ImJayStation: Difference between revisions
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However, just two months later, Ethier returned to YouTube in a video with his former girlfriend Marano on their joint channel Dream Team, the two claiming to have resolved their differences.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Margot |title=Infamous YouTuber JayStation reunited with his ex-girlfriend months after faking her death and quitting YouTube |url=https://www.insider.com/jaystation-reunites-with-ex-after-death-hoax-and-arrest-2020-4 |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=Insider |date=5 April 2020}}</ref> Later in the year, the Dream Team channel was wiped of all its content save for one video due to Marano breaking up with Ethier again. Ethier took over the account and restructured it into his second channel, titled "666", in which he mostly released reaction and gameplay content. |
However, just two months later, Ethier returned to YouTube in a video with his former girlfriend Marano on their joint channel Dream Team, the two claiming to have resolved their differences.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Margot |title=Infamous YouTuber JayStation reunited with his ex-girlfriend months after faking her death and quitting YouTube |url=https://www.insider.com/jaystation-reunites-with-ex-after-death-hoax-and-arrest-2020-4 |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=Insider |date=5 April 2020}}</ref> Later in the year, the Dream Team channel was wiped of all its content save for one video due to Marano breaking up with Ethier again. Ethier took over the account and restructured it into his second channel, titled "666", in which he mostly released reaction and gameplay content. |
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On March 12, 2021, his channel ImJayStation along with 666 were terminated. Ethier initially assumed the terminations were a mistake and contacted YouTube to ask to reinstate them. After YouTube responded in an email the reasons for his termination, he blasted the site, calling it "the worst platform ever". He attempted to gain sympathy on his Twitter account, claiming he "did nothing wrong" and that his channels were wrongfully terminated. This was met with much criticism from other users, who celebrated his termination, viewing it as having happened much later than it should have. Ethier threatened to sue YouTube over the terminations. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Edwards |first1=Luke |title=JayStation threatens to sue YouTube for deleting his channel: YouTube responds |url=https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/jaystation-threatens-to-sue-youtube-for-deleting-his-channel-youtube-responds-1532337/|accessdate=13 March 2021 |work=Dexerto |date=13 March 2021}}</ref> |
On March 12, 2021, his channel ImJayStation along with 666 were terminated, the given reason being for violating YouTube's Terms of Service. Ethier initially assumed the terminations were a mistake and contacted YouTube to ask to reinstate them. After YouTube responded in an email the reasons for his termination, he blasted the site, calling it "the worst platform ever". He attempted to gain sympathy on his Twitter account, claiming he "did nothing wrong" and that his channels were wrongfully terminated. This was met with much criticism from other users, who celebrated his termination, viewing it as having happened much later than it should have. Ethier threatened to sue YouTube over the terminations. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Edwards |first1=Luke |title=JayStation threatens to sue YouTube for deleting his channel: YouTube responds |url=https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/jaystation-threatens-to-sue-youtube-for-deleting-his-channel-youtube-responds-1532337/|accessdate=13 March 2021 |work=Dexerto |date=13 March 2021}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 17:41, 18 March 2021
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| ImJayStation | ||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | Jason Matthew Ethier February 14, 1990 | |||||||||
| Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||
| Occupation |
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| YouTube information | ||||||||||
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| Years active |
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| Genres |
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| Subscribers | 6 million+ | |||||||||
| Total views | 1 billion+ | |||||||||
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Last updated: November 1, 2020 | ||||||||||
Jason Matthew Ethier (born February 14, 1990 in Ottawa, Ontario), better known as ImJayStation or JayStation, is a Canadian former YouTuber and vlogger. Ethier's vlogging career was maligned with controversy for his fake "3 A.M." and prank videos on the video-sharing website YouTube, establishing a reputation for being one of the most infamous and criticized users on the platform.
Along with releasing fake content, Ethier is notorious for exploiting others for his own success. He has been strongly criticized for taking advantage of his younger following with fake videos, exploiting and profiting off of the deaths of celebrities for views, and the mistreatment of his girlfriend, Alexia Marano.
