza trying to cover her plate.
02:30That's because she was consuming fish, which, of course, isn't vegan.
02:33As the backlash grew, Mendoza released a long apology video where she detailed her health problems that led to a change in her diet.
02:39I'm human.
02:40Later, Mendoza dropped the Ravana branding and pivoted her channel's content to her current lifestyle.
02:45The onion liver is ready.
02:48Number 7, It's Aria.
02:50Oh, boy.
02:50In 2018, the UK had a series of terrifying acid attacks.
02:54With this going on, YouTuber Aria Masala, under the name It's Aria, chose to create a practical joke video on the streets of London.
03:00The media kind of like, um, demonized me.
03:04In this part two content, he walked around with a cup and threw water into the faces of unsuspecting people.
03:09Of course, viewers were livid.
03:11After they removed the video from their platform, YouTube went further by deleting Masala's 650,000 sub channel.
03:16Masala then created a second account, and after putting up some videos, it was taken offline and hasn't had any new content since.
03:22Congratulations to me.
03:24In interviews, Masala apologized for the video and claimed it wasn't related to the real attacks.
03:29For it to just get taken like that, it's not really, like, fair on me.
03:33Number 6, Nicole Arbor.
03:35On top of being a former cheerleader, a singer, an actress, a comedian, and a choreographer,
03:39Nicole Arbor also has her own YouTube channel.
03:41And this latter career got her in a host of trouble in 2015, after releasing the video, Dear Fat People.
03:47Fat shaming is not a thing.
03:49The cringey skit was rife with fatphobic content that angered the public.
03:53Fat shaming is a thing.
03:55It's a really big thing.
03:57No pun intended.
03:58While Arbor claimed it was meant to be satire, YouTube briefly removed the content before allowing it back on.
04:03The backlash even caused Arbor to be dropped from working on the 2017 film, Don't Talk to Irene.
04:07Later, she stated she made the video for marketing reasons, which explains the similar videos that followed,
04:12as well as a part two to Dear Fat People.
04:14Shit doesn't make sense anymore.
04:16Number 5, Ned Fulmer.
04:17Labeled as the wife guy as part of the Try Guys, Ned Fulmer promoted his devotion to his family with his partner Arielle and their children.
04:24His hat!
04:25His hat!
04:26Hats off to that.
04:27But in 2022, something strange was going on with the channel.
04:30Seemingly, Fulmer was nowhere to be seen and appeared to be edited out of content.
04:33Rumors then began to leak and eventually there was visual confirmation.
04:37Fulmer had been having an affair with channel producer Alex Herring.
04:40With the vast inappropriateness of a boss having relations with a subordinate,
04:43the Try Guys released a statement and a video that confirmed Fulmer had been dropped by the company due to the controversy.
04:49We want to give you a timeline of what's transpired and some transparency into our decision making.
04:54Since then, Fulmer has vanished from social media while the channel continues on.
04:58The clock is ticking, so away we go!
05:03Number 4, Brookhouse.
05:04As a channel that featured lifestyle videos, Brooke Houts also got her dog, Sphinx, into some content.
05:09But in 2019, the behind-the-scenes cruelty between human and pet was accidentally exposed.
05:14Brooke Houts will not be charged in connection with a video posted to YouTube.
05:18As Houts released a video about playing a practical joke on her Doberman,
05:22some clips were included that showed her hitting, pushing, and seemingly spitting on Sphinx.
05:26Houts denies claims that she abuses animals and insists her dog was not in pain.
05:31While the segments were removed and the video was re-uploaded, it was too late.
05:34People were absolutely livid at the clips and there were calls for the police to intervene.
05:38While they investigated and ultimately didn't take action, Houts eventually deleted her channel.
05:42But I want to make it known regardless of what my dog does, I should not have acted that way towards him.
05:48When she attempted a comeback, she later explained Sphinx had been rehomed.
05:51However, the return collapsed and Houts has seemingly retired from content creation.
05:55Number 3. PewDiePie
05:56As famous as Felix Schellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is,
06:00he could have been so much more had he not thrown it away in 2017 with a terrible judgment in content.
06:05Like, I'm not guilt-free in this situation by any means.
06:08At the time, he created a video where he paid people on the job website Fiverr to do controversial things,
06:13including getting people to hold up an anti-Semitic sign.
06:15The Wall Street Journal launched an investigation into the 27-year-old Swedish comedian,
06:20real name Felix Schellberg.
06:22It found nine videos on his channel dating back to August that had anti-Semitic jokes or showed Nazi imagery.
06:28While Schellberg apologized and claimed the video was to showcase the state of the modern world,
06:32the backlash was bad.
06:34This, mixed with further incidents of anti-Semitism and racist incidents in his content,
06:38led to Schellberg being dropped from the Disney Digital Network community,
06:42previously called the Maker Studios.
06:43He also had his YouTube Red web series, Scare PewDiePie, cancelled after one season.
06:47Sorry, how you doing, man?
06:49Good.
06:49Number two, Sam Pepper.
06:50Once again, a practical joke channel came into controversy.
06:53But this time, it wasn't with one incident, but two that destroyed a popular creator.
06:57So Sam Pepper went to the Third Street Promenade,
07:00and he had a fake arm that looked like his hand was in his pocket.
07:03In 2014, Sam Pepper released a video where he went up to women and pinched their buttocks when talking to them,
07:09which he claimed was a social experiment.
07:11Yikes.
07:11This caused a host of people to come forward with assault and harassment allegations about Pepper.
07:16Meanwhile, Lacey Green wrote an open letter to Sam Pepper saying,
07:20please stop violating women and making them feel uncomfortable on the street for views.
07:25In 2015, he faked the kidnapping of Sam Goldbach and Colby Brock.
07:28Pepper then pretended to slay Brock, disturbing viewers further with a very upset Goldbach.
07:33The outrage was loud.
07:34After apologizing, Pepper deleted most of his YouTube videos,
07:37attempted a brief rebrand, and launched a comedy TikTok.
07:40Oh no, I tripped and did something funny to you.
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07:56Logan Paul became one of YouTube's standout stars.
08:02It seemed like he was on the verge of breaking into the starry lights of Hollywood.
08:05But then he visited Japan in 2017, and that all vanished.
08:09I should have never posted the video.
08:11I should have put the cameras down.
08:13After a host of issues in the country, in one particular video, Paul and his team discover a body in a notorious forest.
08:19While the person was censored, Paul and his team's reaction was bizarre and uncomfortable.
08:24People were livid, turning the Paul brand into the most toxic around.
08:27Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner calling him an idiot.
08:30Various films, TV shows, and web series that featured Paul were paused or canceled.
08:34Dwayne The Rock Johnson also distanced himself from the creator.
08:37How are you, bro?
08:38What's up, brother?
08:38Since then, Paul still has his channel, but he's pivoted to a boxing and wrestling career.
08:42On a lighter note, which YouTube channel is your go-to for wholesome content?
08:46Let us know below.
08:47I know the video is literally all over the internet, so if you guys wanted to see it, you totally could.
08:52Did you enjoy this video?
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09:08WatchMojo.
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