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The internet never forgets, especially when content creators get caught in a lie! Join us as we explore the most infamous moments when YouTubers were exposed for creating deceptive or completely fabricated content. From fake kidnappings and AI trailers to staged romances and paranormal hoaxes, these creators learned the hard way that authenticity matters!
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00:00It's just crazy that we did that in 2015 and now being 2024, it's like nine years later this is
00:05following us. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most infamous
00:10times when popular YouTubers and channels were found to have created deceptive or outright fake
00:15content. So now is the time we're gonna set up the Miji board guys, I am so freaking scared to do that.
00:23Number 10, AI trailer channels. While many might have dreamed of AI being used to simplify life
00:29and take over monotonous tasks, instead, it played a role in muddying the film industry.
00:34I can't come home yet.
00:37Nothing's been the same. Several YouTube channels began using generative AI to create film trailers.
00:42However, while some were clearly fake, others weren't, which led to the audience's confusion,
00:48especially when releasing trailers for movies confirmed to be coming out.
00:51The problem is that the world is too small. Two of the biggest channels in achieving this
00:58were Screen Culture and KH Studios. The former created deceptive trailers for the Fantastic Four
01:03First Steps, some of which got more views than the official ones. After the backlash led to these
01:08types of AI channels being demonetized on YouTube, the platform took further steps in 2025 by banning
01:14screen culture, NKH Studios.
01:16I just want to remind you.
01:30That I never miss.
01:31Number 9, Jordan Cheyenne.
01:34Pretty much every YouTube channel has done an editing oopsie at some point, yet perhaps not quite as
01:38catastrophic as Cheyenne's error in 2021.
01:43That year, the family vlogger uploaded a video of herself and her son in a car. Sadly,
01:49they were talking about the health issues of their dog. However, Cheyenne left in a segment
01:53where she coached her son on how to act sad, bringing anger from him as he was genuinely crying.
01:58I am absolutely, genuinely horrified and disgusted with myself that I got to a place where I made
02:04Christian pose with me for a thumbnail in such an emotional moment rather than prioritizing his
02:09mental health.
02:09The backlash was massive, causing Cheyenne to not only delete the video, but also the channel
02:14and her Instagram account. Cheyenne attempted a brief return in 2022 before vanishing again until
02:192025 by pivoting to helping folk manifest their dreams.
02:23We're talking about the importance of being delusional and having such an internal faith in
02:27yourself in order to manifest anything that you want in this life.
02:31Number 8, Brian Arnett.
02:33On Easter Sunday in 2025, In-N-Out Burger closed its restaurants in Los Angeles, California.
02:38However, seemingly, one employee was working across several sites. Dressed in the brand's uniform,
02:44Arnett set up a practical joke where he served customers but made In-N-Out look bad.
02:48This included claiming there was a cockroach infestation in the food,
02:51offering customers adult activities, and stating a manager had put their feet in the lettuce.
02:56For those unfamiliar with Arnett's antics, they may have believed it to be real and were
03:00concerned about In-N-Out's decline. So, the chain sued Arnett for impersonating them and for
03:05potentially damaging their business. In response, Arnett deleted the video from YouTube and from his
03:10other platforms.
03:12Number 7, Mo Sargi.
03:14Rising to fame with his paranormal videos inside abandoned buildings, all that goodwill Sargi
03:18had raised, was severely damaged in 2018, when he uploaded one of his videos.
03:23Today I'm giving you guys a really creepy and cool and really scary Halloween special.
03:28It's nearly 3 o'clock in the morning. I'm at this really scary haunted location.
03:33However, rather than his usual spirit shenanigans, Sargi's included an incident of him admonishing
03:38a friend for opening a door too early to make it spooky.
03:41No, you're too early. When I say mental asylum, do it.
03:47The video was quickly deleted, but the channel Preserving Number 1 re-uploaded the content.
03:52As outrage mounted, Sargi claimed he'd been hacked. This led to allegations that Sargi had
03:57been forced to release the video by a group called Project Zorgo.
04:00If you believe YouTube has become too powerful, we want you to join us.
04:05However, this is one of the villainous organizations in the fictional YouTube series,
04:09Spy Ninjas, causing fans to wonder if this was all a joke or Sargi covering himself.
04:15Number 6. Cash Jordan
04:16Jordan was once a prominent real estate broker on YouTube,
04:20with his work even being covered by mainstream news channels.
04:22I started doing real estate in 2008. I actually moved here to be an accountant of all things,
04:27and I needed a career change, and this was the change.
04:32However, he eventually shifted his content from resonance exploration to right-wing topics.
04:36Many critics pointed out the possibility of Jordan using clickbait titles and generative AI thumbnails.
04:42As you're about to see, there's now a massive effort underway to cover all of this up and defend it!
04:48Well, in 2025, the investigative fact-checker Team Snopes examined one of his videos titled
04:53Migrants Ambushed US Marines Get Supported Instantly.
04:57They found that not only was the title misleading and the thumbnail AI made,
05:01but Snopes found no evidence that the story even happened.
05:04As such, this called into question the authenticity of Jordan's other videos, or whether they're all fake.
05:09But what do you think? I'll see you in the next video.
05:12Number 5. True Crime Case Files
05:15If there's one thing that a majority of the internet can't get enough of, it's true crime.
05:19Welcome to True Crime Case Files, where we dive deep into the most shocking and perplexing crimes.
