The debate over “reaction” content on YouTube has been brewing for years, but a recent incident between two creators has refueled the urgency of the conversation.
The debate centers on Alia “SSSniperwolf” Shelesh, a YouTuber with over 34 million subscribers, and Jack “Jacksfilms” Douglass, a YouTuber with 4.9 million subscribers. The two have been feuding online over the past year, but it came to a head this weekend, as Douglass said that Shelesh showed up to his home and filmed the outside of his residence on Saturday. Shelesh shared a video of the incident as an Instagram story, saying “let’s talk like adults,” according to a report from NBC News. On Oct. 20, YouTube said that Shelesh’s account would be temporarily demonetized.
What led to this confrontation, and why did it ignite such a firestorm of controversy online?
What is ‘reaction content’ and why is it so controversial?
Reaction content is an umbrella term that applies to a content creator responding to or riffing on an existing piece of media. Reaction content has been controversial for a long time; in 2016, the Fine Brothers made an infamous attempt to copyright their “React” videos, which was met with near unanimous criticism. In August, the conversation reignited as popular creators like Félix “xQc” Lengyel “reacted” to long-form content with very little (if any) original input or transformative commentary.
How are Jacksfilms and SSSniperwolf involved in the reaction content debate?
Douglass has made content on YouTube since 2006, primarily focusing on comedy videos. In the past, he has called out “reaction” content that he says fails to meet the bar for fair use, and has even made parody videos reacting to reaction content.
Within the last year, he set his sights on Shelesh’s content, citing a lack of credit or links to original creators and their work, and a lack of transformative commentary. Shelesh has been a content creator for roughly a decade, including making YouTube and TikTok videos. Her recent work is largely reaction content, which she posts to both platforms. Shelesh has been aware of Douglass’ commentary, even making jokes about the YouTuber in her own reaction content.
In addition to Douglass’ video callout above, he revived an old joke channel called JJJacksfilms, poking fun at Shelesh’s content and celebrating times she deleted clips. He also regularly made content on Twitch reacting to and even grading Shelesh’s reaction content, complete with a bingo game for viewers to play. The JJJacksfilms streams were designed to apply pressure to Shelesh, encouraging her to credit original creators and provide substantial commentary.
The SSSniperwolf doxxing accusations
On Oct. 13, Shelesh posted an Instagram story with the text, “Should I go visit @Jacksfilms? He lives 5 mins away from my shoot.” She proceeded to add more posts to her story throughout the night, which included a photo of the outside of Douglass’ house and the caption “Let’s talk like adults.”
Douglass was livestreaming on Twitch when Shelesh posted these images to her Instagram story, and he disconnected and posted the following tweet on Oct. 13: “Sssniperwolf just doxxed me on her IG. Creepy, gross, violating,” wrote Douglass, alongside a screenshot of Shelesh’s Instagram story. “What you do is disgusting. You steal content AND stalk youtubers. @YouTube demonetize this dangerous ‘creator’ or just get her off your platform. She posted an IG story right outside our home and deleted it.”
As Douglass’ fans waited for YouTube to respond, they scoured Shelesh’s content, looking for potential additional rule violations. Shelesh also posted updates making light of the situation, including a since-deleted photo of her and her sister with the caption “We show up to ur house wyd??” and a post over Douglass’ tweet, captioned: “This creep has been harassing me for months then plays victim saying I threatened him when I just wanted to talk to him. I have no ill intentions. It’s so sad when people have to constantly create drama to pay their bills.”
The incident inspired a series of videos and posts from influencers and commentary channels, with public opinion largely being in favor of Douglass. Of course, the situation also inspired a fair few sh*tposts and memes — some of which were aimed at YouTube, encouraging the platform to respond.
Polygon reached out to Douglass, Shelesh, and YouTube and will update this story when we hear back.
YouTube responds
On Oct. 20, a week after the doxxing incident, YouTube and Shelesh both made public statements. YouTube posted a tweet confirming Shelesh had received “a temporary monetization suspension per Creator Responsibility policies.” The tweet also criticized “the behavior on both sides” and expressed hope that the incident would “move this convo to a better place.”
Confirming SSSniperWolf has received a temporary monetization suspension per Creator Responsibility policies. Off platform actions that put others’ personal safety at risk harm our community & the behavior on both sides isn’t what we want on YT. Hoping everyone helps move this…
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) October 20, 2023
Shelesh also made a statement on X, apologizing to “Jacksfilm, YouTube, the entire creator community, and my incredible fans for not being a better example of conflict resolution.” She has since posted a handful of new videos to her YouTube account, with the comment sections disabled.
The response from both YouTube and Shelesh failed to address many fans’ concerns, considering the official comment from YouTube spoke about “both sides,” implying responsibility on Douglass’ side of the conflict. The demonetization feels like a slap on the wrist, which has only inspired further commentary among the community. It seems like, for now, YouTube is content to avoid the debate around reaction content and simply profit off of it from afar.
