LeafyIsHere

Calvin Vail (born August 18, 1995), also known as Leafy or LeafyIsHere, is an American former YouTuber and former Twitch streamer who, from the years 2011 to 2020, made reaction, drama, and let's play videos but is mostly known for commentary.[4]

LeafyIsHere
Personal information
BornCalvin Vail
(1995-08-18)August 18, 1995[1][2]
Utah, U.S.[1]
NationalityAmerican
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–2017; 2020
Subscribers4.9 million (before channel was terminated)[3]
Total views1.2 billion[3]
100,000 subscribers 2015
1,000,000 subscribers 2016
Updated: August 21, 2020

Beginning in 2016, Vail was involved in several conflicts with other YouTubers which led to allegations of cyberbullying. Vail was banned by YouTube in 2020, citing repeated violations of their harassment policies.[1][5]

Career

Vail started his channel in 2011, and uploaded his first video in 2013. He focused mainly on commentary and gaming and Let's Plays. His videos often included him talking over gameplay footage of video games including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Superhot. He had amassed 4.8 million subscribers before he slowed his uploading schedule down and went on a hiatus in December 2017.[6]

According to Bryan Menegus of Gizmodo, Vail mocked a man in 2016 with a learning disability, and had earlier made fun of an autistic man known as TommyNC2010, after which YouTube and Reddit communities rallied behind Tommy, prompting Vail to release an apology.[7]

In 2015 and 2016, Vail was the target of a swatting campaign, with repeated calls to the police between December 2015 and February 2016. At that time he resided in Layton, Utah.[8]

Controversies and channel termination

Vail's YouTube channel LeafyIsHere was a drama channel, which commented on gossip involving online content creators.[4]

In 2016, YouTuber iDubbbz featured Leafy in an episode of his "Content Cop" series, accusing him and his videos of cyberbullying, among other things.[9][10] Also in 2016, Vail accused YouTuber Evalion of supporting Nazism and antisemitism. Shortly after Vail drew attention to her, Evalion was banned by YouTube.[11] Later that year, Vail's statements regarding transgender vlogger Milo Stewart, in which he criticized the concept of gender identity, were taken down by YouTube for harassment.[12]

In 2019 iDubbbz's video criticizing Vail was taken down after it was determined to be in violation of YouTube's guidelines.[13]

After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus Vail returned to YouTube with a video insulting iDubbbz in April 2020, following which he resumed posting frequently.[14] In July, Vail began criticizing Twitch streamer Pokimane and her supporters based on speculation about her personal life.[15][4]

On August 21, 2020, Vail's YouTube account was permanently terminated.[15] According to The Verge, Vail's channel had three violations in the previous three months, such as cyberbullying and encouraging viewers to disrupt other people's streams. A YouTube spokesperson said the channel had repeatedly violated YouTube's policies on harassment.[5] Following the ban, Vail began streaming frequently on Twitch.[16] He has also posted on competing video platform StoryFire.[5] He also got into conflicts with YouTuber Ethan Klein, known as H3H3.[16]

On September 11, 2020, Vail's Twitch account was banned. Earlier that day, Vail had tweeted about receiving a strike on his account from Twitch for "hateful conduct and threats of violence against a person or group of people". Twitch did not comment on the ban or indicate whether it was permanent.[16]

References
  1. Kiberd, Roisin (August 5, 2016). "YouTube's Trolls Are Crying Censorship Over Cyberbullying Rules". Vice. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  2. Vail, Calvin (August 18, 2016). "Thanks for all the birthday wishes, you guys are seriously crazy No but seriously, I really appreciate it <3". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  3. "LeafyIsHere's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  4. D'Anistasio, Cecilia; Grey Ellis, Emma (July 31, 2020). "PokimaneBoyfriend and the Scandalous Reign of Drama YouTube". Wired. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  5. Alexander, Julia (August 24, 2020). "YouTube permanently bans controversial creator LeafyIsHere". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. Teti, Julia (March 31, 2020). "Leafy Returns To YouTube For 1st Time In 2 Years To Call Out IDubbbz & Fans Go Wild — Watch". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  7. Menegus, Bryan. "YouTube Star Makes Money Bullying People With Learning Disabilities [Updated]". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. Reavy, Pat (August 4, 2016). "Popular Layton YouTuber target of 'swatting' pranks". KSL.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  9. Alexander, Julia (December 16, 2019). "YouTube is growing up, and creators are frustrated by growing pains". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  10. Romano, Aja (December 13, 2019). "YouTube just made sweeping positive changes to its harassment policy. So why all the backlash?". Vox. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  11. "Eva Lion, la youtubeuse fan d'Hitler". L'Express. May 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. "Trans Activist Milo Stewart's Never-Ending War on Trolls". The Daily Dot. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  13. Dodgson, Lindsay. "PewDiePie announced plans to take a break from YouTube, but it's not the first time the platform's biggest creator has struggled with burnout". Insider. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  14. Tenbarge, Kat. "A controversial YouTuber returned to the platform after two years of inactivity to make fun his online nemesis after his girlfriend made an OnlyFans". Insider. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  15. Samuels, Alexandra (August 22, 2020). "Leafy banned from YouTube after targeting Pokimane". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  16. Grayson, Nathan (September 11, 2020). "Twitch Suspends Leafy, The Banned YouTuber Who Harassed Pokimane". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
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