- Trisha Paytas is one of the biggest names on YouTube. She has over 5 million subscribers on her channels and has been on the platform for over a decade.
- She posts Mukbangs, intimate personal vlogs from her kitchen floor, and has been in more public feuds than maybe any other influencer.
- Drama seems to have followed her through the various twists and turns of her career, and she’s shared every second with her fans.
- In her recent videos, she claimed to be transgender, married a cardboard cutout of Brad Pitt, and said she has Dissociative identity disorder.
- Here’s the lowdown on some of the most memorable parts of Paytas’ career so far, because it would be impossible to name them all.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Trisha Paytas has been an incredibly compelling character to watch on YouTube since she created her account blndsundoll4mj in 2007. For over a decade she’s posted Mukbangs, hysterical personal vlogs from her kitchen floor, and gotten into more public feuds than maybe any other influencer.
In her 12 years on the platform, Paytas has grown a following of 4.9 million subscribers on her main account and 1.36 million on her separate vlog channel. No matter who she’s dating or who she’s arguing with, her subscribers can’t get enough, and she’s penetrated nearly every corner of the online world. She even manages to make a video about cooking scrambled eggs entertaining.
In some of her latest videos, she has claimed be transgender and to have Dissociative identity disorder. The latter, in a video called “MEET MY ALTERS,” angered a lot of people because she made some sweeping statements about multiple personalities and spread misinformation about the disorder.
A self-confessed troll, Paytas is always trying to get featured on YouTube gossip aficionado Keemstar’s show “DramaAlert” and every decision she makes seems to get people talking. She told Insider the last 12 years have been amazing, and she has always “wanted to be known.”
"I never cared about being rich or anything (still don't)," she said. "I just had (have) this constant need for attention. Maybe that's a bad thing, maybe not, but it's how I thrive."
Here's the lowdown on some of the most memorable parts of Paytas' career so far, to help explain why she's one of the most iconic and persistent people to ever grace YouTube with their presence.
Trisha Paytas started her YouTube account as a dedication to her hero Quentin Tarantino.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
When Paytas started her channel, it was devoted to counting down the days to Quentin Tarantino film "Inglorious Basterds" and reading out her raps and poems dedicated to the director. But her content evolved over the next year or two to include dieting vlogs, dating and beauty advice, and even an attempt to try and break the world record for speed talking - a skill that got her an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
She followed many other different ventures early in her career.
Foto: Source: Theo Wargo / Getty
Back in 2010, Paytas claimed to be a tanning addict on an episode of "My Strange Addiction." In a YouTube video she further explained it helped with her "physical shape and acne." She's been cast in episodes of "Modern Family" and "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?", and the movie "Wunderlust" which starred Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston.
Paytas also appeared in the music videos of several artists including Eminem, Amy Winehouse, The All-American Rejects, and Les Savy Fav.
In 2013, she was a guest on Dr Phil and spoke out against people who criticize her looks in a segment called "girls who bash girls who dress sexy."
Her YouTube channel began to take off when she started posting more opinionated vlogs and comedy skits.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas began building more of an audience on YouTube when she started being more opinionated and experimenting with comedy skits, such as her video "Couples Therapy: Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson." She also received some attention for saying she was going to vote for Mitt Romney in 2012.
But some of her more controversial humor didn't go down well.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Her character Trishii, for example, was supposed to be a Japanese popstar. Trishii even made a music video, which was taken down due to the backlash. Paytas explained why in a video in 2012.
She's openly admitted to posting videos just for the clicks.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas has admitted that some of her more outlandish videos were posted just to get the clicks. She told Business Insider her support of Romney was one of those cases, as was a video where she claimed "dogs don't have brains."
She said she thought "dumbing [her]self down" would get her views, and she didn't realize that more people would watch "if I was just real and true to who I was."
Paytas has a close friendship with fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas told Insider she owes a lot of her success on YouTube to Shane Dawson. She said they first met when she was cast as a stripper in one of his early YouTube videos.
"I remember going to Shane's house for the shoot (this was years before we even became friends and made our own videos together), but I was like 'WHAT DO YOU DO?' straight up," she said. "He had this big house and was paying all these actors and crew to make videos and his mom told me it was all from YouTube."
Once Dawson told people about her, it opened up the doors to grow her following, she said.
"I think everyone was weirded out by me but once I got the co-sign from Shane, more people were open to getting to know me and collabing with me and that meant a lot," she said. "Before that, I was about getting my face out on mainstream media wherever I could."
As well as "Ellen," Paytas appeared on "America's Got Talent" and "Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!" just to get her face out there.
