NELK Boys under fire for “deceiving” Amish man with alcohol & women despite beliefs

The NELK Boys have come under fire for “deceiving” an Amish man that they befriended, flying him to Miami and taking him to a strip club despite it going against his culture and way of life.

NELK have always created content that lives somewhat on the edge of YouTube’s guidelines, always pushing boundaries — for better or worse — based predominantly around next-level pranks and partying.

In May 2023, they posted content across different channels with an Amish community and, in particular, someone they dubbed ‘Honest Abe,’ who they did a podcast with before a video on May 23, 2023, titled “We Corrupted an Amish Person!”

In the video, NELK traveled to an Amish community to spend time with them and get a better idea of their lives and culture, with the plan to then switch positions and bring an Amish person into their world, paying them $10,000 to do so.

They took him to Miami and went to an Apple Store, took him to the beach, and reassured him that they didn’t want him doing anything he didn’t want to do, acknowledging that he had a wife so didn’t want to be around girls, for example.

At the end, Abe ended up leaving the club and apparently hired a driver to make the 20-hour trip back to his home, blocking all of their numbers in the process. NELK then provided a community update on YouTube, in which someone told them that Abe had confessed to taking an airplane ride, drinking beer, and letting people take videos of him. They confirmed that the community hadn’t shunned Abe, but everybody there was told what happened and let him stay.

NELK face backlash for “corrupting” Honest Abe

Many in the comments, though, didn’t find the situation as funny or entertaining as the YouTubers might have expected.

“Nelk straight up Tricked Abe,” one commenter explained. “Overall L for the Nelk boys on this one only cause you tricked a very genuine guy. Some other pranks you’ve done are similar but very different … However in this situation, if the text is even real, you can see that Abe getting excommunicated was a very real possibility.”

Others asked how the YouTubers “thought that video would fly well with most people,” as well as saying that the boys owe Abe a face-to-face apology, among other things.

Some also compared it to their treatment of Hasbulla, who they didn’t ask to engage with certain things due to his beliefs.

Overall, while many enjoyed the content, a number of viewers felt it was deceptive and that they manipulated Abe’s kindness and trust.

At the time of writing, NELK have not responded to the backlash.