Who is ProJared? YouTube star accused of sexually soliciting fans
Popular YouTuber Jared ‘ProJared’ Knabenbauer has been accused infidelity, as well as soliciting and receiving nude photos from fans, with one claiming to have been underage at the time.
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Knabenbauer’s alleged infidelity was originally brought into the spotlight by his wife, popular cosplayer Heidi O’Ferrall, on May 9 after she accused him of having cheated on her during their relationship in a lengthy Twitter thread.
O’Ferrall documented ProJared’s alleged illicit interactions with some fans, which included – and was not limited to – receiving and sending nude images via a SnapChat account and Tumblr page. The Tumblr page had originally been created to be a “body-positive space for consenting adults,” according to O’Ferrall.
Prior to the allegations being made by his wife on Twitter, ProJared had revealed that the pair had filed for a divorce.
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The YouTuber reached over one million subscribers on his ProJared YouTube channel.
One fan, who chose to speak up about their interactions with ProJared, claims to have been underage at the time of sharing photos and that they were not alone in that situation.
The fan, known only as Charlie, posted a statement that said they shared photos with the YouTuber after being a “really, really big fan” between the ages of 15-16.
Kotaku reports that another Twitter user, Chai, stated in a now-deleted post: “ProJared sexually manipulated me via Tumblr when I was 16. I believe Heidi, and I believe every other victim.”
Charlie claims to be a friend of Chai’s and says that the two of them compiled a document of evidence against the YouTuber, but does not recall ProJared asking about their age when sharing the images, claiming to have received compliments about their looks.
hey, im going to come out with my experience with jared. i will be posting evidence in this thread. pic.twitter.com/Pw0AwcjSlG
— charlie ლ(╹◡╹ლ) (@swampborzoi) May 9, 2019
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Who is ProJared?
The YouTuber started his ProJared channel on the platform back in 2013, making Let’s Play content and reviews before skyrocketing in growth. His review videos became hits with fans, as his most popular video – ‘Worst Console Ever’ – reached 7.5 million views.
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Like many creators, a growth in popularity can be used to spin off into a second channel where content can become focused on something else. The ProJared Plays! account was launched in June 2014 – focusing solely on ‘Let’s Play’s’ of games like Mega Man, Legend of Zelda, and even Dungeon’s and Dragons.
While the ProJared Plays channel may not have reached the subscriber levels of his main ProJared channel, as of the time of writing, it had more recent videos. The ProJared account had not had an upload since late December 2018.
The YouTuber has not uploaded to their main channel since December.
ProJared dropped by network
Since the allegations have come to light, many YouTubers have distanced themselves from the channel, including Game Grumps, who turned collaboration videos between themselves and ProJared private on their channel.
ProJared has also been dropped by his partner network NormalBoots, who had been investigating prior allegations about the YouTuber as early as April 4.
While it may be the least of his worries, ProJared’s channel has since lost over 115,000 subscribers as the number continues to fall – having already fallen well below the previously hit mark of one million.
The YouTuber is still yet to respond to any of the allegations put forward by his wife or his accusers, at the time of writing, but this article will be updated to reflect any changes if he does so.
This post was updated on May 10 2019 at 09:53 am Eastern Time.