"To this day, I try not to say no to any opportunity to be introduced to a new audience," she said. "The platform is always changing, growing and getting more and more saturated - you have to stay ahead of it all."
She's also had a pretty lucrative music career.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
In November 2014, Paytas started her musical career with her first single, a cover of Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby." The next April she released a video for a cover of Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation," followed by an original song called "Fat Chicks" in May 2015.
"No one comes right out and says it: fat," she said. "It's like this taboo word that people do take offense to, including me at one point, but why?" Paytas told Business Insider at the time.
"It's really just me taking a word that so many people describe me as and throwing it away ... Like, I'm fat fat fat fat, is that good now? Can we stop talking about that in every video I post and every picture I take?"
Paytas has nine albums in total.
She has even written some religious pop as an ode to her faith as a Roman Catholic.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
In 2017, Paytas released "A Jesus Bop" and "I Love You Jesus," as an ode to her faith as a devout Roman Catholic. These tracks were followed up with "A Christmas Jesus Bop" in 2018 and "Jesus Rises (Easter Song)" in 2019.
The video for "A Jesus Bop" features a YouTuber who calls himself Jesus Christ, who used to make money on Fiverr reading out statements from fans.
Paytas has written 11 books in total, experimenting with poetry, novels, and an autobiography.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas has released 11 books, her first of which is titled "The History of My Insanity," released in 2013. Her latest book, "101 Poems About My Ex-Boyfriend," has just been published.
She also appeared on "Celebrity Big Brother" in the UK, but walked out of the house on the 11th day.
Foto: Source: Mike Marsland / Getty
In 2017, Paytas spoke about her experience in the house on Twitter and in two YouTube videos. She said it was the "worst experience" of her life and everyone who was in the house with her was "fake." She called Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding "trash," said "Ex On The Beach" contestant Jemma Lucy was "extremely aggressive," and that former "Hollyoaks" actor Paul Danan was a "fake ass."
She once decided she did not want to identify as a person.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
In 2017, Paytas uploaded a video called "i'm no longer a person" where she walked around in her underwear and said she didn't want to be identified as Trisha, a female, or anything anymore.
"Because I no longer have an identity," she said. "I don't want to be made fun of or compared to my videos because they are no longer me. I am stepping back from a persona, from a person that is Trish."
She also said people shouldn't wear clothes.
Paytas has dated several public figures.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas dated Michael Anthony Hall from 2008 to 2013, then Roger Bart from 2013 to 2015. She talked about a lot of her past relationships in a video titled "WHO WAS MY WORST BOYFRIEND EVER?"
The first high profile relationship Paytas had on YouTube that people really started paying attention to was with Sean van der Wilt.
Foto: Source: Sean van der Wilt / YouTube
In 2015, Paytas started dated musician and performer Sean van der Wilt. They released a song together called "Playground" which has over 4 million views on YouTube. They also posted the now notorious video together called "Showering with my Boyfriend!"
They were together about a year until December 2016.
The breakup of Paytas and van der Wilt was full of controversy.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
In 2016, Paytas publicly announced she and van der Wilt had split up in a video where she filmed herself crying on her kitchen floor - a trend she would soon become famous for.
The video, which was released in December 2016, was titled "he cheated. i'm done."
She posted a subsequent video, "Sean Van Der Wilt Is Gay," where she revealed van der Wilt had kissed another man in a club. Paytas then received a lot of criticism from people saying she had publicly outed someone without their consent.
A few days after their breakup, Paytas posted a video saying she was a "chicken nugget."
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas took the breakup and the criticism hard, because she posted a confusing YouTube video titled "im a chicken nugget" a few days later. It has over a million views.
"When you feel like a chicken nugget, you feel like ... not delicious," Paytas said to the camera. "Well, you feel delicious, but you also feel, like, fried. And fake on the inside ... I'm pink goop and now I'm a chicken nugget."
She added: "I don't think I should be considered crazy for identifying as such."
Paytas shares so much on her channel because YouTube is the only place she feels heard.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
When Insider asked whether talking to her subscribers through the camera helps her work through what she's feeling, Paytas said "absolutely!"
"Some people say I overshare but it's the only place I truly feel heard," she said. "I know now there are people out there who get exactly what I'm thinking, feeling, etc, even if my own IRL [in real life] friends and family don't get it."
She said sometimes she feels "so alone," so putting herself out there "so raw" helps her connect to the hundreds of others who are going through the same thing, even though some call her "crazy" or diagnose her with a mental illnesses.
