Jake Joseph Paul (born January 17, 1997) is an American media personality and professional boxer. He initially rose to fame on

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 thems ...

, before playing the role of Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series '' Bizaardvark'' for two seasons. Throughout his career, Paul has become the subject of many controversies due to his behavior, including being charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. Paul's boxing career began in August 2018 when he defeated British YouTuber Deji Olatunji in an amateur contest via

TKO TKO may refer to: Sports * Technical knockout, a professional fighting term * Total Knock Out, a professional wrestling move Music Artists * TKO (band), a rock band from Seattle, Washington * TKO, a pop group led by Katie White Albums * ''TKO ...

in the fifth round. Turning professional, Paul beat the YouTuber AnEsonGib in January 2020, via TKO in the first round. Between 2020 and 2022, Paul won his following fights against retired basketballer Nate Robinson by second round KO as well as retired mixed martial artists

Ben Askren Benjamin Michael Askren (born July 18, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. Askren was the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion, remaining undefeated for over a decade before competing in ...

, Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva by 1st-round TKO, twice by SD and 6th-round KO, and UD, respectively.

Early life

Jake Paul was born on January 17, 1997, in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Westlake, Ohio, with his older brother Logan, who is also a YouTuber and internet personality. They started filming themselves when they were 10. Their parents are Pamela Ann Stepnick (''née'' Meredith) and realtor Gregory Allan Paul.

Entertainment career

2013–2016: Vine, YouTube and ''Bizaardvark''

Paul began his career in September 2013 posting videos on Vine. By the time Vine was discontinued by Twitter Inc., Paul had amassed 5.3 million followers and 2 billion views on the app. Paul launched his YouTube channel on May 15, 2014. His channel is known for pranks, controversies, and his hip hop music. After gaining acclaim on Vine and YouTube, Paul was hired onto the set of the Disney Channel series '' Bizaardvark,'' playing a character who accepted dare requests that he would then perform. On July 22, 2017, during the middle of filming the second season of ''Bizaardvark'', the Disney Channel announced that Paul would be leaving the series. The announcement followed a news report from

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

about public complaints from Paul's neighbors regarding the noise generated by Paul's pranks, parties, fire hazards and the large crowds of Paul's fans congregating in their neighborhood.Wood, Lucy (July 24, 2017)
"YouTuber Jake Paul axed by Disney after bragging about turning his neighbourhood into a 'war zone'"
. ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

''.Bradley, Laura (July 25, 2017)
"Why Disney Just Severed Ties with a Famously Obnoxious YouTuber"
. '' Vanity Fair''. Paul later confirmed the news on his Twitter page, saying he would now focus more on his personal brand, his YouTube channel, his business ventures, and more adult acting roles. Paul later revealed in an interview with ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' that he was actually fired from ''Bizaardvark'' by Disney, which wanted to expedite the process of weaning him off the show due to the KTLA segment.

2017–2018: Music and ''Team 10''

Paul launched entertainment collective Team 10 in 2016. On January 17, 2017, which was Paul's 20th birthday, it was reported he had launched media company TeamDom with $1 million in financing to create

influencer marketing Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social in ...

management and creative agency around teen entertainment. Investors include Danhua Capital, Horizons Alpha, Vayner Capital, Sound Ventures & A-Grade Investments, and Adam Zeplain. Paul released the single titled " It's Everyday Bro", featuring Team 10, alongside the music video, on May 30, 2017. It featured vocals from members of the team at the time, consisting of Nick Crompton, Chance Sutton, Ivan and Emilio Martinez, and Tessa Brooks. The video accumulated over 70 million views in one month and became the third most disliked video on the website. The song debuted and peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA). Its title refers to how Paul at the time posted a video every single day. In 2017, Paul released and later deleted singles including "Ohio Fried Chicken," "Jerika," "No Competition," "That Ain't on the News," and "Litmas." The singles were deleted for various reasons including his 2018 break-up with Erika Costell. On November 22, 2017, Paul released a remix of "It's Everyday Bro," featuring American rapper

