- With 20 million subscribers, Jake Paul is one of the most infamous YouTubers of his generation.
- He has leveraged a string of controversies to stay in the public eye, even during his boxing career.
- Paul has been charged with criminal trespassing and accused of sexual abuse, among other scandals.
At 27, Jake Paul is one of the biggest and most notorious names in the influencer industry.
But Paul’s numerous controversies and scandals are what continue to propel the YouTuber to fame and fortune. More than 20 million subscribers tune in to watch his antics, and while he was booted from Disney Channel in 2017, Paul has leveraged his bad reputation to stay relevant.
Now, the creator is making a name for himself in the world of boxing. He’s defeated Nate Robinson, Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva, among others. Paul is set to fight Mike Tyson on Friday in the biggest showdown of his career (and a big test for Netflix’s new live strategy).
Tyson said in a 2020 press conference that content creators like Paul benefit the boxing industry. “Now we got these YouTubers, 20 million subscribers? Boxing is coming back thanks to these YouTube boxers,” Tyson said. “I believe the more anyone boxes, the better it is. Boxing has taken some beatings since the UFC has been around.”
In an interview with Business Insider that same year, Paul said “boxing just sits differently” with him, as opposed to YouTube, acting, and music. “I wake up every day with fire in my belly,” Paul said. “That’s just where the passion, hard work, and dedication comes from.”
Here’s how Paul simultaneously became one of the most popular and most hated YouTubers, starting from his rise to notoriety on the short-form video platform Vine in 2013.
Kat Tenbarge, Rachel E. Greenspan, and Kieran Press-Reynolds contributed to a previous version of this article.
