Michael John Buckley (born June 8, 1975) is an American former

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

. Noted for his vlog ''What the Buck!?'', Buckley commented on pop culture events and celebrities, at one point holding one of

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 ...

's most popular entertainment channels. Buckley "broke all records" of YouTube ratings when four of his shows ended up on the week's ten top-rated videos. He has appeared in magazines and newspapers such as ''

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'' discussing Internet

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

ship and ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'' discussing

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

on the Internet. In 2008, he won a YouTube Award for best commentary with the video "

LonelyGirl15 ''Lonelygirl15'' is an American science fiction thriller web series created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried, and Amanda Goodfried. It was independently released on YouTube from June 16, 2006 to August 1, 2008, and was also brief ...

is Dead!"

Early life

Buckley is one of three children, and is a fraternal twin. He moved to his parents' summer home on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

after graduating from

Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889, it is the third-oldest Catholic college in New England. Named for Saint Anselm of Canterbury (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to ...

Goffstown, New Hampshire Goffstown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Goffst ...

with a degree in psychology. He began working at a

group home A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children ...

for children with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

. He worked at Harwich Junior Theatre where he directed and choreographed Into the Woods and Leader of the Pack. He starred in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Little Women at HJT. In 2002, he moved back to Connecticut and started a "normal 9–5 office job" at

Livenation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainmen ...

. After appearing on television with his friend Kristin Tierney for a fund-raising drive for

CPTV Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses fo ...

the two decided to create a

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV chat show called ''Table for Two'' at Wallingford Public Access, the local public-access television studio in July 2005.

Career

''What the Buck?!'' began as a small weekly segment on ''Table for Two'' and gave him "a chance to riff and rant on his own". His cousin then posted some on YouTube and "it snowballed". Buckley started building a following on MySpace and started his YouTube channel in May 2006, with his main focus centered on celebrities and pop culture, often satirizing and parodying them. On September 11, 2008, he quit his low-paying day job as an administrative assistant for Live Nation, a music promotion company and began earning more money as an online entertainer. ''Edge Boston'' summarized his work as: "Three or four times a week, he uploads his slickly made commentaries on celebrities and pop culture that are amongst the snarkiest to be found on the web." His high-energy and rapid-fire delivery and style has been described as being "irreverent, fast-talking, pop-culture-obsessed"; he has been likened to "a living can of

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

." He was one of the most subscribed vloggers rising to be the second most popular comedian within the first five months of posting. His online success has led to more mainstream media work including

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

Leeza Gibbons Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. She is best known as a correspondent and co-host for ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1984–2000) as well as for having her own syndicated daytime talk show, ''Leeza'' (1993–20 ...

's syndicated radio show, a regular guest spot on

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

' weekly gossip show ''Lips & Ears'' and '' Red Eye''. Courtney Friel, host of ''Lips & Ears'', came across ''What the Buck?!'' and invited Buckley onto the show, "The beauty of YouTube ... is that they have complete creative freedom." On September 6, 2007, "The

Top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

Bottom Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...

) Gays of YouTube!", the first all-gay collaboration video by YouTube's most subscribed video

bloggers A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, was posted by Buckley to create a "YouTube

gay village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establish ...

". Featuring James Majesty, Chris Crocker,

William Sledd William Lynn Sledd (born October 11, 1983) is an American internet celebrity and former video blogger. His vlogs, which included the popular "Ask A Gay Man" series launched in 2006, made him one of the first YouTube celebrities. William's YouTub ...

, and "Gay God" (Matthew Lush), the video consisted of each of the four bloggers commenting on the others'

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 ...

ging, with Buckley acting as host for the various outtakes. On April 23, 2008, Buckley began to broadcast regular live shows on the social broadcasting website,

BlogTV BlogTV was a live-streaming video blog service reintroduced by MadCow Disease Media LLC, in January 2016. BlogTV was first established in Ramat Gan, Israel in January 2004 by founders Ilan Ben-Dov, Dan Chen, Guy Eliav, Nir Ofir, and Oren Levy as ...

