Jaystation

About

Jaystation is the online handle of Canadian YouTuber Jason Ethier. Ethier has developed a large following online with sensationalized paranormal-themed videos, particularly his 3 A.M. Challenge and 24 Hour Fort Challenge videos. He has been criticized by viewers and other YouTubers for allegedly lying in his videos, engaging in clickbait, and exploiting recent deaths for his videos.

History

Ethier, born October 17th, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada,^[1] began posting on YouTube under the "Jaystation" channel on June 1st, 2015.^[2] There, he posted mostly 24 Hour Fort Challenge videos, gaining over 510,000 subscribers before he was charged with five counts of trespassing by the police and his entire channel was demonetized (examples shown below).

He launched a second channel on November 24th, 2016, called ImJaystation.^[3] There, he posts mostly 3 A.M. Challenge videos, and has gained over 4.5 million subscribers (examples shown below).

Reputation

On March 26th, 2018, Ethier was arrested by police in Disney World after becoming irate at cops because his bag was missing.^[4] He claimed cops conspired to take his bag from him, and eventually was arrested on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest. He was released on $1,200 bail. The police officer's statement reads:

Mr. Ethier stated to me multiple times he was going to sue me and I was a pion [sic]. He then went on to ask me how much money I made and I couldn’t afford to be sued because I have nothing. He also explained this is why everyone hates American Police. He then told me this was going to come full circle and he is very powerful. I asked him if he was threatening me and he became defensive once again. This verbal barrage would continue for the duration of my time spent with Mr. Ethier. A trespass warning was completed and submitted into evidence. Mr. Ethier[‘s] bag was located and placed into evidence for safekeeping.

On June 11th, 2019, he posted a video claiming his house was invaded and he was beaten up by three attackers (shown below). The legitimacy of the video has been questioned by viewers who have criticized Ethier's work in the past. Keemstar wrote that it was "prob fake like his videos,"^[5] and the story was covered by Dexerto.^[6]

Mac Miller Controversy

On September 8th, 2018, Ethier posted a video in which he claimed to attempt to contact the late Mac Miller, who had died the day prior, via a paranormal contact device known as a "spirit box" (shown below). In the video, the "ghost" of Miller plugs Ethier's merchandise.

The video was widely criticized as an insensitive exploitation of the death for views. YouTuber Adam22 posted a review highly critical of Ethier, gaining over 780,000 views (shown below, left). It was also the subject of a Keemstar "Drama Alert" episode, which also featured the YouTuber being critical of Ethier's video (shown below, right). Ethier's video and the drama it caused were covered by Dexerto.^[7]

Etika Controversy

On June 26th, 2019, the day after YouTube streamer Etika's body was discovered in the East River, Ethier posted a video which featured a thumbnail that made it appear as though he would attempt to contact Etika through a Ouija Board, initially titled "ETIKA OUIJA BOARD 3 AM CHALLENGE (GONE WRONG)". Instead, the video features him talking about how he wouldn't do that, and chided other YouTubers for not donating to mental health causes, saying their videos and tweets about Etika was only for attention. The video was heavily disliked, with over 424,000 dislikes accumulated after one day. Ethier donated $2,500 to Keemstar's GoFundMe benefitting mental health charity Active Minds. On June 26th, penguinz0 posted a video criticizing Ethier's first piece on the Etika situation, particularly how Ethier monetized it through ads, used clickbait, and then he began about Ethier's history. The video gained over 872,000 views (shown below, right).

The following day, Ethier posted a video unlike his others, featuring him taking a serious tone and saying he was deeply affected by the Etika story. He said the ad revenue he gained from the previous video would be going to Active Minds.

Search Interest

External References