TOGETHER WITH

It's only Tuesday, but Airrack’s New Years resolution has already come true. The YouTuber set a Guinness World Record on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve by visiting 100+ pizza joints in just 24 hours.

ON THE CASE 🔎

Did Revolt cheat creators out of hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Coffeezilla’s latest exposé is bad news for Revolt, a major merch company that has released multi-million-dollar drops with stars like MrBeast, Valkyrae, Tubbo, Corpse Husband, Anthony Padilla, MrBallen, and Nihachu.

The allegations: Several months ago, Coffeezilla received off-the-record tips that creators who’d partnered with Revolt were being paid late—or not at all.

• Twitch streamer/Dream SMP member Nihachu told Coffeezilla that Revolt owes her $300,000 for a 2022 drop.
  
  

• Five people have also come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct and/or assault against Ryan Piasente, who leads Revolt and manages the YouTube group Misfits.

The motive: Financial records appear to show Piasente’s extravagant spending habits, which he allegedly supported by pulling from Revolt’s coffers—a method that forced the merch company to adopt a “Ponzi-ish” business structure.

• According to Coffeezilla, Revolt would do a merch deal with one creator, Piasente would (allegedly) spend a chunk of the resulting sales money, and the company would then team up with another creator in order to earn enough funds to pay its previous partner.

The breaking point: Each subsequent merch deal continued the cycle—until sales slowed to the point that Revolt couldn’t fully compensate one of its most famous partners: MrBeast.

• To make up the difference, the company allegedly altered invoices from its Chinese factory to charge MrBeast (and possibly other creators) more per product.

The full story: Those allegations are only the beginning. Check out our full article here (or watch Coffeezilla’s exposé) to discover the screenshots, interviews, and receipts behind the YouTuber’s big investigation.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Spotter is investing $1 billion in the world’s top YouTubers. They’ve already paid out $850 million and counting.

Find funding for your next major business move—without sacrificing your creative freedom. As a leading creator company since 2019, Spotter has already paid out more than $850 million in immediate funding to more than 1,100 channel partners. Here’s how it works:

Upfront Funds + Total Creative Control
When you partner with Spotter, you’ll receive funding immediately—meaning you could start revolutionizing your channel in a matter of days.

Everything You Need to Grow Your Brand
With deals ranging from $100,000 to $50 million, the possibilities are endless. Here’s how top creators like MissDarcei and Airrack have spent their Spotter funds: 

Exclusive YouTube Insights & Optimization Resources
Spotter understands that creating a world-changing catalog requires more than just capital. That’s why their team of optimization experts provides invaluable performance insights to better inform creators’ content strategy.

Visit Spotter’s website today to discover what your deal could look like.

Fund your future with Spotter → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Kai Cenat totaled 109 million hours of watch time in 2023, making him Twitch’s top streamer of the year. (Tubefilter)
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• YouTube’s viewership share among 2-to-11-year-olds in the U.S. rose from 29.4% to 33% between September 2021 and September 2023. (Tubefilter)
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• Spotify’s platform now includes 100,000 video podcasts, with comedy shows accounting for 27.55% of all video podcast listening/viewing time. (Tubefilter)
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• The Twitch community has found creative ways to keep the “topless meta” alive despite the platform’s decision to reverse its easy-going “artistic nudity” policy. (Tubefilter)

SURVEY SAYS

By the stats: Gen Z trusts YouTube a whole lot more than other platforms

A recent survey from Business Insider and YouGov has yielded some surprising insights into Gen Z’s perspectives on social media. The study included a sample of 1,800 Americans, more than one-third of who were Gen Z.

“Trustworthy” vs. “Untrustworthy”: Among other questions, Business Insider and YouGov’s survey asked respondents to rate social platforms as “very trustworthy,” “trustworthy,” or “untrustworthy.”

• According to that study, 59% of respondents born between 1997 and 2012 called YouTube “trustworthy” or “very trustworthy.”
  
  

• In comparison, 40% of Gen Z respondents reported trusting Instagram.
  
  

• Only 30% of that group granted TikTok a trustworthy rating.
  
  

• Even fewer Gen Zers—a measly 28%—showed confidence in Facebook.

The final outcome: YouTube earned the trust of the highest percentage of Gen Z respondents, while TikTok and Facebook ranked as the least trustworthy platforms among the same age group.

• In other words: YouTube’s bulked-up trust and safety measures seem to be paying off—but TikTok’s own efforts to prioritize U.S. data security may not be enough to satisfy young American users.

WATCH THIS 📺

Meet Logan LeDouche: Logan Paul’s South Park doppelganger

South Park spares no man. The show’s latest Paramount+ special took aim at YouTuber Logan Paul by introducing viewers to Logan LeDouche, an animated vlogger intent on selling “his favorite hydration drink”—aka “Cred”—to kids.

Paul’s response: The Prime co-founder didn’t miss a beat before uploading a shot-for-shot remake of LeDouche’s Cred-fueled marketing campaign. Check it out here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.