Why One of the Internet’s Most Popular Stars May Finally Be Facing “Cancellation” (2024)

Over the weekend, popular YouTuber and internet personality Cody Ko became a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter)—rarely a good omen. The reason? Another popular YouTuber, D’Angelo Wallace, published a 15-minute video resurfacing allegations that Ko had had sex with fellow YouTuber Tana Mongeau several years prior, when Mongeau would have been 17 years old and Ko 25. Wallace’s video prompted a reexamination, among fans and onlookers on social media, of accusations that some believe Ko had swept under the rug, and that also involved other well-known YouTubers. Below, my best attempt at explaining the latest drama taking over the YouTube content-creator ecosystem and beyond.

Just so I have it straight: Who are Cody Ko and Tana Mongeau again?

Cody Ko, 33, got his internet start on the short-form video app Vine, through which he gained a solid following before the app shuttered in 2017. After Vine, Ko pivoted to focusing on YouTube content, where his comedy reaction videos with frequent collaborator Noel Miller started to take off. Ko’s commentary videos, in which he critiques other internet personalities or online influencing trends like NFTs, have also become popular. Ko and Miller are also known for their satirical rap projects under the moniker Tiny Meat Gang, which is also the name of their joint podcast. The popularity of their podcast led to the formation of a media network, Tiny Meat Gang Studios, which has since come to encompass multiple other podcasts. Needless to say, between his multiple ventures and a combined YouTube subscriber count of more than 9 million, Ko is a content-creator success story, and one who has been both well known and well liked.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Tana Mongeau, 26, one of the most controversial and, with 5.4 million subscribers, popular YouTubers in the biz. Mongeau got her start with her signature storytime videos in which she would share bonkers anecdotes about her life. In addition to her vlogs, Mongeau is also known for her collaborations with other notable (and, at times, even more controversial) YouTubers, participating in challenges and mukbang videos with her pals. Mongeau has also dabbled in music-making, and got a popularity boost from her relationships with actress Bella Thorne and YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul. She also starred in a short-lived MTV reality show made for YouTube, and currently co-hosts her own podcast with her friend, Brooke Schofield, called Cancelled.

Perhaps evident from the name of her podcast, Mongeau is also infamous for numerous scandals. Her two biggest transgressions are using the N-word multiple times—instances, for which she later apologized, that were highlighted by a YouTuber Mongeau lambasted for saying the N-word himself—and Tanacon, a Fyre Festival–esque failure of a convention that she attempted to create as an alternative to the content-creator convention VidCon.

Got it. So what are the specific allegations that Mongeau made against Ko?

During a live taping of the Cancelled podcast on May 30, Mongeau alleged that she had sex with Ko when she was 17 years old. The comment sparked some commotion online when fans calculated that the timing meant Ko would have been 25. Mongeau further addressed the allegation on a separate video podcast episode published on June 21. Though the telling of the story is a little disjointed, the gist, as Mongeau relays it, is that she and Ko had a sexual encounter during Playlist Live—a multi-day event for content creators that usually takes place multiple times in a year in various locations—when Mongeau was 17, which would date the alleged encounter in 2015 or 2016. While the legal consenting age differs in the various locations Playlist Live is usually held, Mongeau claims that Ko still had sex with her even though another well-known YouTuber, Gabbie Hanna, purportedly warned Ko of Mongeau’s underage status. Furthermore, fans are revisiting a collaboration video Mongeau and Ko made eight years ago, when they were these ages, and viewing it in a new light.

In her recent video podcast, Mongeau says that although she feels no trauma concerning the incident, and though she mentioned it in a joking manner during her live podcast event, “this isn’t just some crazy tea, it was a crime.” She states that she “grew up loving” Ko, but, looking back at the alleged encounter as an adult now, “can say [she was] taken advantage of,” especially considering she was a fan of his. Although she maintains that she felt that she was “having fun at the time,” she agrees that Ko should have known better.

What Mongeau appeared most upset by—which she also mentioned on a podcast appearance with Trisha Paytas—is the negative response she initially received in response to her allegations, which she owes to Ko’s popularity in contrast to her infamy. She says: “I know for a fact, if you swapped out Cody Ko with someone that people didn’t like that much? I would be receiving so much more sympathy versus the amount of people in this industry who want to protect him.” Mongeau also notes that she started to discuss the incident online a few years prior, but hinted at feeling guilted by Ko—who had started to receive some backlash in light of Mongeau’s claims—texting her about his upcoming wedding. Mongeau also points a finger at the entire culture of entertainment and creation, which she says still preys upon young women.

Mongeau’s video was picked up by Rolling Stone and the popular video podcast H3, but it was not yet enough to trigger the bigger so-called cancellation that Ko is now facing.

Wait, if the allegations made it to a major publication like Rolling Stone a month ago, then why are people talking about it now?

