Trisha Paytas: The Controversial YouTuber’s Harmful Behaviors and Questionable Decisions
With over 5 million YouTube subscribers and an estimated net worth hovering near $10 million, internet personality Trisha Paytas has accumulated immense fame and fortune through outrageous behavior. However, Paytas’ notoriety stems not from any admirable talents or contributions, but rather a continual pattern of harmful lies, offensive content, and deceitful scams that call into question their responsibility as an influencer.
A Storied History of Lies and Manipulation
Paytas first gained viral attention in the late 2000s through provocative modeling photos and appearances on reality television shows like Who Wants to Be a Superhero?. At the time, Paytas propagated multiple false backstories about their origins, variously claiming over years of public interviews to have been born into an impoverished family of Hungarian refugees or a wealthy Californian family.
According to entertainment writer Jess Joho’s research published in The Daily Dot, “Lying wasn’t just something [Paytas] did for fame and fortune back then. It was almost like an addiction.” Paytas appeared incapable of honesty, fabricating obviously unrealistic stories on camera about working as an exotic dancer for David Hasselhoff, dating celebrities like pop singer Aaron Carter, or even being engaged to famous rapper Roger from the group Lords of the Underground.
When confronted with evidence disproving such easily falsifiable claims, Paytas doubled down rather than take accountability, persistently trying to salvage bits of their lies with intricate embellishments. They constructed elaborate fictional narratives that close friends were ready to publicly corroborate.
This chronic deception laid the foundation for Paytas’ future social media success. As YouTuber Cruel World Happy Mind explains in their video essay titled “Trisha Paytas: From Internet Liar to Downfall (and beyond…)” which chronicles Paytas’ deceptions, “People were just so shocked at the types of lies that she would say that it drew attention to her.” Paytas discovered an audience willing to tune in just to witness the chaos of an increasingly unhinged internet trainwreck earning money and notoriety through nonsensical scandals.
And over the years, the lies and thirst for dramatic attention only escalated in scale and vitriol. In late 2022, Paytas made the unevidenced claim that pop icon Beyoncé stole their audio for her hit album Renaissance, threatening possible legal action. When fans rightfully critiqued such an absurd accusation against the beloved cultural icon, Paytas dug in their heels, hazarding their reputation in a bewildering attack almost designed to turn public sentiment against them.
For over a decade now, Paytas has continually catapulted themselves into headlines through similar attention-seeking controversies rooted in deception, with few signs of slowing even after increased consequences. they appear addicted not only to provocation for its own sake, but the power of fabricating their own reality with a mass following hanging on their every claim and move.
Racist Content, Offensive Remarks, and Bizarre Behavior
Beyond mere lies for attention, Paytas actively spreads harm by mocking oppressed identities and making dehumanizing remarks toward marginalized communities. Despite having no personal transgender experience, Paytas has repeatedly donned exaggerated, stereotypical caricatures of trans and non-binary appearances for exploitative sketches and music videos.
Disability advocate and commentator Jessie Gender critiques Paytas’ approach of appropriation without context: “She leverages social capital off of the backs of minorities” by thoughtlessly mocking gender transitions that carry heavy trauma for many. In one music video titled “LGBTQIA+,” Paytas trivializes pronouns by flippantly switching between he/him and she/her based on hair or clothing, promoting a dangerous trivialization of the discrimination trans individuals face daily while fighting to establish basic dignity and rights.
Alongside trans identities, Paytas has also faced backlash for racist commentary, including exoticizing Black men as sexual conquests and utilizing predatory analogies comparing their dating life preferences to slave ownership. After trivializing coming out videos from gay YouTube star Joey Graceffa, Paytas offered a tepid apology while failing to recognize their power in spreading lasting harm through such insensitive portrayals.
Beyond caricatures of marginalized groups, Paytas exhibits little basic concern for the well-being of others in their obsessive quest for drama and attention. In the aftermath of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s tragic 2018 suicide, Paytas provoked outrage by spreading evidence-free conspiracy theories questioning the circumstances around his death. Paytas demonstrated no hesitation in leveraging even sensitive tragedies as opportunities to place themselves at the center of concocted controversies.
Paytas’ videos additionally promote life-threatening behaviors like crash dieting, while radiating an unsettling manic energy that carries disturbing implications regarding their mental health. As Joho assessed in their Dot article analysis of the boundary-crossing YouTuber, “Watching older videos is like watching a cry for help that starts out subtle before turning into a full-throated scream.”
Luxury Lifestyle Built Through Manipulating Fans
Despite this long history of lies, harassment, stolen content, and socially irresponsible scandals, Paytas has faced little accountability. While the broader YouTube community levels sharp criticism against Paytas’ continual offenses, the attention only augments their notoriety and income. Through masterful clickbait outrage techniques, Paytas amplifies online furor over their actions into massive profits.
Paytas currently enjoys an extravagant lifestyle with pricey homes, designer clothes, and luxury cars. Their net worth allegedly hovers around $10 million by some estimations, funded in large part through outrageously priced products pushed onto vulnerable fans. Paytas sells signed water bottles for $100 each, basic graphic t-shirts for $45, bathrobes at $80, and exclusive OnlyFans-style subscription fan services unlocking additional video content for up to $500 a month per subscriber.
According to SocialBlade statistics, Paytas earns between $297K – $4.8 million yearly from their core YouTube channel alone. Combined with secondary income streams preying on loyal followers, Paytas likely brings in upwards of $800,000 monthly as their controversies successfully drive clicks, shares and revenue. Superfans provide Paytas‘ primary financial lifeline, supporting what Joho describes as a “delusional, dangerous polymath millionaire” despite the trail of damage left by their idol’s deceit.
