Jeffrey R. Wittek (born December 15, 1989) is an American YouTuber,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

, and podcaster. He runs the series ''Jeff's Barbershop'' and the podcast, ''Jeff FM''.

Early life

Wittek was born in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he attended

Susan E. Wagner High School Susan E. Wagner High School is a New York City public school located at 1200 Manor Road in Staten Island, New York. The school is owned and run by the New York City Department of Education. It opened in September 1968, and was named in honor of ...

. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and as a teenager made money by working at local barbershops and also by selling drugs. He continued selling drugs after relocating to Miami, Florida, and was eventually arrested in 2011 for possession of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, cocaine, and a controlled substance, as well as illegal drug trafficking. The charges were dismissed for lack of a search warrant, after which he moved to Los Angeles, planning to buy marijuana in bulk and mail it back to New York City.

Career

2010: Bad Girls Club Season 5

Jeff made an appearance on ''Bad Girls Club'' in multiple episodes of Season 5. He was introduced as the crush one of the contestants, Erica.

2012–16: Early YouTube and 1600 Vine

Wittek started his YouTube account in 2011, but first became known for the Tumblr account he started in 2012, "Behind the Cuts", where he styled the hair of celebrities like

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

and Pauly D. He also posted hair styling and party pictures on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. Wittek's fame increased after his 2014 move to 1600 Vine, a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

apartment building known for housing internet celebrities like Jake Paul and Lele Pons. There he met the Vlog Squad. For three years starting in 2015, he dated actress Cierra Ramirez.

2017–19: The Vlog Squad and ''Jeff’s Barbershop''

He started filming episodes for his online talk show ''Jeff's Barbershop'' in 2019, and gained enough popularity to become a brand ambassador for Old Spice.

2020–present: Accident, ''Don’t Try This at Home'', Patreon, and Lawsuit

In June 2020, Wittek was injured in Utah while filming a stunt with

David Dobrik David Dobrik ( Dávid Julián Dobrík (; ; born July 23, 1996)) is a Slovak Internet personality. He found early success on the video-sharing platform Vine, before starting his vlog on YouTube in 2015. In 2019, he co-founded the photography app ...

and the Vlog Squad. Dobrik was illegally operating an

excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

in a shallow lake while Wittek swung from a rope attached to the end of the excavator arm. When Dobrik started spinning the rope too fast, Wittek hit the excavator and fell into the water upside down with his foot stuck in the rope. His skull was fractured in nine places, his left eye socket was fractured, his hip and foot were broken, and ligaments in his leg were torn. Wittek would continue to regularly film his ''Jeff’s Barbershop'' series without addressing the injuries. The docuseries ''Don’t Try This at Home'' was released in April 2021 after nearly ten months of speculation from the public, and comprised five episodes in which Wittek explained the circumstances surrounding the injury, described life in recovery from a near-fatal accident, and also spoke about how the incident affected his relationship with Dobrik. After releasing the first episode, Wittek pivoted to Patreon because the footage of his injuries was deemed too graphic for YouTube. His Patreon account gained 37,000 followers in the first 10 days, making him one of the most-followed creators on that platform and the highest-paid creator of 18+ content on the platform. In March 2022, it was revealed in leaked footage from an upcoming documentary by fellow YouTuber Casey Neistat and in an episode of Dobrik's "Views" podcast that David Dobrik was evidently blaming Jeff Wittek for the accident. Dobrik allegedly stated that the accident involving the excavator was the idea of Wittek and that he should be taking more responsibility, which Wittek quickly denied in a response video on the "JEFF FM" YouTube channel. Within his response, Wittek asserted he refused to appear on an episode of Dobrik's "Views" podcast, claiming that Dobrik would attempt to manipulate his words and editing into blaming Wittek for his physical and emotional trauma, along with a sense of discomfort around the individual that caused such suffering. In June 2022, it was revealed that Dobrik was being sued for $10 million by Jeff Wittek in relation to the 2020 accident. The lawsuit does not detail specifics for the myriad of injuries Wittek experienced, although in his 2021 docuseries, it was heavily mentioned that he faced the possibility of losing his eye, which is included in the suit. This is after claiming in February 2022 that he "almost died" the day of the accident. In response, Dobrik claims Wittek knew how risky the stunt was and can't blame him for his injuries, asking the judge to dismiss the complaint and award nothing to Jeff.

Awards and nominations

Streamy Awards

The YouTube Streamy Awards are an award show presented by Tubefilter which recognizes and honors excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented takes place in Los Angeles, California.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wittek, Jeff 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 1989 births American podcasters American YouTubers Comedy YouTubers Living people Patreon creators People from Staten Island YouTube controversies YouTube vloggers YouTubers from New York (state)