"We all are just trying to survive and the more we are open and talk about our struggles, the more other people will feel comforted and feel it's OK and they will get through the day, the week, the year as well," she said. "The best part about recording myself at my lowest, is I always come out of the darkness and I can show others, as well as myself, it always gets better."
She can look back at videos six months ago to see how much her life has improved, she said.
"There will always be ups and downs in life, it's how we deal with the downs that makes our ups that much more glorious," she said. "No one should judge anyone on how they deal and process their feelings."
Paytas also has a complicated history with Aaron Carter.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / Instagram
Paytas has known noughties teen icon Aaron Carter for several years. They recently appeared in an Instagram Live video together, leading people to believe they were in a relationship. But the two have a rocky history.
On August 8 this year, Paytas tweeted that she had "hooked up" with Carter and he'd unfollowed her which led to a Twitter war of exposing each other's DMs. But the two appear to have made up, with Paytas tweeting they are like brother and sister.
Paytas also dated Viner turned YouTuber Jason Nash.
Foto: Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Paytas dated Jason Nash, a member of David Dobrik's Vlog Squad, on-and-off for about a year. During their turbulent relationship, Paytas featured heavily in Dobrik's famous vlogs. They also made a music video together.
Paytas and Nash broke up briefly a few times because of arguments, one time because Paytas thought Nash called her overweight, and another because Nash kept making jokes about having a threesome with Tana Mongeau. They made response videos about each other's behavior before rekindling their romance both times.
Paytas and Nash broke up in February, which was hard for her.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas revealed in May this year that she and Nash had broken up for a final time in February in another emotional kitchen floor video. She said they had fallen out and Nash had stopped speaking to her. She also said she had started going to therapy to work through some of her issues with trust and insecurity.
After their relationship ended via a FaceTime call, Paytas said she accidentally mixed alcohol with pills and ended up in the hospital.
After posting the video, Paytas tweeted people who were saying they had found Nash on Tinder saying he had "every right" to be there. She said Nash "deserves nothing but the best" and "I never deserved Jason and I treated him poorly."
She said it's incredibly hard experiencing relationships and breakups in the public eye.
Foto: Source: Jason Nash / YouTube
"This is the hardest thing I've ever dealt with online," Paytas told Insider about having a relationship on YouTube. "Having people constantly weigh in on your relationship - it just doesn't work."
She said the constant comments and assumptions eventually end up killing the relationship because of the insecurities they create.
"So many people called my relationship toxic or they would tell me my ex wouldn't be in to me, so I started believing that and getting insecure with it," she said. "The breakup was even worse - people dig and dig and dig at you constantly. Whether it's ill intent or not, they will always give you updates on your ex, telling you what he's doing, who he's with, what's being said, what's not being said, what's being insinuated."
She said she struggles to look past the comments, which she still gets every day, making it even harder to move on.
"It's tough but its slowly dying down," she said. "People get over things, it's just those few that want to keep drudging up the past. I am a person who already has a hard time getting over people so having that added peanut gallery has definitely slowed down my normal process of healing heartbreak."
Despite the pain, Paytas said she has turned the experience into something positive - publishing poems, recording an album, and going on her "Heartbreak Tour."
"You might as well monetize your heartbreak if the whole internet won't let it go," she said. "At least I can try and use it to my advantage the best I can.
"It's easier to do all that once your heart is healed, though. Months ago, I know I could never! I would break down for sure. But now it's like a chapter in my life and it just feels like I'm writing it down as if it wasn't my life, as if it was characters in a movie. Kind of therapeutic on that note actually!"
Despite staying friends initially, their relationship soured and Paytas spoke out against Nash and the Vlog Squad several times.
Foto: Source: David Dobrik / YouTube
Paytas has released several videos since she broke up with Nash, claiming that he only broke up with her because Dobrik, who she compared to Ted Bundy, told him to.
She has also made several other claims about the Vlog Squad, most notably in a recent video titled "HOW DAVID DOBRIK + THE VLOG SQUAD RUINED MY LIFE" where she talked about one member, Jeff Wittek, ignoring her in a Starbucks.
She also addressed another claim she made in a deleted video that another Vlog Squad member, Brandon Calvillo, was dating a 17-year-old - which Calvillo later denied.
Paytas has confusingly changed her opinion of Dobrik and the Vlog Squad multiple times. She recently commented on one of Dobrik's Instagram photos, saying "Ur so hot. Can we f--- tho ?"
In May, Paytas also got into an emotional feud with h3h3's Ethan Klein.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas tearfully called out Ethan Klein, A YouTuber who runs the h3h3 podcast, for fat-shaming her in a video, saying he was "harming young girls."
