How controversial influencer Ethan Klein rose to fame, from feuds and Frenemies to being banned from YouTube for a week

Klein’s fans were accused of harassing Paytas after he deleted an episode of ‘Frenemies’ where she said she was sexually abused as a child.

On Sunday 12 September, Paytas shared several videos on Twitter as well as screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation responding to Klein’s stance on her assault allegations.

Trisha Paytas/Twitter

On September 11, Klein posted a statement to Twitter announcing that he was taking down episode 17 of “Frenemies.” In the statement, Klein said that the misconduct accusations Paytas made about a former teacher during the podcast “contradict available evidence,” and said he wanted to remove the podcast so Paytas could “better illuminate the situation.”

The following day, Keemstar said in a tweet that fans from the H3H3 subreddit were going after Paytas’ sponsors, with Paytas adding in several tweets and tearful videos from their now-private Twitter and Instagram accounts that they believed these fans are also responsible for doxxing their mother and harassing their fiancée, Hila’s brother Moses.

Paytas also shared purported text messages between herself, Hila, and Ethan, which appeared to show Ethan urging them to “make a statement” addressing the controversy around the teacher accusations. 

The text conversation also addressed “stealthing” accusations made against Moses from women who say they dated him. Stealthing is when someone removes a condom during sex without consent. In the texts, Ethan appeared to say that he believed one of Moses’ accusers.

In the screenshots, Hila appeared to add that that she and her mother were “having a mental breakdown” over the situation. 

Since the text conversation and Paytas’ tweets and videos were posted on Sunday, Klein tweeted that he and Hila would be taking a break from the “H3 Podcast” the following week for their mental health.