Jake Joseph Paul (Born: January 17, 1997) is a controversial content creator, DJ, and pro boxer. His career started off innocent enough on Vine and representing The Disney Channel. However, Jake Paul became the bad boy of YouTube for creating risque content and breaking the law.
Jake Paul Early Beginnings
Jake Paul was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He and his older brother, Logan, grew up in Cleveland. Their parents are Gregory Allan Paul, a reatlor, and Pamela Ann Stepnick.
One year, Jake and Logan Paul received a camcorder for Christmas. They started playing around on the device, priming the twosome for a life in the limelight.
In 2013, Jake Paul would hop on the rising social media app, Vine. Like millions of others, Jake posted six-second videos acting goofy with friends and family.
Seemingly overnight, Jake Paul became a sensation. At its peak, he hit 5.3 million followers. However, Jake Paul would far surpass that number in total followers in the following years.
As Logan’s career blew up in Los Angeles, Jake decided to drop out of school. He would earn his diploma online and move to Los Angeles, California to create content with his brother.
Jake Paul on YouTube
There is no denying that Jake Paul caught on thanks to Vine. However, it’s his YouTube vlogs that blew him into the next stratosphere of being Famousss.
He posted a bunch of content under the Jake Paul Daily Vlogs and Jake Paul Daily Life moniker. While they gained traction, he didn’t rise to mega-fame until around 2016.
Jake Paul started releasing rap tracks and comedy sketches. This content really resonated with his audience. The rocket was now attached to Jake Paul.
Jake Paul And Team 10
By 2017, Jake Paul was turning into a marketing machine. He worked with others in creating Team 10. This entertainment group created a one-million-dollar marketing management agency.
Other investors in Team 10 included:
- A-Grade Investments
- Adam Zeplain
- Danhua Capital
- Horizons Alpha
- Vayner Capital
- Sound Ventures
The goal of Team 10 was to create content that appealed to teenagers. It’s didn’t take long for them to make their one million back, and then some!
Jake Paul Rap Career
Their first major feature was the Jake Paul rap video for It’s Everyday, Bro. This project saw Jake Paul adapt his newest persona of a bad boy. His attempt worked. The Jake Paul rap video received 70 million views in one month and became the third most-disliked video on YouTube.
His song hit 91 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its high YouTube play and decent sales earned the hit a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He would also make a new release of this video years later in a remix with Gucci Mane.
Jake Paul would continue to collab with Team 10 on tracks. However, this partnership is where Jake Paul controversies first begin. After Ohio-Fried Chicken, Jake Paul partnered with his girlfriend Erika Costell to make Jerika.
Jerika was a huge success. However, Jake Paul would pull the song from streaming platforms after the couple broke up. The rising rap star would pull these shenanigans again when he partnered with Dynamite Dylan to make No Competition. Within a year, this song was also pulled from streaming sites. He pulled this post and delete tactic with Litmas.
By 2018, Jake Paul’s rap career seemed to have a more clear vision. He would release My Teachers, Randy Savage, Cartier Vision, and Champion to much success.
Jake Paul Pro Boxing Career
In February 2018, Jake Paul tried his hand (literally) at boxing professionally. He took to training well because he was a trained wrestler in high school.
In their first battles, Logan Paul was set to square off with KSI. Meanwhile, Jake Paul would take on KSI’s little brother, Deji. Jake would win by technical knockout in the fifth round when Deji’s team threw in the towel.
He would have his first semi-pro match against YouTuber AnEsonGib (or Gib). Paul scored a TKO in the first round at just 2:18.
Most famously, Paul faced Nate Robinson as the undercard for Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones, Jr. on November 28, 2020. Jake Paul would knockout Nate Robinson with a TKO in the second round at 1:24.
Robinson was out hard. His knocked out body became a meme all over the world. Now, people take Jake Paul seriously in the boxing ring.
Jake Paul Controversies
Jake Paul is no stranger to controversy. Here are some of his best…or worst…moments.
Parties in Beverly Grove
In 2017, Jake Paul became notorious in Los Angeles for his parties. It got to the point where his career became in jeopardy. At this point, Jake Paul had become a regular on The Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark.
Jake Paul was about to reach the third season with the show when Disney released the following statement,
“We’ve mutually agreed that Jake Paul will leave his role on the Disney Channel series ‘Bizaardvark’. On behalf of the production company, the cast and crew, we thank Jake for his good work on the TV series for the past 18 months and extend our best wishes to him.”
This release coincided with reports of hazing and fire hazards at the star’s property. The House of the Mouse wanted nothing to do with this press.
By summer 2017, Paul started inviting fans to his pad. That led to an influx of unwanted visitors in the neighborhood. On July 18, 2017, the Beverly Grove neighborhood where Paul lived filed a nuisance lawsuit against the star.
On April 24, 2018, Cobra Acquisitions announced they were also suing Jake Paul. They wanted $2.5 million for damages.
Inappropriate YouTube Content
On January 3, 2018, Jake Paul uploaded a video called “I Lost My Virginity.” He had a real steamy thumbnail of his girlfriend mounting him. The video was pulled for being against YouTube guidelines.
On January 5, 2018, Jake Paul was called out for using the N-word in various raps.
Online Scams
Later, Jake Paul would start the program Edfluence. This program was Paul’s response to the current education system. He felt that they needed help teaching people to be successful enough to earn money online.
One of the perks of joining is that you get membership into Team 1000. This never happened, which caused many to call this a scam. The program would shut down in January 2020.
He and RiceGum would also partner with MysteryBrand. This delivery service would send gifts monthly to houses. However, many claimed to never get what they ordered.
Jake Paul and Zayn Malik
On February 23, 2020, Jake Paul confronted former One Direction member Zayn Malik at a hotel. He tried to say hello to Zayn, but Zayn was rude in response. Jake Paul called the star out for this behavior.
He went on a series of tweet rants calling the star out. He even said he was going to beat Zayn up, spelling his name “Zane” in the process.
In return, Zayn’s baby mother, Gigi Hadid stated,
“Lol cause he doesn’t care to hang w you and your embarrassing crew of YouTube groupies ..? Home alone with his best friends like a respectful king cause he has me, sweetie. Unbothered by your irrelevant ugly ass. Go to bed …”
The next day, Jake Paul took down the tweets and said people need to take the phone away when he’s drunk.
Jake Paul and George Floyd Protests
In May 2020, America was in unrest over the George Floyd protests. People were looting all over. Jake Paul decided to loot a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona.
He was filmed taking part in the looting, which he denied. Jake said he was documenting the incident. However, he was charged with looting on June 4, 2020.
Jake Paul’s mansion was raided by the FBI on August 5, 2020, in search of more evidence surrounding this looting.
Jake Paul COVID Party
When the pandemic hit, the world went in shelter-in-place. In his place, Jake Paul threw a party. Dozens of people showed up and didn’t wear a mask.
Calabasas mayor Alicia Weintraub stated,
“They’re having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it’s just a big huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning.”
He would respond in November that 98% of the news was fake. Jake Paul didn’t believe in social distancing laws and wanted them lifted.