Klein made a video titled "Instagram vs. Reality" where he said influencers had a problem with photoshopping their pictures, and editing beyond recognition was harmful. Paytas responded saying the fact he used her images and called influencers like Tana Mongeau a "whale" was damaging.
In tweets, Paytas called Klein a "disgusting piece of s---."
"Hey @h3h3productions - I was suicidal at age 13, 15, 19, 22, and 25 over comments like yours," she wrote. "You went beyond opinions, you are going for extreme bullying that could lead to many girls wanting to take their lives like I did for so many years."
Klein responded to Paytas saying: "Who is this rude person? I don't recognize her from her profile picture. Anyone know?"
Paytas also has a complicated relationship with YouTube's most popular gossip channel host, Keemstar.
Foto: Source: DramaAlert / YouTube
Keemstar hosts YouTube's most prominent gossip channel DramaAlert, where Paytas has been a common topic of conversation.
Most recently, they got into a Twitter fight when Keemstar brought up Paytas' previous struggles with addiction. He quote-tweeted someone who said they had recovered from a crystal meth addiction, saying "Congrats! Hopefully this gives some inspiration to @trishapaytas!"
Paytas responded saying "@KEEMSTAR is a literal devil bringing up my drug addiction and sh*t. Ur bullying causes actual death. This isn't cute. Get ur sh*t together."
Keemstar also covered a story of another YouTuber called Nikocado Avocado.
Foto: Source: Nikocado Avocado / YouTube
In May, a video by a YouTuber called Nikocado Avocado went viral, racking up over 2.7 million views, titled "Exposing Trisha Paytas With Receipts." Nikocado Avocado explained that he and Paytas were supposed to film together several years ago, but she had ghosted him. Then she proceeded to criticize him publicly in several livestreams and videos, and he'd had enough of it. So he made all of their DMs public.
Keemstar said Paytas was "cancelled" as a result of the video coming out, because it had exposed her as a liar and a manipulator.
Paytas and Nikocado Avocado made up a few months later and did Mukbangs together.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas initially denied any claims of wrongdoing, even telling Perez Hilton there was nothing wrong with ghosting someone. But she later backtracked on this, saying she was going through a tough time in May due to her breakup with Nash.
Paytas then filmed videos with Nikocado Avocado on both their channels where they ate take-out food and discussed everything that went down between them.
In August, Paytas appeared on a YouTube show called "The Reality House."
Foto: Source: KianAndJc / YouTube
Paytas, along with several other YouTube stars, took part in a 10-part reality series where the last person to leave their shared house would win $25,000.
During her first few hours in the house, Paytas brought up how much she hated Jason Nash and David Dobrik, and then got into a fight with fellow contestant Dominic DeAngelis about a bed.
DeAngelis asked her for money, and she said she couldn't pay it because she was "broke." Then, just minutes later, she claimed to be worth $25 million.
"I have a f------ Patreon," she said.
Paytas recently appeared on Logan Paul's podcast.
Foto: Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwr74iIu2E
Paytas appeared on Logan Paul's "Impaulsive" podcast on September 13 where she talked about everything from her sex life, to her public spats with the Vlog Squad, to YouTube's biggest creator PewDiePie.
Mike Majlak said they had to cut some of what she said out because it was too outrageous, according to Dexerto.
"There was a lot of back-and-forth with her ex-team, the Vlog Squad, that, unfortunately, didn't make the cut," he said. "I think we try really hard to keep everything in these episodes, but when there are any kinds of crazy allegations or stuff that we don't see there being evidence to support, we cut that stuff out, and this was one of those episodes."
Paytas also criticized PewDiePie, saying she hated him.
"Ew. F--- him and his declining views," she said, saying he did a video about her even though she's "irrelevant."
"PewDiePie, f--- all the way off," she said. "You're disgusting, your humor sucks, and you should stick to playing video games. F--- PewDiePie, I hate him."
Paytas sometimes stays out of drama for a few months.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas finished a tour around the US in 2019 where she performed music for her fans, including an ambitious rendition of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "Shallow."
She also posted some video challenges on YouTube which are reminiscent of her old content, like "I only ate PINK food for 24 HOURS Challenge!" and "Only Eating Recommended Serving Sizes for a Day! (IMPOSSIBLE 24 HOUR FOOD CHALLENGE)."
Paytas told Insider she's learned over the years that positive attention not only "feeds my soul and drives my ambition," but it also helps people.
