LeafyIsHere

LeafyIsHere
Personal information
Born
Calvin Lee Vail

1995 or 1996 (age 27–28)[1]
Layton, Utah, U.S.[1]
YouTube information
Years active2011–2017, 2020
GenreCommentary[2]
Subscribers4.91 million (before channel was terminated)[3]
Total views1.2 billion (before channel was terminated)[3]
100,000 subscribers2015
1,000,000 subscribers2016
Last updated: August 21, 2020

Calvin Lee Vail (born 1995 or 1996), known online as LeafyIsHere or simply Leafy, is an American former internet personality best known for his YouTube channel which focused on reaction content. Vail first gained popularity on the site for his commentary on "cringey" Internet videos and culture.[2] Prior, he posted Let's Play content.[4]

Beginning in 2016, Vail was involved in several conflicts with other YouTubers which led to allegations of cyberbullying. YouTube terminated Vail's account in 2020, citing repeated violations of their harassment policies.[1][5]

Career

The LeafyIsHere channel was a drama, commentary, and storytime channel. On the channel, Vail mainly commented on gossip involving online content creators and made videos telling life stories. He had made rants on popular YouTubers such as Onision.[2]

Vail started his channel in 2011 and began uploading content in 2013. He focused mostly on reactions and gaming videos.[6]

In 2015 and 2016, Vail was the target of a swatting campaign, with repeated police calls from December 2015 to February 2016. At that time, he was in Layton, Utah.[7]

In 2016, YouTuber iDubbbz featured Leafy in an episode of his Content Cop series, accusing him and his videos of cyberbullying, among other criticisms.[8][9] Also in 2016, Vail accused YouTuber Evalion of supporting Nazism and antisemitism. Shortly after Vail drew attention to her, Evalion was banned by YouTube.[10] Later that year, one of Vail's videos in which he called transgender vlogger Milo Stewart an "it" and a "creature" was taken down by YouTube. Vail made three videos attacking Stewart.[11]

Starting in December 2017, Vail's YouTube channel went on a hiatus for more than two years.[6][12] After a more than two-year-long hiatus, Vail returned to YouTube with a video insulting iDubbbz in April 2020, following which he resumed posting frequently.[12] In July, Vail began criticizing Twitch streamer Pokimane and her supporters based on speculation about her personal life.[2][13]

On August 21, 2020, Vail's YouTube account was permanently terminated.[13] According to The Verge, Vail's channel had three violations in the previous three months, such as cyberbullying and encouraging viewers to disrupt other people's streams. A YouTube spokesperson said the channel had repeatedly violated YouTube's policies on harassment.[5] Following the ban, Vail began streaming frequently on Twitch.[14] He has also posted on competing video platform StoryFire.[5] He also got into conflicts with Ethan Klein.[14]

On September 11, 2020, Vail's Twitch account was also banned. Earlier that day, Vail had tweeted about receiving a strike on his account from Twitch for "hateful conduct and threats of violence against a person or group of people". Twitch did not comment on the ban or indicate whether it was permanent.[14]

Post-Termination Activity

Attempts to rejoin YouTube and Early Alternative Platform Use

Following the termination of Vail's main LeafyIsHere YouTube channel, he made multiple attempts to continue to post videos on YouTube, along with a number of videos on both Instagram and his Twitter account. While the videos on alternative platforms were not taken down, the alleged YouTube channels that belonged to Calvin (LeafyCast, LeafyIsntHere, and Lucky) were terminated by site moderation shortly after their debuts. Vail also created an account on YouTube competitor platform Storyfire shortly after his termination on YouTube. This channel was used by Calvin for a total of 5 uploads, all of which are presently available.[15]

Rumble Streaming

Vail joined YouTube competitor site Rumble in January of 2023, and began streaming on a semi-regular basis.[16] After controversy surrounding the content of his streams and alleged disputes between Calvin and other streamers, he ceased posting content, with his last stream taking place on the 8th of September, 2023.

Suspension of Twitter (X) Account

On the 15th of September 2023, Vail's Twitter Account @leafyishere was suspended indefinitely after a series of offensive remarks against a number of minority groups, most notably LGBTQ+ and Jewish individuals.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kiberd, Roisin (August 5, 2016). "YouTube's Trolls Are Crying Censorship Over Cyberbullying Rules". Vice. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d D'Anistasio, Cecilia; Grey Ellis, Emma (July 31, 2020). "PokimaneBoyfriend and the Scandalous Reign of Drama YouTube". Wired. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "LeafyIsHere's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  4. ^ "After a cyber-bullying, a Rally of Support".
  5. ^ a b c Alexander, Julia (August 24, 2020). "YouTube permanently bans controversial creator LeafyIsHere". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Teti, Julia (March 31, 2020). "Leafy Returns To YouTube For 1st Time In 2 Years To Call Out IDubbbz & Fans Go Wild — Watch". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  7. ^ Reavy, Pat (August 4, 2016). "Popular Layton YouTuber target of 'swatting' pranks". KSL.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Alexander, Julia (December 16, 2019). "YouTube is growing up, and creators are frustrated by growing pains". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  9. ^ Romano, Aja (December 13, 2019). "YouTube just made sweeping positive changes to its harassment policy. So why all the backlash?". Vox. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "Eva Lion, la youtubeuse fan d'Hitler". L'Express (in French). May 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  11. ^ "Trans Activist Milo Stewart's Never-Ending War on Trolls". The Daily Dot. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Tenbarge, Kat. "A controversial YouTuber returned to the platform after two years of inactivity to make fun his online nemesis after his girlfriend made an OnlyFans". Insider. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Samuels, Alexandra (August 22, 2020). "Leafy banned from YouTube after targeting Pokimane". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Grayson, Nathan (September 11, 2020). "Twitch Suspends Leafy, The Banned YouTuber Who Harassed Pokimane". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "LeafyisHere StoryFire Channel". StoryFire. 2020.
  16. ^ "LeafyisHere Rumble Channel About". Rumble. May 31, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  17. ^ "LeafyisHere's Suspended X Account Page". Twitter. September 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.

External links