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

in place of Team 10, alongside the new music video for it. On April 27, 2018, Paul released the single ''Malibu'' with now-former Team 10 member Chad Tepper, along with the music video. On May 11, he released another single titled ''My Teachers'', featuring now-former Team 10 members Sunny Malouf and Anthony Trujillo, along with the music video. On May 24, he released two singles, ''Randy Savage'' and ''Cartier Vision''. The former song features Team 10 and hip-hop duo Jitt & Quan, featuring vocals from Team 10 members at the time, consisting of Anthony Trujillo, Sunny Malouf, Justin Roberts, Erika Costell, and Chad Tepper; it was released along with the music video. The latter song features Anthony and the duo as well; the music video was released later on September 12. On August 15, 2018, Paul released another single titled "Champion," with a music video. The song was a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the t ...

towards Paul's boxing opponent Deji Olatunji (ComedyShortsGamer), the younger brother of British YouTube star, internet personality, boxer, and rapper KSI, in which their fight happened ten days later on August 25. Throughout the summer of 2018, Paul and Team 10 went on a tour in North America, performing songs. Gradually, the Team 10 members all left one by one from the beginning of the year until the end. Paul was ranked in second place 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 r ...

list of highest-paid YouTubers in 2018.

2019: Business enterprises and new group

On March 1, 2019, Paul released the single "I'm Single", which was released along with the music video. The song focused on Paul's feelings about being single and his breakup with Erika Costell. As the social media accounts for Team 10 have been inactive since September 2019, some assumed that Team 10 had disbanded and Paul had formed a new team. On December 13, 2019, Paul released another single "These Days", but deleted it from streaming services less than a year later.

2020–present: More focus on music

On July 24, 2020, Paul released the single "Fresh Outta London", which was released alongside the music video. For the video shoot, he threw a party at his home in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.Logan and also featured clips of him and a few of his friends. The title of the song refers to his age at the time, as well as American former basketball player

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

's jersey number. On October 15, Paul released the single "Dummy", featuring Canadian rapper TVGucci, who is signed to fellow Canadian rapper Drake's record label,

OVO Sound OVO Sound (also known simply as OVO) is a Toronto-based Canadian record label, founded in 2012 by hip hop artist Drake, producer 40, and Oliver El-Khatib. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Warner Music Group's Warner ...

. The lyric video was published on Paul's YouTube channel six days later, on October 21.

2021–present: Sports business

In 2021 Paul founded an organization named ‘Boxing Bullies’ to help the youth combat

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an i ...

. Paul started venture capital branded as the 'Anti Fund' in 2021 with serial entrepreneur Geoffrey Woo. It enables investors and fans to raise money through a quarterly subscription by using Angel List's Rolling Funds platform. Later, Anti Fund led investment in sports gambling firm Simplebet Inc. raising $30 million in a financing round in August 2021. Paul founded 'Most Valuable Promotions' (MVP) with his adviser, Nakisa Bidarian in 2021 and signed Amanda Serrano to a promotional deal in September 2021. In May 2022, Paul featured on the

list for the highest paid athletes in 2022. Forbes estimated that Paul made $38 million from his three boxing bouts, and various other income streams, in the period. In August 2022, Paul founded a sports-media and mobile-betting company, "Betr", alongside Simplebet founder Joey Levy. Paul claims to have received $50 million in series-A funding for this venture.

Boxing career

Amateur career

Paul vs. Deji

On August 25, 2018, Jake Paul and his brother Logan Paul fought KSI and his younger brother,

Deji Olatunji Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English YouTuber and rapper. He is a co-founder and member of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen. He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and ...

, in a pair of amateur white-collar boxing matches. Jake Paul's fight against Deji was the chief undercard bout before the main event, KSI vs. Logan Paul. Paul defeated Deji via technical knockout in the fifth round.

