YouTube can be a platform for major fame and big bucks for its most viral stars.
But while some video-makers have what it takes to sustain their digital momentum, others
tend to be flashes in the pan… whether they know it or not.
Here are some YouTube stars who need to realize they aren't famous anymore.
Valeria Lukyanova
Otherwise known as the human Barbie doll, Ukrainian YouTuber Valeria Lukyanova became
a hot topic in 2013 when she denied that she'd undergone plastic surgery to achieve her desired
look.
The petite blonde was criticised for her highly manufactured appearance, with detractors claiming
she was a bad role model for young female viewers.
When asked how many times she'd gone under the knife, Lukyanova admitted to having undergone
a breast enlargement procedure, but said everything else was down to "sports massages, healthy
living, and professional makeup."
If you say so.
Interest in Lukyanova was already waning when she was cast as a murderous escort in the
obscure B-movie slasher The Doll, which did little to boost her profile in the States.
Her makeup tutorials used to stack up millions of views, but nowadays, it's a big deal if
she gets more than a few thousand hits.
Peter Chao
Chinese-Canadian comic Davin Tong, better known to the YouTube community as Peter Chao,
used to a be a big deal in the early 2010s.
He regularly scored huge viewer numbers with his stereotypical Chinese character.
It should come as no surprise to learn, then, that his channel was suspended on several
occasions due to racially insensitive content.
"Hello.
Peter Chao here.
You catch me at bad time because I am very angry right now."
But he went on to gain the level of subscribers that seemingly renders one more or less bulletproof.
In 2012, Tong did an interview in full Chao character and basically dared YouTube to come
after him by saying,
"Every time I say something offensive, all I would have to do is just say, 'Hey, I am
a big deal now.
Don't mess with me.
All you have to do, unflag my s--- right away,' you know?"
Despite his notoriety, and a few film and commercial roles, Tong's star has dimmed.
He hasn't broken the 100,000 views barrier in years, so it seems like YouTube viewers
are saying "ciao" to Peter Chao
Brittani Louise Taylor
Music video parodies are big business on YouTube, and one of the first YouTubers to capitalize
on the demand for this content was Brittani Louise Taylor.
Her takes on Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus made her huge in the early 2010s, but by the midpoint
of the decade, her days of enjoying millions of views were over.
Taylor gave birth to her son in 2016, and since then, her channel has undergone some
drastic overhauls.
She's now less about parodies and sketches and more about mommy vlogging, with topics
such as baby teeth and 5-minute makeup becoming her new M.O.
The views just weren't the same, however, and her remaining fans began wondering what
happened.
When Taylor eventually answered that question, many subscribers were shocked.
As 2018 drew to a close, she released her memoir A Sucky Love Story, a book that detailed
how she discovered that the father of her son wasn't who he claimed to be.
She alleged:
"He was already married, before we even started dating, acquiring a green card from a wealthy
Russian who called Beverly Hills home."
She might not be YouTube famous anymore, but we're happy to see her looking a lot happier
in her vlogs now that she's been able to share her story.
"I went from having the hardest four years of my life, including my relationship, to
having the best two weeks of my life."
Laina Morris
Laina Morris' rise to YouTube stardom began in 2012 when she recorded her own version
of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" from the perspective of an obsessed stalker.
"If I was your girlfriend I'd never let you leave."
The video ended up being a hit with millions of views and even spawned the Overly Attached
Girlfriend meme.
Just weeks after her Bieber debut, Morris released another song parody, this time to
Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe".
It became her most popular video and helped spark a trend of parody song poems that entertained
the masses… until the masses started tuning her out.
She still breaks out the Overly Attached Girlfriend character from time to time, but Morris has
had to mix it up in order to keep her channel fresh.
Other characters she's introduced to her subscribers include a grumpy old man and a clueless female
sports fan, but nothing has proven quite as popular as the videos that sparked her fame
in the first place.
"I've been called basic more times than I can count.
And I can count to like a hundred."
When she returned with a vlog in August 2018, after a year break from her channel, Morris
admitted that she'd tried to record videos on multiple occasions but never got round
to posting them.
Like so many formerly big YouTubers, she appears to be struggling to produce new content, yet
unwilling to walk away.
GloZell Green
GloZell Green shot to YouTube prominence in 2012, with her extreme challenge videos, taking
part in any crazy fad that happened to come along.
Her version of the "Hot Pepper Challenge" became the most watched on the platform, and
her attempt at the "Cinnamon Challenge" also went viral.
The latter video has been watched more than 54 million times, which make the views that
she's pulling in nowadays all the more shocking.
Green's 2015 interview with former president Barack Obama was heavily criticized by the
media, with at least one outlet asking why the president was chatting with a woman who
ate cereal from her bathtub.
Her viewership has suffered ever since, though the two aren't necessarily linked.
According to Green's fellow vlogger The Gamer From Mars, her downfall began when she stopped
being as wacky in her videos.
"In just a few years her channel views have dropped by over 90 percent, even though she
hasn't stopped making content."
He pointed out how Green struggles to break the 30,000 view barrier despite still having
in excess of 5 million subscribers.
"Even for dead channel standards, her stats are notably bad."
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