. His live shows have already been viewed by over 200,000 people. He moved from

YouNow YouNow is a American broadcasting service where users stream their own live video content or interact with the video streams of other users in real time. The service is available on its website, on Android and iOS apps. As of August 2015, the ...

and appeared Tuesday nights at 5 pm Eastern, but has stopped YouNow broadcasting and switched to ConnecTV, a site where users can text chat about TV shows live. He has started a YouTube channel titled ''BuckNews'', a spinoff of ''What the Buck?!'' in which he included content that did not make his main show. Additionally, Buckley has introduced two spin-off shows (''Pass the Buck'' and ''Buck Factor'') which promoted the interaction between him and his fans, but no longer produces these. He has since closed his account "''BuckNews''". In March 2010, Buckley was nominated for a Streamy award in the category of "Best Web Series Host". Additionally Michael has created a new show titled "Dear Buck" where he answers questions posted on his website, Twitter, Facebook, and/or previous Dear Buck shows. In August 2010, he hosted the red carpet section of the 2010 Teen Choice Awards which was streamed live on the internet. During this he interviewed celebrities, television stars and web stars such as James Majesty. In June 2011, he took part in the "Who is my YouTube Date?" project hosted by Luke Cutforth. He was a guest judge on Genuine Ken with

Whitney Port Whitney Eve Port-Rosenman (born March 4, 1985) is an American television personality, fashion designer and author. In 2006, Port came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series '' The Hills'', which chronicled the personal an ...

. In September 2011, Buckley had a guest appearance as himself in the sitcom ''

Husbands A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures, ...

''. From March 2012 -October 2013. he hosted on myISH's ISHlist, a web series that counts down the top music videos in a particular genre or theme. In July 2012, Buckley was named the winner of the "Coast-to-Coast Co-Host Search" on ''

Live! with Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

''; he co-hosted the morning show alongside

Kelly Ripa Kelly Ripa (; born October 2, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. Since 2001, she has been the co-host of the syndicated morning talk show '' Live! with Kelly and Ryan'' in various formats. As an actress, Ripa's best known roles ...

on Tuesday, July 24. From September 2012- April 2013, he worked live chatting on ConnecTV, an app used for chatting about TV shows on a channel. With Buck uploading videos he has currently 395 Million views as of August 2014. In 2014, Buckley was listed on

New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fund ...

Top 100 Channels, ranked at #90. In 2017, Buckley published the instructional book titled ''HELP! My Kid Wants to Become a YouTuber!''

''What the Buck!?''

''What the Buck?!'' is a celebrity gossip and comedy series of short videos created and posted on YouTube by Michael Buckley. The series featured Buckley who poked fun at celebrities, often making jokes while reporting on pop-culture news. The series started in 2005 on a public-access cable TV show called ''Table for Two''. Later, clips were posted on MySpace, as well as on a YouTube channel called peron75 where it reached many more people. The show moved from Cable TV to YouTube, and by May 1, 2007, the ''What the Buck?!'' show had its own dedicated channel called 'WHATTHEBUCKSHOW". By 2008, the ''What the Buck?!'' YouTube channel was one of the top 10 most-subscribed-to YouTube channels, where it remained for about two years. The show had a peak of 1.43 million combined channel subscribers and 464 million total episode views. The last episode was posted to YouTube on July 1, 2016, when Buckley canceled the show in a video titled "The End".

''Minisode Maniac!'' with ''What the Buck?!''

In January 2009, Buckley became 'The Minisode Maniac' by discussing and promoting

The Minisode Network The Minisode Network (later known as Crackle Minisodes) was a Sony Pictures Television internet television network launched in June 2007. The term ''minisode'' is a portmanteau of "mini" and "episode". Unlike webisodes, which are initially broadc ...

's content on the Minisode's YouTube page and

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snac ...

. Michael officially posted his last Minisode Maniac episode in mid-February. To celebrate he ran around his backyard in a speedo in the snow.

Personal life

Buckley is

pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofl ...

and divorced. He lived in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

with his former husband until 2017, and filmed the ''What the Buck?!'' show in his house there. As of December 2017, he lives in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to be close to his twin sister Debbie. To show his fans his "softer side", he began to

about his home life on his ''peron75'' YouTube channel, and used to appear live on

References

External links

Michael "The Mad Chatter" Buckley's Official Twitter

Michael Buckley's Official Tumblr (BuckHollywood)

WHAT THE BUCK?! YouTube Channel

Michael Buckley's Personal YouTube Channel

Michael Buckley's Live Shows (on BlogTV)

BuckNews YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Michael 1975 births Living people American male bloggers American bloggers American Internet celebrities American male comedians LGBT comedians American LGBT entertainers People from Wallingford, Connecticut LGBT people from Connecticut Video bloggers Fullscreen (company) people Saint Anselm College alumni American twins 21st-century American comedians Pansexual entertainers Pansexual men 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people LGBT YouTubers