Jake Paul and RiceGum Gambling Controversy
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Overview
Jake Paul and RiceGum Gambling Controversy refers to an online controversy surrounding popular YouTubers Jake Paul and RiceGum, both of whom posted videos promoting the "real-life" loot box website MysteryBrand. Both YouTubers received heavy criticism for promoting gambling to their predominantly young audiences, while the legitimacy of MysteryBrand was put into question.
Background
On December 30th, 2018, YouTuber Jake Paul posted a promotional video titled "I Spent $5,000 ON MYSTERY BOXES & You WONT Believe WHAT I GOT… (insane)". In the video, the YouTuber promoted "real-life" loot box website MysteryBrand[1] by spending money for a chance to receive a rare item. The video gained 1.6 million views in five days. On December 31st, 2018, YouTuber RiceGum posted a similar video titled "How I Got AirPods For $4", which gained 2.3 million views in four days.
Additionally, through 2018 several other notable YouTubers also posted promotional videos for MysteryBrand, including videos by United Hawaii[2], ConnorTV[3] and ItsYeBoi[4]. Several of these videos have since been unlisted or deleted.
Notable Developments
On January 1st, 2019, YouTuber Keemstar posted a tweet[5] calling out Jake Paul and RiceGum for promoting a gambling site to children. The tweet gained over 7,400 likes within 2 days.
Several news outlets picked up on the story, including articles published by The Daily Dot[6] and Tubefilter[7].
On January 2nd, 2019, YouTube channel h3h3Productions posted a video criticizing Jake Paul and RiceGum for promoting gambling to their predominantly young viewers, as well as questioning the legitimacy of the MysteryBrand.
On the same day, in a Twitter[8] conversation, Jake Paul responded to h3h3productions' Ethan Klein, saying that "he loved this video".
On January 3rd, YouTubers Keemstar and PewDiePie posted videos highlighting the controversy.
On the same day, RiceGum posted a video response to h3h3productions and PewDiePie, apologizing and admitting that "he was in the wrong".
Search Interest
External References
[1] MysteryBrand (via Wayback Machine) – Main Page
[2] YouTube – I SPENT $500 ON HYPEBEAST MYSTERY BOXES AND THIS HAPPENED
[3] YouTube – $2800 Hypebeast Mystery Brand Box – AS SEEN ON PEWDIEPIE, JAKE PAUL, RICE GUM
[4] YouTube – I WON $1500 SHOES FROM THIS MYSTERY BOX!! UNBOXING ONLINE HYPE BEAST MYSTERY BOX
[5] Twitter – Keemstar's Tweet
[6] The Daily Dot – Jake Paul, RiceGum blasted for promoting sketchy AF ‘mystery’ site
[7] Tubefilter – Jake Paul, RiceGum Called Out For Promoting Mystery Box ‘Gambling’ Site To Kids
[8] Twitter – @jakepaul's Tweet
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