Professional career

Paul vs. AnEsonGib

On December 21, 2019, it was announced that Paul would be making his

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

debut against the YouTuber AnEsonGib (known as Gib) on January 30, 2020, in Miami. The match between Paul and Gib was the co-feature to the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

world middleweight title bout between professional boxers Demetrius Andrade and

Luke Keeler Luke Keeler (born 27 April 1987) is an Irish professional boxer who challenged for the WBO middleweight title in 2020. He participated in the 35th and final edition of the Prizefighter series in 2015, losing in the semi-final. Professional care ...

. Paul won the fight via TKO at 2:18 in the first round.

Paul vs. Robinson

In July 2020, it was announced that Jake Paul would be venturing into the ring for a second professional bout, facing professional basketball player Nate Robinson as part of the undercard for the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition match. The event was initially scheduled for September 12 at the

Dignity Health Sports Park Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

; however, in August, Tyson revealed the event had been pushed back to November 28 to maximize revenue. Paul won the fight via KO at 1:24 in the second round.

Paul vs. Askren

After a back-and-forth on social media, it was announced on December 22, 2020, that Paul's third pro bout opponent would be the former

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

and ONE Welterweight Champion

, on March 28, 2021, in Los Angeles. After Askren accepted Paul's challenge, rumors of a proposed March 28 date in Los Angeles started circulating. On February 26, 2021, it was announced that the fight would be held on April 17 in Atlanta. Paul defeated Askren via TKO at 1:59 in round 1. The event reportedly made 1.45 million

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

buys as per Triller, however, the legitimacy of both the match and the numbers of the event have been heavily questioned by multiple personalities, fans, MMA fighters and boxers alike.

Paul vs. Woodley

Before the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren main event took place, Paul and one of his cornermen

J'Leon Love J'Leon Love (born September 25, 1987) is an American professional boxer in the Super Middleweight division. Amateur career After his father turned him onto boxing, Love had an amateur career record of 115-5. His opponents have included Shawn ...

were involved in a backstage confrontation with former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley, where Woodley was mocked due to his inexperience in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

and the result of Paul's bout against Woodley's long–time teammate

was discussed. After knocking out Askren, Paul was called out by Woodley. On May 31, 2021, news surfaced that Paul was scheduled to face Woodley in a boxing bout on August 29, 2021. He won the fight by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

. One judge scored the fight 77–75 for Woodley, while the other two judges scored it 77–75 and 78–74 in favor of Paul.

Paul vs. Woodley II

Tommy Fury Tommy Fury (born 7 May 1999) is a British professional boxer and reality television personality. He took time off from his boxing career in 2019 to star in the fifth series of the ITV2 dating reality television show ''Love Island''. Along with ...

was originally scheduled to fight Paul, but pulled out of the bout due to medical issues. It was announced that Tyron Woodley would replace Fury in the fight, a rematch of their previous bout in Ohio back in August. The pair fought the rematch in Tampa, Florida on December 18, 2021. Paul defeated Woodley via KO at 2:12 of the 6th round. At the time of the stoppage, Paul was winning the bout with the scores of 49–46 (twice) and 48–46. The knockout was awarded KO of the year by both DAZN and ESPN.

Paul vs. Silva

On September 6, 2022, a fight between Paul and former UFC champion Anderson Silva was announced for October 29, it being contested at 187 pounds over eight three-minute rounds. On the night of the fight, Paul defeated Silva by unanimous decision with the scores of 78–73 (twice) and 77–74.

Cancelled bouts

Paul vs. Rahman Jr.

Tommy Fury was originally scheduled to fight Paul again, but pulled out of the bout due to travel issues. It was announced on July 7 that

Hasim Rahman Jr. Hasim Sharif Rahman Jr. (born June 15, 1991) is an American professional boxer who challenged for the WBC-USNBC heavyweight title in April 2022. He is the son of former heavyweight champion boxer Hasim Rahman. Early life Hasim Sharif Rahman ...

would replace Fury in the fight. The fight was set for August 6, 2022, at the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

in New York City, New York. On July 30, it was announced that the bout would be cancelled due to "weight-issues" and that all sales towards the fight would be refunded.