05:25Yet when watching those videos on YouTube, you'd expect the information to be authentic.
05:29So, with a channel named True Crime Case Files, the audience couldn't be safer, right?
05:34Nope.
05:35Wendy's alibi was quickly verified, as she had been at work at the time of the murder.
05:40Next, the police began canvassing the neighborhood.
05:43The channel covered tales that, while strange and absurd, concerned viewers so much that they were outraged mainstream media hadn't covered them,
05:50causing people to contact journalists.
05:52However, when the reporters investigated, they found the crimes were fake.
05:56The creator of the channel confirmed that AI was used to partly write the script, and the names were all fake.
06:01He compared his work to being an art form.
06:03YouTube didn't agree, as it terminated the channel in 2025.
06:07It's a tale of manipulation, deceit, and the devastating consequences of living a double life.
06:12Number 4. Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul
06:15Jake and I aren't officially exclusive.
06:17So for me, I guess we would just take the openness from our relationship into the openness of marriage, right?
06:24I mean, I don't know. I think we're all trying to piece together the puzzles of what we actually want this engagement and marriage to be.
06:32In 2019, one of the biggest influencer romances of the year took place, as Mongeau and Paul got together.
06:38Shortly after, they were engaged, and the wedding took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, three months after becoming public.
06:43However, it soon emerged that the duo didn't have a marriage license, making the ceremony non-legally binding, leading to allegations that not all was what it seemed.
06:52We both are, like, on an unspoken premise of, like, it's like a Kim Kardashian, like, 72-day marriage, like...
06:59Well, on her TV show, MTV No Filter, Tana Mongeau, the influencer admitted to the truth.
07:05Not only did Mongeau confirm that the wedding was a publicity stunt, but she also stated she and Paul weren't even exclusively dating.
07:11Yet despite that, it wasn't until 2020 when Mongeau and Paul announced their breakup.
07:15If there were no cameras, would there have been a wedding? No. You know what I mean? Like, that was a PR stunt.
07:19Number 3. Goodnight Chicken.
07:22Chen Nen Chuan, under the name Goodnight Chicken, found success on YouTube as a paranormal explorer with his videos and live streams.
07:30However, in 2024, disaster struck when the Taiwanese influencer went to Cambodia with fellow creator Lu Xiu-Hisun.
07:37During a stream, Chen claimed he'd infiltrated a scam center before he was chased and attacked as the video cuts out.
07:44Streamer Chen Nen Chuan, known online as Goodnight Chips, claimed he'd broken into the headquarters of a scamming ring, only to be caught and tortured.
07:53He then stated that he and Lu had been kidnapped by criminals.
07:56While viewers and the Cambodian authorities called for an investigation into the shocking crime,
08:00it soon emerged that Chen and Lu were fine and in a hotel, resulting in their arrest.
08:05Within days, the duo was sentenced to two years in jail for their fake kidnapping and banned from Cambodia after their release.
08:11I think Cambodia has a priority on maintaining its reputation for tourism and avoiding this perception of the country as scam-ridden or just allowing it to be scammed and kidnappings.
08:20And that's why there is such a strong response.
08:22Number 2. JayStation.
08:24In 2020, Jason Ethier, better known under the JayStation moniker, released a shocking video.
08:30We're gonna say our last goodbyes to Alexia.
08:33He stated that his partner, Alexia Murano, had perished in a car accident.
08:38Yet in the same video, Ethier's behavior began ringing the bell of doubt.
08:42After all, he plugged his second channel in merchandise.
08:45Yet, Ethier continued releasing content about Murano, including attempting to contact her with a Ouija board.
08:51As concerns that this was a stunt grew, Ethier admitted to the hoax.
08:54Alexia was never dead at all.
09:01Let me tell you guys exactly what happened with all these my girlfriend's dead videos.
09:07Because right now, it's gonna be a very truthful story.
09:10Shortly after, Murano broke up with Ethier and got him charged with assault before briefly getting back together.
09:15Due to Ethier's account being demonetized, he tried to skirt the restriction with the second channel, resulting in both being terminated by YouTube in 2021.
09:22Every time something good happens in my life, it's always, like, taken away from me.
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09:44Number 1. The Best Friend Practical Joke
09:47There comes a point in the majority of practical joke channels when they go too far.
09:51For Sam Pepper, that was in 2015.
09:54Today, I'm filming a crazy prank.
09:56I met these two Viners a couple of weeks ago, and I've arranged to meet them to talk about filming a video with them.
10:01He depicted a stunt where he kidnapped Sam Goldbach and Colby Brock before killing the latter in front of Goldbach.
10:08The video caused massive outrage from viewers as they deemed it traumatic for Goldbach, who appeared not to be in on the shenanigans.
10:14However, he was.
10:15Some of our good friends that don't even believe that they're like, no, you can't lie to me, like, that wasn't acting, you actually got traumatized.
10:24As confirmed on the iced coffee hour in 2024, they were both in on the so-called joke, as Goldbach rehearsed crying before shooting the scene.
10:32At the time of the initial scandal, the backlash, which included a petition to have Pepper banned from YouTube, caused the influencer to rebrand, where controversy continued to follow him.
10:41This is so gangster, look how low it is to the floor.
10:44Are there any other examples of YouTubers faking content for views?
10:48Let us know in the comments.
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