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First comes fame, then the cryptocurrency — then the lawsuit.

Haliey Welch, a Tennessee native who was launched to internet stardom this summer thanks to a street interview in which she pantomimed spitting during oral sex (thus earning the onomatopoeiec nickname “Hawk Tuah Girl“), managed the rare feat of remaining in the spotlight for months after her viral breakout. She founded an animal charity, racked up millions of social media followers, went to the top of the charts with her podcast Talk Tuah, and even threw out the opening pitch at a Mets game.

Since becoming a viral star this summer thanks to a street interview in which she charmingly imparted graphic sex advice, Haliey Welch, a.k.a. “Hawk Tuah Girl,” has launched a podcast and an animal charity, carving out a pleasant niche for herself as an influencer. Being more online, of course, has allowed her to sustain and profit from her fame, though it has also led to some curious endorsements — Welch regularly touts the greatness of X (formerly Twitter), its owner, Elon Musk, and Tesla‘s troubled Cybertruck, to take a handful of interrelated examples.

It’s been a rough few months on the MrBeast front. YouTube‘s most-watched content creator has faced numerous allegations against himself and his businesses, including that contestants on his Amazon show Beast Games were mistreated, that he faked giveaways and charitable contributions, that his company has a history of workplace harassment and overworking employees, that slave labor is used to produce his chocolate brand Feastables, that he participated in crypto insider trading, and that the food safety standards for Lunchly, the Lunchables competitor he founded with Logan Paul and Ksi, are low because mold was found in some of the meals.

MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) publicly addressed allegations against former friend/employee Ava Kris Tyson in July, and in a couple instances his team has issued statements defending him, but other than that, he’s remained largely silent about claims—including those from DogPack404, another former employee who’s...

Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.

We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.

And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.

There’s demons everywhere in this week’s Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report, and by that we mean there’s Sam and Colby locked in a haunted asylum (that may or may not have a demon in it), but there’s also working out (ugh) and some truly incredible The Mask-level makeup jobs in the latest episode of Kill Tony, where faux Trump and...

The fallout from the CryptoZoo Nft debacle has spilled into the court of law. The brand’s co-founder Logan Paul has sued commentary creator Coffeezilla (real name Stephen Findeisen), who allegedly defamed Paul in videos related to CryptoZoo.

In 2021, Paul announced CryptoZoo, a project that provided buyers with individualized “eggs” in exchange for Ethereum (Eth) cryptocurrency. The idea was that the eggs would “hatch” into creatures that would rise or fall in value depending on their characteristics, but the gamified aspect of CryptoZoo never materialized. Eventually, Paul agreed to pay $2.3 million to buy back CryptoZoo purchases from aggrieved customers.

Findeisen, who is one of YouTube’s foremost cultural commentators, has uploaded at least six different videos related to CryptoZoo. Early on in the project’s lifespan, Findeisen described Paul as a scammer who was pulling a fast one on his fans. Eventually, Paul apologized to the man known as Coffeezilla,...

Revolt, a merch company that has released drops with creators like MrBeast, Valkyrae, Tubbo, Corpse Husband, Anthony Padilla, and Nihachu, has been accused of running a “Ponzi-ish” scheme that’s left it owing significant amounts of money to an unknown number of creators. And its head, Ryan Piasente–who also manages the well-known YouTube group Misfits–is facing accusations of sexual assault and misusing money from Revolt’s company coffer.

This all comes from an exposé by Coffeezilla, who’s been looking into Revolt and Piasente for several months after receiving off-the-record tips that creators who’d partnered with Revolt were not being paid, or were being paid late, for merch that had been sold.

Revolt launched in 2019, and by 2021, had become a major business. That year, it sold $20 million worth of merch in just five drops, according to inside information Coffeezilla was able to access. The creator partners for...

One year after putting MrBeast on the cover of its inaugural Creator Issue, Rolling Stone has given Emma Chamberlain her close-up. Chamberlain is the star of the second-annual Creator Issue, which arrived on April 18.

Rolling Stone profiled Chamberlain for a Creator Issue cover story that tracks the winding career path the erstwhile teen vlogger has taken. The piece characterizes Chamberlain — who now hosts the podcast Anything Goes and releases easygoing travel vlogs on her YouTube channel — as an unpredictable figure who is willing to go off-script in search of artistic fulfillment. “They gave me a script, but I don’t do scripts,” Chamberlain said before presenting at an event hosted by Spotify. “I do so much better off the cuff.”

Just as MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) was the perfect choice for the first Creator Issue cover story, Chamberlain is the right person to take Rolling Stone‘s annual tradition into its second year.