Controversies and legal issues

Content controversies

On January 3, 2018, Paul uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled "I lost my virginity" which used a

thumbnail Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures or videos, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words. In the age of digital images, visual search engines and image- ...

of himself and his then-girlfriend

Erika Costell Erika Michaelanne Costell (born November 12, 1992) is an American Internet personality. Costell’s career began when she became associated with Team 10, an influencer marketing management agency. After dating YouTuber Jake Paul and featuring ...

posing semi-nude on top of each other. The video was age-restricted by YouTube as a result, and critics such as Keemstar criticized the thumbnail as being inappropriate for his younger audience. The thumbnail was later changed with both Paul and Costell fully clothed and not touching each other. Two days later, on January 5, TMZ revealed a video in which Paul used the racial epithet "

nigga ''Nigga'' () is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and Afric ...

" multiple times while

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

ping. On November 29, 2020, Paul sparked frustration after stating he paved the way for content house creation and boxing matches between high-profile social media stars. Many objected to Paul's claim, observing that he did not create the first content house, nor was he the first YouTube star to fight in a boxing match.

Scam allegations

On January 3, 2018, Paul started the website Edfluence, a program claiming to teach younger people how to be successful, learn life skills, and earn money online. The course cost US$7 per user, which would allow the user to unlock a series of videos for a "roadmap" to success as an influencer. However, the seven dollars did not unlock the entire program, but only gave a few basic tips. Paul also promised his audience that if they joined the course, they would get to join "Team 1000", which did not happen. Following the situation, Paul was accused of scamming young followers and stealing their money. Then, two years later, on January 31, 2020, Edfluence was shut down, which stopped the course permanently. On February 15, Paul announced that he would partner with Los Angeles-based brand development group GenZ Holdings Inc. to create a $19.99-per-month platform aimed at teaching children how to build an online presence. "The Financial Freedom Movement" promises to give subscribers access to "Jake Paul’s personal experience, rituals and secret formula" and "cutting edge mentorship, coaching, and training". The program has been criticized by some, with one interviewer questioning whether it would send a dangerous message to his young fanbase. On January 3, 2019, Paul, along with fellow YouTuber RiceGum, came under fire for promoting ''MysteryBrand'', a website that offers the chance to open a digital "mystery box" of pre-selected items with a promise to win one in real life at random. Many users have said they have not received prizes they won through the site. On February 18, 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It ...

company SafeMoon that alleged the company is a

pump and dump Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the opera ...

scheme, Paul was named as a defendant along with musician

Nick Carter Nick or Nicholas Carter may refer to: Athletes * Nick Carter (athlete) (1902–1997), track and field athlete from United States, who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics * Nick Carter (baseball) (1879–1961), Major League Baseball pitcher for t ...

, rappers

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single " Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peak ...

and

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles " One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

, and social media personality Ben Phillips for promoting the SafeMoon token on their social media accounts with misleading information as part of the 2022 Safemoon fraud allegations. On the same day, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the

Securities Act of 1933 The Securities Act of 1933, also known as the 1933 Act, the Securities Act, the Truth in Securities Act, the Federal Securities Act, and the '33 Act, was enacted by the United States Congress on May 27, 1933, during the Great Depression and afte ...

extends to targeted solicitation using social media. In March 2022, YouTuber Coffeezilla uploaded a video in which he accused Paul of using cryptocurrency and

non-fungible token A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

s to scam his fans out of $2.2 million.

Party complaints, public nuisance lawsuits, and COVID-19

In addition to the 2017 public complaints that eventually led to Paul's dismissal from ''Bizaardvark'', Paul's neighbors in the

Beverly Grove Beverly Grove is a neighborhood within the Fairfax District, Los Angeles, Beverly–Fairfax neighborhood in the Mid-City West, Los Angeles, Mid-City West area of Los Angeles, California. Geography City of Los Angeles The term "Beverly Grove" was ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles filed a class-action public nuisance lawsuit against Paul. This came after Paul made his home address public, leading crowds of fans to gather outside Paul's residence, and noise complaints by neighbors.Barragan, Bianca; Chandler, Jerry (July 24, 2017)
"Social media ‘star’ Jake Paul renting $17K/month McMansion and driving neighbors mad"
.