Beyond direct sales to fans, Paytas earns huge payouts from shared profits on the popular Frenemies podcast run alongside YouTuber Ethan Klein‘s massively popular H3H3 Productions channel. Despite frequent volatile conflicts, this lucrative partnership with Klein enabled continued revenue for Paytas even amidst repeated offenses, with Klein only reluctantly severing ties after particularly vitriolic abuse toward production staff.
Recklessness and Irresponsibility as an Influencer
Paytas’ career raises profoundly troubling questions regarding the power dynamics between internet celebrities and fans eager for connection through the illusion of friendship. With impressionable followers numbering in the millions, Paytas holds tremendous influence but repeatedly utilizes this platform to model alarming behaviors.
Paytas carelessly offers diet and nutrition guidance to subscribers despite no expertise in this complex wellness arena intersecting with body image, disordered eating patterns, and mental health. Their nutritional advice frequently contradicts established medical consensus, like falsely insisting drinking artificially-sweetened Diet Coke suppresses appetite as effectively as water.
Beyond directly offering misguided health assertions, Paytas more broadly models deeply unhealthy fixations on weight, appearance, and desirability that impressionable young viewers may internalize through strong parasocial bonds with Paytas‘ online persona. They center thinness and conventional beauty standards as prerequisites to confidence and success.
Further reflecting a lack of responsibility to their platform’s reach, Paytas breeds distrust and doubt regarding facts and evidence-based knowledge. In tweets denying established scientific consensus on climate change, Paytas revealed an egocentric worldview hyper-focused on their personal experiences over demonstrable data. Such flippant disregard for truth and the greater good indicates Paytas feels little obligation to wield their influence for positive impact.
Substance Abuse and Uncertainty Surrounding Mental Health
While mental illness does not excuse harm against others, Paytas’ extreme behaviors signal genuine struggles with addiction and potentially undiagnosed psychiatric conditions. Paytas has acknowledged issues with substance abuse that may contribute to erratic public meltdowns, including alcohol and cocaine dependencies picked up during their time as a Hollywood club promoter.
However, the veracity of Paytas’ purported diagnoses on various severe mental health disorders remains questionable given their established record of dishonesty to gain sympathy or excuses when held accountable. Over the years, Paytas has haphazardly self-identified at different points as living with bipolar disorder, autism, dissociative identity disorder, schizophrenia, and more − alarmingly extreme conditions to self-assign without professional evaluation.
Nonetheless, director Shane Dawson concluded from his months-long investigative documentary series with Paytas that behind the drama, “Trisha honestly seems like she’s really hurting inside and puts on this character to hide her problems.” Paytas references trauma from past sexual assault and family instability that may contribute to current fragility and desire for control. However, only sincere efforts toward healing guided by mental health professionals could pave a path to personal and public accountability.
The Responsibility of Platforms in Response to Harm
While individuals must take responsibility for their actions, platforms designed to maximize engagement share culpability in profiting off harmful content. YouTube in particular has faced criticism for an “engagement-based free speech absolutism” approach allowing misinformation, manipulation, and harassment to spread unchecked if generating advertising views.
And though YouTube has barred Paytas from advertising revenue opportunities for violating community guidelines against hate speech and harassment, the company continues hosting and thus implicitly endorsing their channel. By showcasing Paytas’ videos, YouTube’s algorithm actively promotes bigoted viewpoints and normalizes flagrant abuses of power over marginalized groups.
However, as sociologist Zeynep Tufekci argues, “platforms like YouTube have a far greater responsibility than they’ve owned up to so far to protect a healthy public sphere.” Just as regulations forbid false medical claims or defamation on billboards or TV infomercials, YouTube must address the unique policy challenges of digital spaces, evolving ethical codes to ensure content aligns with social good rather than solely chasing engagement metrics.
As disability advocate Jessie Gender concludes, “When people‘s lives are demonstrably made worse off by your speech, the right answer cannot be just ‘ignore it’… Ignoring hatred does not make it go away — it makes it normal.” Controversies like Paytas’ can serve as urgent calls motivating reflection on the duties guiding powerful new media platforms in an age when technology increasingly impacts real lives.
Until stronger guardrails emerge to curb online harassment and manipulation, the only recourse lies with audiences, brands, collaborators and followers collectively withdrawing tacit support through blocked views, closed wallets, and refusal to validate those who build careers on deception. For past harm may remain out of our control, but present awareness empowers us to reshape what comes next by altering the incentive structures funding figures like Paytas.
The Foibles of a Flawed Species
As an avid gamer frequently immersed in creative fictional realms, I hold complex perspectives on the nuances behind Paytas’ behavior indicative of broader humanity. Like the best video game antiheroes, Paytas compellingly embodies the egoistic delusions we all wrestle with to varying degrees when avoiding inner truth.
Paytas built an empire through masterfully exploiting the human attraction to drama, controversy and distraction from quiet self-work. They hustled an image hyper-fixated on elevating narrow conventional markers of beauty and desirability that most struggle under, promising the illusion of control in return for cash. Paytas profits off universal vulnerabilities without yet healing their own, or recognizing ripple effects.
Yet we all exist on spectrums between selfishness and compassion. If Paytas moves to sincerely address root wounds motivating manipulation, paths to restoration remain open through accountability and courage to transform poison into medicine for the communities harmed. Though they may stand out as a prominent microcosm for an influencer culture stripped of conscience and compassion, through bravely claiming responsibility where platforms refuse, we lightsouteach trailblaze in pushing systems toward humanity, purpose and care.