As mainstream entertainment outlets continue to mine so-called "new media" for talent,
outlets like Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube have become launchpads for breakout stars.
For years now, YouTube stars have been making serious bank on revenue from the video-sharing
platform.
But for various reasons, many stars have turned their backs on YouTube — or, in some cases,
stayed but abandoned their original channels.
Let's take a look at the real reason these YouTubers abandoned massive success and quit
their channels.
See ya, Smosh
It came as a shock to longtime Smosh fans when the comedy channel's co-founder Anthony
Padilla announced he was leaving.
"I know you've probably already read the title by now."
"I'm leaving Smosh."
After 11 years of collaboration with his friend and Smosh co-creator Ian Hecox, and 11 billion
YouTube views at the time he left, Padilla felt that he was no longer "creatively excited,"
telling Variety,
"When I first started, it was just me being excited about creating things.
It wasn't about numbers."
Padilla also said he wanted to branch out from comedy, and "help people who are dealing
with [panic attacks and anxiety]," — issues with which he personally struggles.
"I could only hear the deafening sound of my thoughts..."
Padilla can now be found on his own YouTube channel, which already has over 2.6 million
followers.
He is also actively pursuing an acting career.
'This time is essential'
"I'm Natalia Taylor, and this is my YouTube channel."
Aspiring model Natalia Taylor found massive YouTube success in September 2016 after she
shared the story of her alleged 2004 abduction at the hands of her schizophrenic father.
According to The Daily Mail, the YouTuber quickly shot to over 400,000 subscribers after
over 2 million viewers clicked on the since-deleted video.
Taylor continued to create content, but she was plagued with detractors who questioned
the authenticity of her abduction story, despite the story being published in newspapers at
the time.
Later, Taylor was outed for her relationship with fellow YouTuber, Anna Campbell, with
whom she frequently collaborated.
The couple called it quits three months later.
After nearly two tumultuous years rising to internet fame, Taylor called it quits on the
'Tube — and social media almost entirely.
Her last tweet in July 2017 hinted at possibly attending college, and she wrote, "This time
is essential."
Though a bit vague, she's left the door open for her return, as she still posts an occasional
Snapchat.
Not fun anymore
The Schuerman Show was a family vlog that got in on the ground floor of YouTube in 2010.
But after seven years of daily updates, and with their kids Phoenix and Lily largely out
of the house all day, Samantha Schuerman and her husband Jay struggled with making the
compelling family content their viewers came to love.
As a result, Sam and Jay decided to mothball The Schuerman Show for good in July 2017.
Sam said many reasons led to a loss of passion for the format.
"Both Jay and I are just, we're kind of over it."
But Sam fans can still get their fix of the family matriarch on her self-titled beauty
channel.
Don't count KevJumba out just yet
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Wu, a.k.a KevJumba, joined YouTube in 2006
and became the third most subscribed-to channel by 2008.
He then parlayed his online fame to reality TV and even a role in Revenge of the Green
Dragons.
But by 2014, Wu grew weary of YouTube celebrity, and began to retreat from the page that made
him famous.
He told THR,
"I always knew that this internet popularity would maybe come and go.
Maybe I got tired of watching myself talking into the camera — I didn't see that format
as something very sustainable."
Though he was still eyeballing an entertainment career, Wu spent a year studying spirituality
at Santa Monica College before a near-fatal accident derailed his plans: He was hit by
a car while walking, which resulted in him suffering a broken spine and collapsed lungs.
After a long recovery at his parents' Houston home, Wu restored his channel in March 2017,
which he'd previously set private.
"Who are you?
I'm Kev, or KevJumba."
But he's no longer vying for the YouTube crown.
THR reported Wu is tentatively approaching social media, and that his focus is still
on acting.
Social media isn't real life
Former Instagram model, Essena O'Neill, went viral when she pulled the plug on all of her
social media, citing the deceptive nature of her online presence.
In her farewell video, O'Neill said that she was doing this for her "12-year-old self,"
whom she claims was obsessed with internet personalities, and that she'd profited off
creating an illusion of a real life.
O'Neill then launched the site, Let's Be Game Changers, but eventually abandoned that as
well.
The last communiqué from the former Instamodel appears to be an email she sent to her newsletter
subscribers, in which she said she'd received threats and contemplated suicide after her
final video.
She also claimed that she donated all of the money she made from social media to charity,
and that she was planning on working at a local bar and pursuing full-time writing.
Marching to the beat of a new drum
YouTuber Adam Dahlberg used to be known as SkyDoesMinecraft, because he played Minecraft
for six years for his staggering 11 million subscribers.
But in his "quitting video," in July 2017, Dahlberg said he was done with the game for
good.
"I can't force myself to sit here and play this game anymore.
It's not fun for me."
Dahlberg added that he was "unhappy with the community" surrounding the game, "unhappy
with being labeled a Minecrafter," and that he wanted to, quote,
"Go back to making f---ed up content."
The old SkyDoesMinecraft page has been rebranded as simply, Adam.
Dahlberg says he plans to let the page exist as an archive of SkyDoesMinecraft videos,
as well as a new platform for his Project Happiness show, which he describes as:
"A travel show where I go from place to place with different music artists and we just enjoy
our time, make music, and have fun."
And speaking of music, Dahlberg now shares his original tunes on his new channel, NetNobody.
He's already amassed over 1.5 million subscribers after eight months, so it seems that fans
are down for what Dahlberg is dropping.
"If anything, the journey has just started."
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