If you behave badly on YouTube, these people are watching.
the creators of Commentary YouTube are respected and feared across the platform. They established the genre with college-essay-style monologues offering opinions on the controversies of their problematic peers. These videos gather evidence of bad behavior and make judgment calls, and their creators are often the closest thing to the platform’s moral compass (though they, too, have occasionally been the subjects of critique). Here, some of the most popular drama-watchers discuss the moments that put them on the drama-economy map.
CREATOR J Aubrey
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“The TikTok Predator (TheBudday Allegations)” november 2018
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 4,561,468
I started on YouTube when I was 11, making LEGO stop-motion animation. I did that through high school and middle school, and once I got to college, I knew I wasn’t going to have time to animate. But I still wanted to make videos, and I looked at content I liked at the time, which was a lot of commentary channels. I made a video about this guy called TheBudday on TikTok who was under a lot of scrutiny for suspicious, pedophiliac behavior. I went through all the allegations. There were screenshots of what he apparently sent these underage girls, videos on his TikTok where he was duetting with people who were clearly underage. I DM’d some of his alleged victims for more evidence. There was no hard
proof, but I wanted to let people know to be wary of this guy. It’s a balance when you talk about more serious topics like this. You don’t want to be flippant or callous, but you also want to make sure the video is entertaining for the viewer. When you move into allegations that involve real victims, and when there are reputations on the line, I try to present everything as it currently stands and to not mess around with jokes.
CREATOR Tiffanyferg
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“You’re Not Relatable Anymore” november 2019
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 3,530,952
I’ve been making YouTube videos since I was a kid. Back then, I was making vlogs, sketches, and personal videos. When I entered college, in a media-studies program, I was having a bit of a YouTube identity crisis. By 2017, I hadn’t even hit
100,000 subscribers, and I had a lot of friends who had hit a million in a year. I didn’t know what direction I wanted my channel to go in, and I didn’t want to talk about myself anymore. That’s when I discovered that my audience liked my commentary, and I learned I could make videos where I just talk about YouTube.
In my top-viewed video,
I said that as YouTubers become rich and famous, they become increasingly disconnected from the audience. I compared YouTubers who try to stay more down-to-earth in terms of their image with the ones who do a complete 180 and start buying cars and a big mansion. How does Jenna Marbles still seem so relatable when others are so different after they hit it big? I try to not make my videos drama focused, but I use internet drama as a way to talk about larger topics. After that video, within a month or two, I hit 500,000 subscribers. I started to realize the people I talk about might see what I’m saying about them. That makes you second-guess yourself. It’s a fine line to walk.
CREATOR Smokey Glow
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“John Kuckian Is Not a Victim” july 2018
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 83,959
I started on YouTube because I was interested in makeup. That led me to some drama channels that talk about problematic beauty gurus. As
I got deeper into it, I found I also had opinions about those things. I did a video about a guy named John Kuckian who had a drama channel with 350,000 subscribers, and he tried to launch a cosmetics line. It was a joke. He was trying to promote these lipsticks he said were sourced in Europe when they were really from China. I was a fan of his, and I watched him change into this liar. But none of my friends care about YouTube drama, and my fiancé doesn’t care about YouTube drama, so why not talk to the internet about it? The first day, the video got 100 views. I was at my friend’s house and was like, “This is crazy!” Because 100 views was a lot for me. It kept growing from there. I went from 12 to 50,000 subscribers overnight. All of a sudden, I was getting followed by bigger drama channels.
CREATOR Drew Gooden
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“Jake Paul’s Beautiful Disaster of a Live Show” june 2018
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 8,870,748
When you start out on YouTube, it’s easy to make fun of anyone. But I’ve become more cognizant as I’ve grown.
With a big platform, I can’t go after some small YouTuber; it’ll just look like I’m bullying them. But as long as I’m confident in my criticism, I don’t care if I make someone mad. Jake Paul is a fixture on commentary channels—he has become the literal embodiment of someone who wants to entertain at all costs. The video that blew up my channel was when I went to a Jake Paul concert. My other videos were doing like 100,000 views, and that one did 4 million in a month. I was one of the only people to see him live rather than just complain about him online. It was like walking into a different world. Someone like Jake Paul has all these young fans around the world, obviously. But seeing them all in the same place, where they’re screaming their heads off, was so bizarre. The show was at the House of Blues, where I’ve been to see actual bands play, and now this dork from YouTube is rapping onstage. He had his
whole posse there performing songs and doing weird sketches. One of them, Sunny Malouf, has a dad who’s a famous dentist. Halfway through the video, I did a deep dive into their $30 million house. Like, What kind of teeth
is he fixing? That’s my favorite part of any of my videos—doing the research and finding these weird details to throw in.
CREATOR Cherita Explains it All
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“Dear, Smokey Glow (Hannah) … Let’s Talk” 2020
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 63,446
Smokey Glow did a collaboration with a YouTuber named Angelika who had said some racist things in the past. A lot of people were confused because Smokey is very big on social justice and being an ally. She ended up deleting the video. I felt like both of them were wrong, and I think I gave the conversation a little nuance. A lot of people were praising Smokey, and I know she does a lot for marginalized groups, but she rarely collabs with people from those groups. I critiqued her for that. The problem with commentary channels is they often go off their gut reaction. I used to be that person.
I would get outraged before seeing all sides of the story.
CREATOR ItzKeisha
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“Where Is the Diversity on YouTube?” april 2019
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 447,299
I was hesitant to put up this video. I had spoken about race before but wasn’t super-vocal. Of course, when it went up, it got more views than anything I had done within the first hour. I focused on this company that had set up a trip with 30 teenage YouTubers—and only three Black girls. Those girls were talking about how they felt uncomfortable on those trips and how they didn’t have decent sleeping arrangements compared to the other people on them. As a Black viewer, that made me uncomfortable. When I first recorded the video, I was so confident about everything I was saying. But when I started editing it, I got nervous. People knew me for doing tea videos and Shane Dawson–Jeffree
Star commentary. After the video blew up, it felt weird to go back to my usual content.
CREATOR Spill Sesh
BREAKOUT VIDEO
“Olivia Jade Being Rich for 6 Minutes Straight” march 2019
CURRENT VIEW COUNT 3,216,997
I’ve been watching YouTube for so long. I felt like I was always going to try and make videos at some point. At first, I got around 1,000 views a video, which made me think I could potentially do this as a job. But when I really started to see the subscribers roll in was when I was talking about Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade and the college-admissions scandal. I loved Olivia Jade’s content, and I really wanted to go to USC, so I was shocked she cheated her way in. I made a compilation video of all the times when Olivia Jade acted superrich. And, of course, that became my most-liked video of all time. All of a sudden, I had this audience, and I started making videos constantly. Before I wasn’t on a strict schedule, but afterward I was like, I need to have a new video out every week.