Curbed ''Curbed'' is an American real estate and urban design website founded as a blog by Lockhart Steele in 2006. The full website, founded in 2010, featured sub-pages dedicated to specific real estate markets and metropolitan areas across the U ...

.Wolfe, Chris (July 17, 2017)
"In Beverly Grove, Social Media Star Jake Paul’s Antics Stir Up The Neighborhood"
.

(Los Angeles). On April 24, 2018, it was reported that Paul was being sued by Cobra Acquisitions, the company that owns the house, for $2.5 million. On February 23, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Paul was involved in an altercation with British singer Zayn Malik at

Westgate Westgate or West Gate may refer to: Companies * Westgate Resorts, a real estate company and timeshare company * Westgate Department Stores, the department store division of Anglia Regional Co-operative Society in the United Kingdom Events * Westg ...

, the hotel near the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 199 ...

at which the two were staying. Paul and Malik's rooms were right across from each other and when Paul's older brother, Logan, went to Paul's hotel room, an argument broke out between Malik and Paul because Paul believed Malik was using a rude tone. Following the interaction, Paul posted about it on Twitter, which drew attention from Malik's girlfriend and American model

Gigi Hadid Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid ( ; born April 23, 1995) is an American model and television personality. In November 2014, she made her debut in the Top 50 Models ranking at Models.com. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the ...

. Paul later deleted his tweets which criticized Malik and then posted another tweet stating that he tweeted about the incident since he was drunk, acknowledging the fact in a tweet later in the day, writing, "someone needs to take my phone when i'm drunk because I am a fucking idiot". Logan released the video footage on the 161st episode of his podcast, '' Impaulsive'', in which he explained the whole situation. On July 11, 2020, Paul threw a large party at his home in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.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 identified ...

. Dozens of people attended without wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. After complaints from neighbors and videos surfaced on social media, Calabasas mayor Alicia Weintraub expressed outrage, saying, "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." She continued, saying, "It's really just a party acting like COVID does not exist, it's acting that businesses aren't closed". She later added that the city was looking into "all of our options" regarding penalties for Paul and the attendees of the party. On November 25, 2020, Paul attracted further COVID-related controversy due to statements in an interview with ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

''. When interviewer Marlow Stern asked Paul if he regretted his words and actions regarding the July 11 party, Paul responded by saying that COVID-19 was a "

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

", also stating that "98 percent of news

bout COVID-19 Bout can mean: People *Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer *Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland *Marcel Bout Musical instruments * The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrumen ...

is fake", and that he believed the measures against COVID-19 in the United States should end, calling them "the most detrimental thing to our society." He then incorrectly stated that the flu had killed as many people in the United States in 2020 as COVID-19 did, and claimed that "Medical professionals have ecentlyalso said that masks do absolutely nothing to prevent the spread of coronavirus"; he later referred to said professionals as "dozens of my medical friends." When Stern tried to question his claims, Paul told Stern "You're arrogant. You're very arrogant", "you want clickbait", and "I've never even heard of you." The interview sparked condemnation from various individuals and media outlets, such as '' Page Six'', and fellow YouTuber Tyler Oakley, who called Paul "aggressively ignorant" and "embarrassing."