Career
Beginning in 2015, he deleted his YouTube account after it went into demonetization after his arrest on five accounts of trespassing by Ottawa police. On November 24, 2016, Ethier then restarted on YouTube under the channel name ImJayStation, re-uploading all of his content except the ones relating to his trespassing.[1]
Controversies
Contacting dead celebrities
Ethier gained notoriety within the YouTube community over his attempts to contact dead celebrities through paranormal activities (notably ouija boards and 'spirit boxes') late at night (known as "3 a.m. challenges"), namely XXXTentacion and Mac Miller.[2] On June 26, 2019, following the death of Etika in that month, Ethier uploaded a video using a similar clickbait title to his previous videos. However, in this video, he apologizes for the content of his past ouija board and celebrity death videos.[3] All three videos were met with strongly negative reception from the YouTube community, and Ethier eventually took them down as calls for his removal from the platform grew. However, Ethier's channels would not be terminated until 2021.
Walt Disney World arrest
At around 6:30 p.m. on March 24, 2019, Ethier was arrested at Florida's Walt Disney World on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest. He claims that he and a fellow YouTuber were in Florida filming haunted vlogs for future content.[4]
Security had been called on Ethier after he became agitated at the fact that his bag had been accidentally taken by another guest at the park. According to staff, Ethier became agitated after being told to check lost and found or guest claims, instead opting to berate the managers. He was asked to leave the filmed baggage check (which Disney said in an arrest affidavit was a violation of company policy) and was subsequently jailed on a $1,200 bond where he was later released.[5][6][7]
On Twitter and YouTube, Ethier called for his followers to boycott Disney World, threatened legal action against Disney, saying that his camera was stolen by Disney security guards and the Orlando Police Department, the latter of which has no jurisdiction over Disney property.[5]
Assault and fake death of girlfriend
In January 2020, Ethier falsely claimed to his YouTube audience that his girlfriend at the time, fellow YouTuber Alexia Marano, had been killed by a drunk driver in Toronto, Canada. Subsequent videos – originally presented as genuine by Ethier – show him visiting a makeshift memorial and attempting to contact her from the grave by using an ouija board. Due to the outlandish and incredulous nature of the claims made by Ethier in other videos in the past (such as claiming to have bought children and slaves off the dark web, summoned dead animals, and become decapitated using a voodoo doll), many viewers and fellow YouTubers were suspect of the claims.[8]
He later admitted that the whole situation was a complete fabrication and hoax which was intended to increase his subscriber and viewer count and that he had planned to resurrect Marano in a later video. Marano ended her relationship with Ethier after the controversy and has since deleted her YouTube page.[9]
In a video posted on January 26, 2020, Ethier claimed Marano had been in on the scam from the beginning. He said Marano had left him and took her belongings with her, and that police arrived at his home to notify Ethier that Marano had accused him of assault and assault with a weapon.[10][11] Marano said on Twitter that she was "just a little girl caught in the crossfire".[12] Toronto Police confirmed that a warrant for Ethier's arrest was issued on February 3, that Ethier had been arrested and charged, and that he would appear in court on March 16 in Toronto's Old City Hall on charges of assault and assault with a weapon. It is unclear if the charges relate to the hoax.
Impersonation of a police officer, fake arrest of girlfriend
In June of 2020, and in a video on Ethier and then-girlfriend Marano's joint channel Dream Team, Ethier impersonated a police officer and "arrested" Marano. Due to the video's release around the same time as worldwide protests against police brutality and racial inequality, it was strongly criticized. Creator Cody Ko specifically covered the video on his channel, calling it disgusting. Ko and many others on the site agreed that the video was in poor taste and that Ethier had not seemed to learn anything from his past controversies.
