Overview

#MakeYoutubePositiveAgain is the hashtag associated with an ongoing feud between YouTube prankster FouseyTUBE and several well-known YouTube commentators, most notably Scarce, LeafyIsHere, DramaAlert, and Philip DeFranco over the recent string of highly publicized hostile exchanges among content producers on the video-sharing platform and its effects on the community at large.

Background

RiceGum (real name Bryan Le) is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer known for his This Kid Must Be Stopped series, in which he roasts adolescents, most often users of the site Musical.ly. He is also known for making diss tracks towards others, specifically internet celebrities like himself. RiceGum and Fousey first collaborated in a video for the Roast Yourself Challenge on June 19th, 2016, in which Fousey performs a diss track on himself.

On July 11th, 2016, Ricegum tweeted "I hate when people act nice to collab but find out they talk shit about me"^[1] Fousey then responded "if you're really gonna take this to twitter you might as well @ me. don't be a suckaaaaa."^[2] The two traded insults back and forth until Ricegum challenged Fousey to a fight with the tweet "@fouseyTUBE come outside your apartment".^[3]

The apparent tension between the two culminated in a video which purportedly shows Ricegum punching Fousey in the face, which was shared online by Fousey via his twitter account.

In the following days, the feud between Ricegum and Fousey was discussed by several influential YouTube news channels, including Scarce, Philip DeFranco, DramaAlert and ThePrankReviewer (shown below, clockwise from top left).

Fousey Attacking "Drama Channels"

On July 12th, Fousey uploaded a video titled "Why RiceGum Punched Me… EXPOSED!" in which he stated that the "fight" was a publicity stunt to point out that there was an increasing amount of negativity on Youtube. He stated that "now there's a problem on YouTube. The YouTube audience is gravitated towards drama." and called out "drama channels", stating that they cause misfortune and are bad for the community, specifically calling out Philip DeFranco, Scarce, and Keemstar.

On July 13th, Fousey released a video on his secondary channel DOSEofFOUSEY a video titled "#MakeYoutubePositiveAgain" (a play on GradeAUnderA's "#MakeYoutubeGreatAgain", which itself is a play on Donald Trump's official campaign slogan Make America Great Again) in which he repeated his previous sentiments.(video has since been taken down)

Response

FouseyTUBE's campaign has been met with harsh criticism from the YouTube community. Scarce defended himself by talking about how he always tried to get the perspectives of those involved in the stories he reports before posting videos, ensuring that he is fair to those he reports on. Keemstar attacked FouseyTUBE and pointed out that Fousey was a known liar and is infamous on the YouTube community for faking his pranks. LeafyIsHere called Fousey a hypocrite, arguing that Fousey making the video in the first place was only helping make more drama. Philip DeFranco responded by stating his indifference to the whole situation and went into detail about the fakeness of YouTube pranksters.

Fousey has received criticism on Twitter as well. On June 14th KSI Tweeted "Fousey is taking the L in this. As a friend,he's cool, but personally I feel he's not making the right decisions atm".^[7] That same day Rob Dyke Tweeted "The last thing YouTube needs right now is some fraud who profits off of controversy and fake violence speaking out against negativity."^[8]

Fousey's Tweet

On July 14th, Fousey recieved a tweet asking him how it felt like to be "the most hated man on the internet right now" Yousuf responded with "Prophet Mohammed. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Ghandi. Tupac Amaru Shakur."(below, left). The tweet recieved criticism with many calling Yousef egotistical and delusional for comparing himself to them.^[4] Jack Douglass Tweeted that day: "A youtuber on twitter just compared himself to MLK, Tupac, Gandhi, and Muhammad. All in 1 tweet. Who Says YouTubers have big egos?"(below, right). FouseyTUBE responded stating that "that's not what i said in the slightest baby. i was inferring they all were hated by MILLIONS yet still made an impact."^[9]

Fousey defended his tweet the next day in a video titled "I COMPARED MYSELF TO MARTIN LUTHER KING JR!?" in which he explained that he felt that he was in a similar situation to those he mentioned in his tweet as the historical figures he mentioned were themselves hated for speaking out for what they felt was right. He did maintain that he felt that he was the Tupac of YouTube though. Yousef also declared that he would respond to all his criticism in a video on Sunday(July 17th)

Fousey Declares Drama Over (Efrain Ortiz's Cancer)

On June 17th Yousef declared that he has quit YouTube Drama. He explained that while he was looking through his emails he learned about a fan of his who had cancer, and when learning about his situation, immediately flew over to meet him at the hospital. He stated in the video "Here I am thinking on big and mighty fighting this big battle about youtube drama when there is a twelve-year-old fighting a real battle a battle to live a battle to stay by his family side and a battle to fight for his happiness…". On Twitter he as well declared that he was done with YouTube drama as a whole.

Response

Yousef's video gained mixed responses from fellow Youtubers. Youtubers like Tyblue(top left) and Scarce(top right) commended Yousef's actions, complimenting the fact that Yousef took the time to bring attention to Efrain's situation. LeafyIsHere(bottom left), on the other hand, accused FouseyTUBE of maniupulating his audience into absolving him of blame for the entire controversy, and exploiting Ortiz's cancer as a shield for his own reputation. Leafy also criticized Yousef's comparison of himself to Tupac, stating that it was a prime example of Yousef's overinflated ego. Keemstar, ColossalIsCrazy, and Tommy C shared similar sentiments(bottom right), believing that FouseyTUBE had effectively positioned himself using the cancer patient in a way that would make it difficult to criticize him. Keemstar went as far as to call the general YouTube community stupid for being so easily played by Yousef's facade.

Search Interest

External References