Here's why Matt Bernstein and Vivian Wilson stand against Jubilee channel
Matt Bernstein is calling for YouTube to demonetize Jubilee's official channel on the platform a stance that escalated after the popular queer influencer uploaded a new Instagram (@mattxiv) infographic yesterday and accused the debate-driven YouTube channel of "amplifying extremism and hatred under the guise of 'debate.'"Sign up for the Out Newsletter to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment delivered three times a week straight (well) to your inbox!On the same Instagram carousel, Bernstein also included further details and allegations about the channel "making millions of dollars at the expense of marginalized people." Bernstein subsequently linked to a petition on his Instagram bio that has reached more than 50,000 signatures in its first 24 hours of being active. See on Instagram The total audience reached by Jubilee consists of 10.2 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.1 million followers on TikTok, and 439,000 followers on Instagram.Best recognized as a YouTube channel, Jubilee is known for its variety of debate-style videos featuring people discussing their varying views on several topics. The flagship video series on the channel, titled "Middle Ground," often showcases two groups of people going back and forth to debate, with videos like "Anorexia vs. Obese," as well as "Can You Stop Being Gay?" accumulating millions of views over time. Jubilee's recent videos shared under the channel's "Surrounded" series have come under the most scrutiny as of late. In these videos, one person at the center is featured debating a group of people. Conservative talking heads like Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, and Ben Shapiro are often featured as those central figures in the "Surrounded" videos.Mehdi Hasan was featured in a video uploaded earlier this week that has gained over 6.7 million views in four days. One of the participants in the Jubilee video identified himself as a "fascist" and discussed how he "doesn't care about being called a Nazi."This participant was reportedly fired from his job and has since started a crowdfunding campaign on a Christian fundraising platform for emergency funds while he searches for a new job. Bernstein writes in the Change.org post (in which the queer influencer is credited as "petition starter"):"Though the channel started with noble intentions to bring folks with different perspectives together for good-faith debate its content has devolved into a sort of rage-bait political porn, generating millions of dollars by making people as angry, offended, and divided as possible."Bernstein notes that YouTubers make money through an AdSense program that splits earnings between YouTube and its creators. Therefore, the more engagement a video receives, the more money it will likely generate, hence why Jubilee has been so successful over time.Bernstein, who's been a vocal opponent of the YouTube channel for a while, replied to an X post from earlier this week asking, "Mad they haven't invited you?" (@) Bernstein responded with a screenshot showing an alleged Jubilee casting associate inviting him to participate in a "Middle Ground" video. Beyond Bernstein, however, there is now a growing number of content creators who disclosed that they've declined an invitation to participate in a video hosted by Jubilee.Namely, Elon Musk's estranged trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson shared an Instagram story on Wednesday disclosing that she has turned down an invitation to appear in a Jubilee video as well. "Not to be like super messy, but there's a reason I turned on Jubilee," she said in an Instagram video. "They wanted me to be on one of their f**king videos, and I was like, 'Let me think about it. Let me circle back. Let me double-check. No!'"This overall discourse also contains claims about platforms like YouTube not challenging the monetization status of channels like Jubilee. "This petition represents every person who's been hurt by the bigoted, violent ideologies regularly laundered on Jubilee through the dishonest framing of 'debate,'" Bernstein writes at the end of the petition. "Our goal is to make such a content mill financially untenable. In a civil society, it should be."