False claims about the COVID-19 pandemic
In an Instagram post after his channels' terminations, Ethier told his followers that the COVID-19 pandemic was fake and urged them to not get vaccinated. As with many of his past controversial posts and behavior, this was met with widespread backlash. This controversy was particularly damaging to Ethier's credibility due to him just a day earlier claiming he did nothing to deserve termination and that he had changed his content and learned from his mistakes.
Hiatus, Second Channel, and Termination from YouTube
On February 25, 2020, following the demonetization of his videos by YouTube and criticism from the YouTube community for his death prank video, Ethier apologized for his past errors and announced his departure from the platform in a 13-minute-long video uploaded to his main channel called 'Goodbye...'.[13] In the video, Ethier detailed his regrets from his YouTube career, from his paranormal vlogs faking communication with dead celebrities to his homophobic videos in which he drinks a "gay potion". YouTube also confirmed to Insider that Ethier's channel had been demonetized one week before Ethier quit his channel, meaning that he could no longer derive income from his YouTube videos.[14]
However, just two months later, Ethier returned to YouTube in a video with his former girlfriend Marano on their joint channel Dream Team, the two claiming to have resolved their differences.[15] Later in the year, the Dream Team channel was wiped of all its content save for one video due to Marano breaking up with Ethier again. Ethier took over the account and restructured it into his second channel, titled "666", in which he mostly released reaction and gameplay content.
On March 12, 2021, his channel ImJayStation along with 666 were terminated, the given reason being for violating YouTube's Terms of Service. Ethier initially assumed the terminations were a mistake and contacted YouTube to ask to reinstate them. After YouTube responded in an email the reasons for his termination, he blasted the site, calling it "the worst platform ever". He attempted to gain sympathy on his Twitter account, claiming he "did nothing wrong" and that his channels were wrongfully terminated. This was met with much criticism from other users, who celebrated his termination, viewing it as having happened much later than it should have. Ethier threatened to sue YouTube over the terminations. [16]
References
- ^ "ImJayStation: the YouTuber who faked his girlfriend's death for hits". Dazed. 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (10 October 2018). "YouTuber blasted for 'exploiting' the death of Mac Miller with ghost-hunting video". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ "A YouTuber is being called out for clickbaiting Etika's death for views". We The Unicorns. Archived from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
- ^ "This YouTube star was arrested at Disney World—and he has the video to prove it". The Daily Dot. 29 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ a b Williams, Michael. "YouTube star claimed to be 'very powerful,' threatened lawsuit during Disney arrest, deputies say". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ O'Shea, Sean (28 March 2018). "Ottawa-based YouTube star charged after dispute with Disney World security officers". Global News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Ancken, Erik von (26 March 2018). "YouTuber streams arrest at Disney's Epcot Center after claiming bag was stolen". WKMG. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (23 January 2020). "YouTuber accused of faking the death of his girlfriend for views". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ White, Adam (28 January 2020). "YouTube star admits to faking girlfriend's death to gain subscribers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Ethier, Jason [ImJayStation] (26 January 2020). "ALEXIA MARANO *THE TRUTH ABOUT HER*". YouTube. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Justich, Kerry (1 February 2020). "YouTuber under fire after faking girlfriend's death for views. She's alive – and is accusing him of abuse". Yahoo! Lifestyle. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ Marano, Alexia [@AlexiaMarano] (5 February 2020). "sos just a little girl caught in the crossfire" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 February 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ethier, Jason [ImJayStation] (22 February 2020). "Goodbye..." YouTube. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Harris, Margot (25 February 2020). "Controversial YouTuber who faked his girlfriend's death said he's 'taking a break' from the platform, but he didn't mention he was demonetized". Insider. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ Harris, Margot (5 April 2020). "Infamous YouTuber JayStation reunited with his ex-girlfriend months after faking her death and quitting YouTube". Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Edwards, Luke (13 March 2021). "JayStation threatens to sue YouTube for deleting his channel: YouTube responds". Dexerto. Retrieved 13 March 2021.