Enter D’Angelo Wallace, a YouTuber known for his social commentary on other influencers, creators, and pop culture. On Sunday, Wallace posted a 15-minute YouTube video titled “An uncomfortable conversation about Cody Ko,” in which he directly calls out Ko over these allegations, which the latter has not publicly responded to in the weeks after Mongeau’s video. In his video, Wallace says that he’s “not here to accuse” Ko of “committing a crime,” but instead believes that the allegations should be “looked at, not treated as an open secret and swept under the rug,” which he accuses Ko of doing for “so many years now.” Wallace takes Ko to task not for the alleged incident itself, but for his public silence on the issue overall, while Mongeau has “been met with the most vitriolic victim blaming that [he’s] seen in years.” Wallace credits the victim-blaming to Mongeau’s spotty reputation, saying this “sets a horrible precedent that, if a person runs out of goodwill, they lose the right to come forward.”

Wallace addresses Ko: “You have an obligation to, at the very least, call out the misogyny, the victim-blaming, and all manner of cognitive dissonance that’s coming from your audience in the name of defending you against allegations that you’re too cowardly to address.”

Does Wallace shed any more light on the alleged incident and its aftermath?

Wallace’s video draws a number of additional perceived connections. He surfaces an older clip of Hanna telling a story that sounds similar to a detail in Mongeau’s story. In the clip, Hanna says, “One time, I told a guy—I saw him making out with a girl at a party who was underage—and I pulled him aside and I was like, ‘Hey man, you probably don’t know—I know she, like, looks a little older—she’s underage. Watch it.’ ”

Wallace also lays out Ko’s history of not fully addressing his alleged scandals, even accusing Ko of censoring the YouTube comments section of his latest video to scrub any mention of Mongeau’s allegations. Wallace further chides Ko and Ko’s associates for not only their public silence on the matter, but for the way the controversy has negatively impacted other women besides Mongeau, including Ko’s own wife, fellow YouTuber Kelsey Kreppel, whose YouTube comment section has been overrun with mentions of the alleged incident. (Brittany Broski, a popular internet personality and one of the only Ko collaborators to have spoken up since Wallace’s video came out, is also currently receiving heat for issuing a statement that many fans are criticizing as lackluster.)

Wallace ties the murky situation to a larger culture of misogyny, stating: “On our side of commentary YouTube, any man can easily elevate himself by ‘dunking on misogynists’ in his content, and espousing a generally feminist viewpoint. But if that viewpoint turns to silence the moment a situation is no longer cut-and-dry, then that viewpoint was a brand strategy, not a belief.”

Has Ko had a squeaky-clean history until now?

Like anyone who has made a name for themselves on the internet: Absolutely not! An old Vine of Ko using a racial slur has resurfaced now and then. (Wallace references this controversy, chastising Ko for apologizing for these videos on his Patreon page, where only his most ardent fans congregate, instead of on his more visible main platforms and social media accounts.)

There was also the time Jake Paul accused Ko of “cyberbullying,” although most of the internet seemed to side with Ko at the time, as Paul, a hugely successful YouTuber himself, has a history of behaving poorly online.

But arguably Ko’s biggest controversy to date involves his friendship with Duke University classmate Colby Leachman, who used to feature in Ko’s videos. While at Duke, a female student alleged that Leachman and another male student had drugged her, raped her, and videotaped the assault. Though Leachman and the other student claimed that the interaction was consensual and—per to the News & Observer, the Raleigh newspaper that reported on the case—the university’s disciplinary panel ruled that there “was not a preponderance of evidence” that they had violated sexual misconduct policies, Leachman was placed on probation because he “entered a plea of responsibility” for violating the school’s policy “with regard to unauthorized surveillance and photography.” According to the court document, Leachman and the other student reportedly “showed the video to other people” and “lied to the police about the video.” While Ko has stopped featuring Leachman in his videos, Wallace claims that the two maintain a close friendship, as suggested by Leachman’s pictured attendance at Ko’s wedding.

Has Ko still not said anything in response to all this?

At the time of publishing, no, he has not issued a public statement.

I still don’t understand what was so special about Wallace’s video that it blew up overnight, while the reaction to Mongeau’s own account barely caused a whisper?

Something that Wallace gets at in his video is that the overall perception of Mongeau as an unlikable woman online has likely contributed to her being discredited by viewers. Similarly, Paul, another Ko critic, has a reputation as one of the most hated YouTubers (for reasons both valid and not). Hanna, who has been cited by Mongeau as a witness, is also not the most likable internet personality. And the same can be said for Paytas, who also spoke out about Ko after hearing Mongeau’s story.

Wallace, meanwhile, is generally well regarded among the YouTube crowd, which could explain why his video (which, to his credit, is clear, direct, and well made) could be gaining traction. Already, more media outlets and popular YouTubers are covering the controversy—perhaps further illustrating Wallace’s point that credence is more readily granted to people who are already liked.