What’s Brewing? Week’s biggest drama: Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather, NELK Boys react to meetup backlash & more

Virginia Glaze
PewDiePie, Pokimane and Logan Paul sit side by side on the What's Brewing logo.

As if the current times aren’t wild enough, some YouTubers are holding massive fan gatherings in spite of the global health crisis — oh, and Logan Paul is apparently fighting Floyd Mayweather. The internet drama train just isn’t stopping, and we’ve got all the tea you need to stay updated on what’s going down.

So… What’s brewing?

Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather announced… sort of

Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul stand side by side in boxing gear.
YouTube star Logan Paul could be set to face off with the one and only Floyd Mayweather – but reports are contradictory.

Who’s involved? YouTuber Logan Paul is more than a social media star; he’s also a budding professional boxer, who broke out in his first pro bout against rival creator KSI in November.

What’s the tea? While news of any forthcoming fights for both Logan and KSI has been relatively silent, Paul dropped a bombshell on the internet after news was released that he could be fighting former professional boxer-turned-promoter Floyd Mayweather this winter.

While both Paul and Floyd have yet to confirm the news, multiple sources have stated that the match is on; however, TMZ claims that no contract has yet been signed, leaving fans confused but excited for a potential exhibition match between the two superstars.

Mike Majlak himself claimed that Logan’s next boxing match would “melt” the internet — and so far, it seems like fans are already losing their minds over the possibility of a YouTuber going up against one of boxing’s greatest fighters.

Read the whole story here.

NELK Boys hit back at backlash over fan meetups

The NELK Boys speak to the camera during a vlog.
YouTube group the NELK Boys are facing backlash after hordes of fans came to meet them for what appeared to be a celebration for their new merch drop.

Who’s involved? The NELK Boys are a well-known group of YouTubers, hailed for their off-the-wall prank videos and equally outrageous meetups with fans all over the world.

Originally hailing from Canada, NELK have met up with fans across the West, even getting a gathering busted up by police in Ireland due to the sheer volume of people in attendance.

What’s the tea? It seems that, in spite of the ongoing health situation, NELK isn’t letting anything stop them from seeing their viewers, coming under fire for holding a huge party at Illinois State University and, just days later, holding two separate meetups near the famous Jersey Shore house.

Drawing seemingly hundreds of fans to a a relatively small area, it stands to reason that NELK received some pushback from critics during these unconventional times — and even earned some demonetization from YouTube, in the process.

However, NELK claims that the situation is being misinterpreted by the media, dubbing the outrage “pretty f**king twisted” in a now-deleted Instagram post.

https://twitter.com/NelkFilmz/status/1306030201911083009?s=20

“It might sound stupid, we don’t know how big we are,” NELK member Kyle Forgeard said in a subsequent Twitter video. “We don’t feel famous, we feel normal. We can’t even post a story of where we’re at anymore. People will show up, and we’re gonna get in sh*t for starting a large gathering.”

What do you think of the situation? Do you think YouTube’s punishment was deserved, or are the NELK Boys being unfairly thrashed due to their massive fanbase?

Read the whole story here.

Pokimane gets heat for trying out VTuber craze

Pokimane stands beside her own digital anime avatar.
Twitch star Pokimane caught some heat from critics for going live as a VTuber in early September.

Who’s involved? Pokimane is one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, best known for her humorous on-stream reactions and hilarious collaborations with other broadcasters.

What’s the tea? While Pokimane has always streamed while showing her face on camera, she took a surprising turn and entered the world of virtual YouTubers on September 11 — a craze that involves creating a digital, motion-tracked anime-style avatar that follows your movements while you record.

The trend has become substantially popular across video platforms, and it seems that some creators got upset that Pokimane had decided to try it out for herself, with one VTuber claiming she was “cashing in on a trend” and “saturating” the market.

Pokimane herself understood the outrage, but explained that she had undergone her intro to VTubing as respectfully as possible.

“Imo, this sort of this is the future, and I think it’s so cool and a great alternative for anyone that doesn’t wanna use a cam for whatever reason,” she wrote. “I hope to partake in a respectful manner, however your feelings are still valid.”

What’s your take on the VTuber craze? Was Pokimane really “cashing in on a trend,” or do you think anyone is free to try out the anime-avatar lifestyle — even if they already have millions of followers?

Read the whole story here.

H3H3 hits out at James Charles over similar merchandise

H3H3 merch next to James Charles merch
H3H3’s Ethan Klein and YouTube star James Charles have gotten into a spat over purportedly stolen ideas for new merchandise.

Who’s involved? James Charles and H3H3 are both top-tier YouTubers, with Charles coming into fame from his work in the beauty biz, while Ethan Klein is known for his commentary and original podcast.

What’s the tea? Late on September 17, H3H3 appeared to call out James Charles for purportedly stealing the design from his latest merchandise, alleging that he’d taken a little too much inspiration from his wife’s “Teddy Fresh” brand.

https://twitter.com/h3h3productions/status/1306794740617064448?s=20

“I know we didn’t invent colorblocking, but I’m having a hard time with the new james charles merch,” he wrote, uploading side-by-side photos of both Teddy Fresh and James Charles’ clothing. “It’s the same exact design as Hila’s. Combined with the fact that his audience is so huge, many people will assume he designed it and start accusing us of plagiarism.”

That’s not all; Klein even appeared to expose Charles for purportedly saying that the similarities between the merch “weren’t a coincidence” and that he’d planned on selling the clothing despite concern from Klein over the matter.

https://twitter.com/h3h3productions/status/1306970698137526272?s=20

As a final slam-dunk, the H3H3 host even pointed out Charles’ previous outrage over a copycat eyeshadow palette that had taken after his own Morphe collaboration a year ago, appearing to call him a hypocrite.

Do you think James Charles really copied Teddy Fresh’s design — or was it merely “inspired?”

Read the whole story here.

PewDiePie’s Minecraft account gets hacked

PewDiePie looks at his computer monitor.
PewDiePie was shocked after logging into his Minecraft account to discover that he’d been hacked.

Who’s involved? Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg is YouTube’s most-subscribed content creator, rising to fame throughout the years for his hilarious gameplay and ‘Meme Review’ series.

What’s the tea? PewDiePie became a staple for Minecraft fans after somewhat reviving the game on YouTube in 2019. Since then, the star has made it a regular part of his repertoire — that is, until his account got hacked.

On September 16, Kjellberg uploaded a video where he revealed that his account had been infiltrated, noticing that a troll had completely changed the look of his player character to a photo of himself (as well as changing his login name).

Unfortunately for PewDiePie, there’s a 29-day wait before he can change his account name back again, so for now he’s taking his lumps and continuing his online adventures with Sven.

Read the whole story here.


From YouTube’s top creator getting hacked to the one and only Logan Paul having a shot at boxing Floyd Mayweather, it seems like just about anything is possible, considering the events of this past week. What’s your take on the drama; do you think the NELK Boys are responsible for the huge amounts of fans showing up to their spot? Who do you think will win Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather — if it even happens! Let us know on Twitter @DexertoTrending and comment what you think the biggest story of this week was!

Stay tuned to Dexerto for another round of What’s Brewing next week!