DeFranco also wouldn’t talk about how much other YouTube creators made through sponsorships. Neither Matas nor DeFranco would tell Polygon exactly what the monetary value of that deal. “It’s like any other kind of middleman work” He can get much more lucrative deals than he got with us, for sure.” We’re definitely not a company that he entered into because of monetary value. Phil loved the mission, he used the product pretty thoroughly, he liked what we do. “He’s someone with a big audience and a lot of people watching him now, so we thought it makes sense to work with a digital creator and not just celebrities. “One of the first people we connected with at the time was Phil,” Matas told Polygon. They didn’t approach us.”ĭeFranco was one of the first major YouTube creators that BetterHelp partnered with, according to Matas, and he represented an in to a world BetterHelp didn’t know how to connect with at the time. After looking through it, experiencing it, I think my EP reached out to them, and then that’s how we initially set it up. “I originally found out about the site from my wife because I constantly talk about that I don’t have time to do anything - whether it be the dentist or actually talk to someone about my problems,” DeFranco said. Rogue Rocket reached out to BetterHelp to inquire about a sponsorship, but DeFranco told Polygon he initially used the app prior to their first meeting. DeFranco and Rogue Rocket did connect a few YouTube creators with BetterHelp, including Boogie2988 and Shane Dawson, but other creators have formed their own partnerships with the company.ĭeFranco’s Rogue Rocket first struck a deal with BetterHelp around May, according to Matas. One of the allegations specifically directed at DeFranco argues that his company, Rogue Rocket, is the sole reason BetterHelp sponsorships are appearing on YouTube. Now, both Matas and DeFranco have spoken to Polygon, separately, about the situation in an attempt to address some of the most pressing concerns and stop misinformation from continuously spreading. BetterHelp’s CEO, Alon Matas, issued a lengthy statement on Medium responding to allegations, calling them “false accusations.”ĭespite Matas’ statement, and an extensive video from DeFranco about the subject, accusations and conversation continues to swirl. DeFranco announced on Twitter he was suspending BetterHelp sponsorships until his team could produce a proper investigation, including meeting with BetterHelp’s team in-person and going over accusations being thrown around YouTube. In just days, major YouTube creators began posting their own videos calling out DeFranco and BetterHelp, while others stepped away from the sponsorship altogether as suspicion mounted within the community. Profiting off mental healthĪfter Memeology 101’s videos, various creators and viewers accused DeFranco and BetterHelp of promoting a “scam app,” and profiting off mental illness. That was before Memeology 101 released an investigation into the allegations against a company called BetterHelp and popular creator Philip DeFranco over a series of sponsorships that began popping up on YouTube. Most people within the YouTube community thought Shane Dawson’s eight-part documentary series on Jake Paul was going to be the biggest story of October.
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