A YouTube star admitted his girlfriend is still alive after he uploaded fake videos saying she'd been killed by a drunk driver and he had made contact with her spirit via a Ouija board
ImJayStation, a YouTuber with 5.4 million subscribers, has been called out for a hoax video he put out a week ago.
In the now-deleted video, called "My Girlfriend Alexia Died… *Rest In Paradise*," he said his girlfriend Alexia Marano had been killed by a drunk driver.
ImJayStation, real name Jason Ethier, revealed that Alexia is actually alive in a video uploaded this morning.
He claimed Alexia is now trying to ruin his life after helping him with a video where he supposedly contacted her via a Ouiji board.
Ethier has been heavily criticised before for exploiting the deaths of YouTuber Etika and rapper Mac Miller.
YouTuber ImJayStation wrapped up his immensely turbulent week with a (supposedly) emotional video called "ALEXIA MARANO *THE TRUTH ABOUT HER*." He admitted his girlfriend Alexia is alive and was not in fact killed by a drunk driver last week as he had claimed previously.
ImJayStation, real name Jason Ethier, broke the news to his 5.4 million subscribers on January 21 that Alexia had died.
"She got hit, guys. She's gone," he said in the now-deleted video "My Girlfriend Alexia Died… *Rest In Paradise*". "Sorry for crying. I know you guys are going to make fun of me for crying. She's gone too soon."
In a subsequent upload, Ethier said he was going to try to contact Alexia with a Ouija board. This and every video Ethier put up along these lines were monetized, promoted his and Alexia's joint prank channel Dream Team, and had links to merch sites in the description box.
ImJayStation / YouTube
The YouTube community was immediately suspicious
Fellow YouTubers Keemstar and Some Ordinary Gamers were sceptical of Ethier's intentions from the beginning.
—KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) January 23, 2020
"Jaystation is lying about his dead girlfriend," tweeted the channel SomeOrdinaryGamers. "I've spent the entire night browsing and checking with police dept in Toronto and Ottawa. No police reports, no local news agencies and worst of all no family is confirming.
"I'm done with YouTube. I'm dumb for feeling sorry..."
—SomeOrdinaryGamers (@OrdinaryGamers) January 23, 2020
In a video titled "JayStation is Scum," H3H3's Ethan Klein questioned Ethier's ethics behind the original video and called it "as bad as YouTube gets."
"This guy would murder his f---ing grandma if it got him more subscribers," he said.
"If she actually did die, he murdered her. I'm sure of it. She's not dead though, he'll bring her back in a week."
ImJayStation now claims his life has been turned upside down
A few days later on January 27, Ethier uploaded his latest video and came clean about the hoax. He also released unseen footage, which he claimed was proof Alexia had been on board with the prank from the beginning.
It shows Alexia and Ethier talking through some of the stunts of the video. For example, he tells her to yank on a wire that makes her bag fall off the counter after he says "teddy bear."
He also said Alexia has now left him and is on a mission to ruin his career by reporting him to the police for assault with a weapon. The video shows some footage of the police coming to his door and informing Ethier of the allegations.
"Alexia is trying to ruin my life because of videos that she helped me make," he said in the video. "I now face serious charges and can't leave my house without getting arrested, and I did not even commit the crime."
ImJayStation / YouTube
'I'm in serious trouble now, and I don't know what to do'
In the rest of the video, Ethier talked about his past, including his trouble with the law and going to prison. He tearfully explained how Alexia was the best thing to ever happen to him, and how when they started dating he was "the happiest I've ever felt."
He also said he was just trying to help Alexia out with her career when they made the hoax videos, which were just supposed to "gain traction" on the Dream Team channel. Videos have been kept being uploaded on that channel steadily in the past week while all this has been going on because Ethier claimed it was Alexia's "final wish" to reach one million subs.
Ethier also apologized for any pain he'd brought Alexia's family and his subscribers for wrongly assuming the story wouldn't go further than a YouTube video.
"I'm in serious trouble now, and I don't know what to do," he said. "I can't make YouTube videos. I feel trapped right now."
JayStation was already controversial
Ethier's tears should be taken with a pinch of salt — he has come under fire for tasteless content before.
The day after it was reported YouTuber Etika tragically died by suicide in June 2019, Ethier uploaded a video pretending to summon his ghost via Ouiji board. He publicly apologized shortly afterwards.
He clearly hadn't learned his lesson from a video he posted in 2018 where he tried to cash in on rapper Mac Miller's death in a similar way.
Ethier told the Daily Dot in 2018 that he didn't think he was exploiting anyone.
"Everyone gains attention from [celebrity] deaths, by talking about it, etc," he said.
"I see why people have a problem with my [Mac Miller] video but it doesn't bother me about other people's thoughts. I don't try to make videos for people that hate me. I just make videos for people who might be interested in whatever the video might be."
Insider has contacted Ethier for comment.
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