Bretman Rock Sacayanan Laforga (born July 31, 1998) is a Filipino-American beauty influencer and social media personality based in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. He rose to fame as a creator on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

after one of his

contouring Contouring is a makeup technique that uses cosmetics to define, enhance and sculpt the structure of the face or other body parts, such as breasts. Contouring is usually produced by placing a warm or cool toned color that is one or two shades da ...

videos went viral in 2015. Rock is known for making makeup tutorials and his humorous views on life. He has starred in his own

reality TV show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, ''MTV's Following: Bretman Rock'' (2021), has featured in several music videos, and in October 2021 was the first openly gay man to appear on the cover of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''. Rock has received multiple awards and honors for his work on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

including a People's Choice award for "Beauty Influencer" and an award for "Breakthrough Social Star" at the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards.

Early life

Bretman Rock Sacayanan Laforga was born on July 31, 1998, in

Sanchez-Mira Sanchez Mira, officially the Municipality of Sanchez Mira ( ibg, Ili nat Sanchez Mira; ilo, Ili ti Sanchez Mira; tl, Bayan ng Sanchez Mira), is a 3rd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Ca ...

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, in an Ilocano family. His father, Edmund Laforga, was a fan of professional wrestling and named him after

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

and The Rock. Rock moved to

at the age of seven and played sports while growing up including baseball, soccer, cross-country, and volleyball. At Campbell High School, Rock was on the track team.

Career

Rock started as a comedian and meme creator on

and

before shifting to

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

s and beauty tutorials. He is also known for his humorous views on life. In 2016, one of Rock's

videos went viral. He was inspired by vlogger Talia Joy and makeup artist Patrick Starrr. Also in 2016, he signed a management contract under

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

Adober Studios Adober Studios, formerly known as Chicken Pork Adobo, was a YouTube multi-channel network owned and operated by Filipino media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. It was the country's first and only YouTube-certified multi-channel network. Backgr ...

, a creator network on social media owned by the Philippines' largest media conglomerate

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned by t ...

. His younger sister, Princess Mae, and her daughter, Cleo, and their cousin, Keiffer ("Miss K"), frequently appear in Rock's videos, such as for ''

mukbang A mukbang or meokbang ( ko, 먹방, ), also known as an eating show, is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a host consumes various quantities of food while interacting with the audience. It became popular in South Korea in 2010, and has s ...

''. His friend, Larry, and his former editor, Agatha Danglapin, also made several brief appearances in his videos. Though he rarely features other influencers on his channel, Rock has collaborated with

James Charles James Charles Dickinson (born May 23, 1999) is an American beauty YouTuber and makeup artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, Charles started a YouTube channel, where he posts makeup tutorials. ...

, Bella Poarch,

Nikita Dragun Nikita Nguyen (born January 31, 1996) known professionally as Nikita Dragun, is a YouTuber, make-up artist, and model. Early life Nikita Nguyen was born in Belgium and attended high school in Virginia, United States. She is of Vietnamese and Me ...

, and

Chelsea Handler Chelsea Joy Handler (born February 25, 1975) is an American comedian, actress, writer, television host, and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show ''Chelsea Lately'' on the E! network from 2007 to 2014 and released a documentary series, ...

. In 2017, ''Time'' magazine recognized him among the 30 Most Influential Teens. He was also included in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' "30 Under 30 Asia – Media, Marketing, & Advertising" list in 2018. In June 2019, Rock was featured on the

Pride Month LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...

cover of ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...

''. In September 2019, Rock attended his first

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

where he collaborated with stylist Andrew Gelwicks. Rock played the role of "The Playboy" in the ten-episode fourth season of the

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

Escape the Night ''Escape the Night'' is an American reality television series created, hosted, produced, and owned by Joey Graceffa that was first broadcast on June 22, 2016, on YouTube Premium. The series follows fantasy plots based on horror and murder mys ...

'', released in July 2019. In December 2019,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

announced that Rock would be the star of the next season of the YouTube show, ''No Filter''. In Early 2020, Rock launched his makeup collection in collaboration with wet n wild cosmetics. He had a February 2020 press tour in Los Angeles with brands like Buzzfeed, Condé Nast, Hearst, and more, to promote the line. On May 9, 2020, Rock appeared as a guest star on the third episode of

' YouTube Originals series, "Instant Influencer". In November 2020, Rock launched his eyewear collection, specifically sunglasses, in collaboration with Dime Optics, a Los Angeles-based brand. He released six frames, four of which were launched at Dime Optics, while two were launched exclusively at Revolve. On May 14, 2021, Rock had a cameo in Bella Poarch's music video for her debut single, " Build a Bitch", alongside other internet personalities. In June 2021, Rock was nominated for an MTV Movie and TV Award for the Breakthrough Social Star category. He was announced as the winner on the day of the ceremony. In August 2021, Rock made a cameo appearance in the music video for Sub Urban and Bella Poarch's song, "

INFERNO Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

". He also participated in a stream promoting the video. In October 2021, Rock became the first openly gay man to feature on the cover of ''

'' magazine.

''MTV Following: Bretman Rock''

On January 28, 2021,

announced that Bretman Rock would be starring on his own

titled ''MTV Following: Bretman Rock''. On February 9, 2021, the first episode of his show premiered on MTV's official

channel. Episodes of the show were released every Monday with six episodes in total. The show was filmed in

, where Rock is also based, and includes "a glimpse into isfamily life". The cast of the show is made up of Rock and his family alongside his close friends.

''30 Days With: Bretman Rock''

On June 15, 2021,

YouTube Originals YouTube Premium, formerly known as YouTube Red, is a subscription service that provides advertising-free streaming of all videos hosted by YouTube, offline play and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to advertising-free mu ...

announced that Rock would be the next subject of their ''30 Days With''

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

franchise, as he tries to survive a week in the Hawaiian jungle while on his own. Four episodes were released on Wednesday nights on YouTube, from June 30 to July 21, 2021.

Personal life

In November 2019, Rock's father died after being in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

. His mother, Mercedita, appears in his videos occasionally. Rock is Ilocano. Rock is openly gay and shared that he was in his first relationship in a September 2019 interview with ''Elle'',. In April 2020, Rock requested on social media that fans not visit his home uninvited, especially during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, after two people knocked on his door and left a note on his car.

Filmography

Awards and honors

Rock was a finalist for the Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber in 2017. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' recognized him as one of the "30 Most Influential Teens" in 2017, and he was included in the ''

'' "30 Under 30 Asia – Media, Marketing, & Advertising" list in 2018. In 2019, Rock won the Beauty Influencer award at the 45th People's Choice Awards. In 2020, he was a finalist in comedy video at the Shorty Awards. In 2020, Rock was included on ''Varietys 2020 Power of Young Hollywood list.

References

External links

* *
Bretman Rock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock, Bretman American bloggers American people of Ilocano descent American YouTubers American gay men Beauty and makeup YouTubers Comedy YouTubers Filipino emigrants to the United States Filipino YouTubers Hawaii people of Filipino descent American LGBT people of Asian descent American LGBT entertainers LGBT people from Hawaii Filipino LGBT entertainers Filipino gay men LGBT YouTubers Living people People from Oahu YouTube vloggers 1998 births Non-binary entertainers YouTubers from Hawaii