Attending a riot at an Arizona mall and FBI raid

On May 30, 2020, Paul and a few of his friends came to have dinner at P. F. Chang's outside of Scottsdale Fashion Square in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, as part of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

, where it escalated quickly and people began looting the mall. Multiple instances of footage show Paul and his friends outside of a P. F. Chang's witnessing the riot and they made their way inside the mall where they documented the incident. People on social media criticized Paul for entering the mall and standing in the middle of the mall witnessing people looting stores. Paul later apologized on social media condemning the violence, and also denied the accusations of looting, instead saying he was filming as a public service for a future video. Paul said, "We filmed everything we saw in an effort to share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we travelled through; we were strictly documenting, not engaging." On June 4, 2020, Paul was charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly, both misdemeanor charges, for being in the mall during the riot. On August 5, 2020, Paul's Calabasas mansion was raided by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI). In a statement to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' the FBI stated, "The FBI is executing a federal search warrant at a residence in Calabasas in connection with an ongoing investigation." On the same day, the charges were dismissed without prejudice, the Scottsdale Police Department said it was "in the best interest of the community" and would allow a federal criminal investigation to be completed. Paul also explained in a now-deleted video that the raid was "completely related to the looting controversy". In August 2021 it was reported Paul would not face federal charges over the incident.

Sexual assault allegations

On April 9, 2021, a video was released by

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

personality Justine Paradise who alleged that Paul forced her into oral sex and touched her without her consent during an incident at the Team 10 House in 2019. Paul responded to the accusations, saying, "Sexual assault accusations aren't something that I, or anyone should ever take lightly, but to be crystal clear, this claim made against me is 100% false." In a later video Paradise stated she received harassment and death threats over the accusation. On April 22, 2021, an article about Paul in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' featured a second accusation by model and actress Railey Lollie, who had started working for Paul at 17, alleged that Paul would call her " jailbait", and at one point groped her.

Investigation in Puerto Rico

On May 15, 2021, Paul was investigated by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources for riding a motorized vehicle on

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

's beaches, seen on a video that was posted online but then removed. It is illegal to ride motorized vehicles on Puerto Rico's beaches in order to protect natural wildlife such as sea turtles. Paul apologized stating he had intended no harm.

Personal life

Paul has English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Jewish, French and German ancestry. Paul has a net worth of approximately $17–30 million. In January 2022,

announced that Paul made approximately $38 million from boxing in 2021, making him the 46th highest paid athlete in the world for that period. Paul began dating fellow American YouTuber and internet personality

Tana Mongeau Tana Marie Mongeau ( , born June 24, 1998) is an American Internet personality. She is known to make "storytime" videos and similar content posted to her YouTube channel. Early life Tana Mongeau was born on June 24, 1998, to Rick and Rebecca ...

in April 2019. In June 2019, the couple announced that they were engaged, although many fans and commentators did not believe that the engagement was legitimate. On July 28 of that year, Paul and Mongeau exchanged vows in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. '' InTouch'' later reported that the couple had not obtained a

marriage license A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdict ...

prior to the ceremony and that the officiant was also not licensed by the state of Nevada. As a result, the marriage was not legally binding. Buzzfeed reported that Paul and Mongeau left the ceremony separately. The ceremony, which was available on

for $50, was recorded by MTV for the show ''No Filter: Tana Mongeau''. On an episode of the show, Mongeau stated that the ceremony was something "fun and lighthearted that we're obviously doing for fun and for content." The couple announced their break-up in January 2020.

Boxing record

Professional

Amateur

Pay-per-view bouts

Boxing

Main Event

Co-Main Event

Filmography

Film

Television

Web shows

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Bibliography

*Paul, Jake. ''You Gotta Want It'', , Gallery Books 2016 (memoir)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Jake 1997 births 21st-century American comedians American male boxers American conspiracy theorists American male child actors American male comedians American male film actors American male rappers American male television actors American people of English descent American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Irish descent American people of Welsh descent American TikTokers American YouTubers Boxers from Ohio Cruiserweight boxers YouTube boxers Internet-related controversies Living people Male actors from Cleveland Male bloggers American male YouTubers Mass media people from Ohio Music YouTubers Musicians from Cleveland Rappers from Cleveland Rappers from Ohio Video bloggers Vine (service) celebrities YouTube controversies People from Westlake, Ohio American video bloggers