"Being able to hear the stories of people who can relate to what I'm about or just people who have watched my videos and felt better in their own lives, that's the impact I've always wanted to make, " she said.
"I just never knew until this year. I have a platform and I love creating but helping others cope with the hardships of life, that's the most wonderful thing about being in the public eye."
On October 7, Paytas posted a video saying she is transgender.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
She posted a video titled "I AM TRANSGENDER (FEMALE TO MALE)" in which she said she's basically a gay man who likes to dress in drag, because she is attracted to other gay men, loves "glam" and "voluptuousness," and has "penis envy."
The video received a lot of criticism from people in the comments and on social media, who said she shouldn't make like of LGBTQ issues.
But Paytas insisted she wasn't trolling, and invited people to ask her questions on Instagram.
She doubled down on her claim when she appeared on an episode of "The Doctors," a "Dr Phil" spin-off.
"I've dated gay men, and this is what offended people in my video, when I date gay men, a lot of gay men think I'm not man enough because I don't have a penis," she said.
Then, after weeks of teasing an engagement, she got married to a cardboard cutout of Brad Pitt.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas / YouTube
Paytas finally revealed who she married in Las Vegas - a cardboard cutout of Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt.
Paytas announced her "engagement" in a YouTube video, then teased the upcoming event with the videos like "CALLING MY EX TO TELL HIM I'M GETTING MARRIED!" and dozens of posts on social media.
She disclosed very little about the mystery man, except that he was more private than her and she was going to keep the ceremony low-key. She then preceded to document every second and celebrate her nuptials on stage with magician Criss Angel.
In the "OFFICIAL WEDDING VIDEO" posted to YouTube on November 5, Paytas is walked down the aisle by her mother Lenna Paytas, who drops her off at the end of the conference room aisle next to a cardboard cutout of Brad Pitt.
"I never thought I would find someone who wouldn't leave me, and who wouldn't talk back to me and judge me for being crazy," Paytas said in her vows. "This is real and this means a lot. From the moment I got you in the mail, I knew this would last forever."
Paytas made a lingering feud with fellow YouTuber Gabbie Hanna public.
Foto: Source: Screenshot: Instagram/@jessismiles_, Instagram/@gabbiehanna, YouTube/blndsundoll4mj
In November, Paytas was involved in a convoluted drama with fellow YouTuber Gabbie Hanna. She uploaded a video and claimed, among many other things, that Hanna had harassed and slandered her.
It stemmed from an incident where Hanna told Paytas' then-boyfriend Jason Nash that Paytas had herpes - something Paytas denies.
Hanna defended her actions on Twitter, saying "it wasn't my business to know if trisha had herpes, i have no reason for her to tell me. it WAS my business to warn a friend that he might be at risk. know what i mean? asking her would just be gossip. telling him to be safe and find out is caring for his health. [sic]"
She apologized for accidentally uploading a video to TIkTok where she showed nudity.
Foto: Source: Screenshot YouTube/@blndsundoll4mj
Paytas posted a video of herself on TikTok in December where she was singing along to a song from the musical "Beetlejuice." But many viewers quickly realized she was nude underneath her unbuttoned dress.
The video was taken down and Paytas uploaded an apology video on her YouTube channel.
"My TikToks aren't sexy, I'm not trying to be sexy on TikTok," she said in the video. "There were two buttons that weren't buttoned down there. It wasn't explicit. To be fair, it wasn't my vagin*, it was above it, it was below the bellybutton area. Nevertheless, I deleted it immediately. I was mortified."
In March 2020, Paytas claimed to have Dissociative identity disorder.
Foto: Source: Trisha Paytas/YouTube
In a video titled "MEET MY ALTERS," Paytas claimed to have Dissociative identity disorder, which was formerly known as Multiple personality disorder.
She talked about having multiple distinct personalities called T, Trixie, Tyson, Tierney, and Tobolter, but was met with outrage because she spread misinformation about the disorder, diagnosed herself rather than going to a mental health professional, and used outdated and offensive terms.
YouTuber DissociaDID, who identifies as a DID system, outlined everything Paytas got wrong about the disorder in a detailed video. The alter presenting, called Nin, said Paytas was not very well educated on DID, and it was harmful for her to upload a video on it.
"It's hard to sit here and watch someone call me crazy and spread information that's very incorrect and damaging about our community, which undoes a lot of the hard work that me and a lot of other content creators in the DID community have done," Nin said.
Paytas then doubled down and posted another two videos. One was aimed at Anthony Padilla, while another claimed to catch her switching between alters on camera. Many people called her out for faking and making a mockery of vulnerable people who live with DID.
