KSI

                 

JJ Olatunji (second channel)
YouTuber Information
Profile	JJ Olatunji
Style	Commentary & Gaming
Date joined	January 26, 2011
Videos	1.3K+
Schedule	Unscheduled
Status	Active
Username	KSI
Channel trailer
This Is Why I'll Beat Jake Paul
Most viewed video
KSI Plays A RACIST COMPUTER PROGRAM
First video
Black Ops One in the Chamber

KSIClips (clip channel)
YouTuber Information
Profile	KSIClips
Style	Clips
Date joined	March 21, 2021
Videos	2.9k+
Schedule	Daily
Status	Active
Username
Channel trailer
KSI Shuts Down Leeds Fest
Most viewed video
Declined By Every Race 💀
First video
KSI on making a disstrack with Pewdiepie

JideJunior (old channel)
YouTuber Information
Profile	JideJunior
Style	Gaming & Music
Date joined	April 24, 2008
Videos	10
Schedule	Unscheduled
Status	Inactive
Username	KSI
Most viewed video
Physics rap
First video
LOOKING THROUGH SPACE

“	Yo wassup it's ya boy KSIOlajidebt and today-	”
―JJ's intro

“	Anyways it's been ya boy KSIOlajidebt, I'll see you guys in a bit, take care. peace.	”
―JJ's outro

Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji (born: June 19, 1993 (1993-06-19)) better known online as KSI (short for Knowledge, Strength & Integrity), KSIOlajidebt, and sometimes as JJ (short for JideJunior), is a English-Nigerian YouTuber, filmmaker, actor, musician, and professional boxer who is a founding member of The Sidemen.

KSI's main channel is the second-most subscribed YouTube channel from the United Kingdom, whereas his second channel is the 6th most subscribed YouTube channel from the United Kingdom.

Early life

KSI was born to Olajide and Yinka Olatunji on June 19, 1993. He has a younger brother called Deji who is also an online YouTube personality. Both brothers have a peanut allergy. Deji, Jide and Yinka have featured in various videos on his channel - mainly in the early-2010s. JJ and Deji also have a notable uncle and a maternal grandfather who passed away before JJ was born. JJ and his family have all said that he was a shy person as a child and an introvert. JJ was raised in Watford and has a yellow belt in karate.

He attended Berkhamsted School, a private/independent school in Hertfordshire. When he was in Year 8, he met Simon Minter and the two became best friends after a brief period of rivalry. JJ has been a lifelong supporter of Arsenal F.C. and in 2022 he signed a sponsorship deal with them through his Prime company. He lost his virginity at the age of 19.

YouTube

JJ created his first YouTube channel called JideJunior in April 2008 as part of a school project he was assigned at the age of 14. He uploaded his first video called "LOOKING THROUGH SPACE" which he made with an old school friend called Patrick. He proceeded to post more videos to the channel and it became an infrequent hobby. He began uploading a couple FIFA and rap videos onto the channel, before posting his final video in March 2009. He then abandoned the JideJunior channel.

KSIOlajidebt Vlog's - The History of my Name

On 24 July 2009, he created his official YouTube channel as "KSI". It was essentially a continuation of his JideJunior hobby and he mainly uploaded gaming videos (primarily FIFA and Modern Warfare 2). On 15 August 2011, he released his first vlog titled "The History of my Name", revealing his face to the public for the first time. He lost subscribers and experienced extensive racism with many subscribers assuming he was white. JJ believes this was because of his "posh private school voice". However he took this in stride and started to make more comedic videos and real-life sketches and skits. JJ called his fanbase the "KSI Army". This name was popular during his first peak in popularity from 2009 to 2011 but significantly decreased in usage since then.

On 26 January 2011, JJ made his second YouTube channel called "KSIOlajideBT". The purpose of the channel was to solely upload gaming videos (with the intention of making the KSI channel a vlogging channel). His two main YouTube channels have evolved significantly since 2011 in terms of the content that has been posted to each. Around 2014, he made multiple videos for the sporting company Rule'm Sports, where he'd take part in various challenges and activities with other YouTubers and celebrities.

The Sidemen

JJ with the rest of the Sidemen

JJ was one of the founding members of the Sidemen. At the time of their formation in October 2013, he was by far the most established and well-known YouTuber in the group, as well as one of the most famous in the United Kingdom. He was best known for his "Get Hyper" and "Heskey Time" videos, both of which were popular in British schools at the time. JJ's popularity increased in parallel to the Sidemen's popularity.

In February 2014, Olatunji moved into the first Sidemen House with Miniminter, Zerkaa and Vikkstar123. This allowed them to be more collaborative and post more frequent real-life "challenge" videos as a group. Despite being an integral part of the formation of the group, JJ's participation in Grand Theft Auto V videos waned during 2014 and 2015 as he began focusing on other ventures like his musical career. His most viewed collaborative video made with The Sidemen is the "CROSSBAR CHALLENGE", which was posted in July 2014. He also made collaborations with a lot of other famous British YouTubers at the time such as Caspar Lee, Joe Sugg, Calfreezy and Callux. JJ has always been the most subscribed Sidemen member on YouTube and by far the most well-known.

In 2016, the four Sidemen members moved into the second Sidemen House - a mansion on a private estate just outside of London. In early-2019, he moved out of the Sidemen House and into a shared flat with Miniminter in London. They lived here until early-2022.

Establishment

In the mid-2010s, JJ's career continued to skyrocket and he was one of the first YouTuber's to cross over into mainstream media. He made his first appearance on British television in 2013 with an appearance on The Gadget Show in 2013. JJ was the online face of the BBC's Sport Relief campaign in 2014. This was followed by appearances on Friday Download and Backchat, presented by Jack Whitehall. In addition to these early television appearances, JJ started interviewing movie stars on his YouTube channel, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Matt Damon and Ryan Reynolds. He hosted a series broadcast on his channel in 2016 titled Pass the Pad, in which he played computer games with celebrities including Tinie Tempah, Jamie Oliver and Rio Ferdinand. In late-2015, JJ published a book called KSI: I Am a Bellend. The book provided an insight into his life up until that point.

JJ had a well-publicised relationship with Seana Cuthbert from 2012 to 2014, with the two making several videos together in the early years of his channel. Seana continued to be brought up in Sidemen videos in the following years, and she was mentioned in W2S' first diss-track during the "Sidemen Beef" in 2017.

JJ got involved in the "YouTube Drama" craze and notably clashed with PewDiePie in 2016. The two expressed disagreements about the way the "drama" was changing the YouTube platform for better or for worse. The two exchanged insulting tweets for a short period of time with JJ insulting PewDiePie's girlfriend at one stage. Despite their hostility via Twitter, JJ and PewDiePie since admitted in their videos that they respect each other, with JJ saying "we're both good YouTubers, if anything there's a level of respect there", and PewDiePie saying "he's a level headed dude and I do respect him".

JJ was the first British YouTuber to receive a "Diamond Play Button" in mid-2016.

Personal life

JJ was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England and raised by Yinka & Jide Olatunji (who are of Nigerian descent) and, when first starting YouTube, lived with his parents in Watford alongside his brother, Deji. Olatunji can be considered partly responsible for the start of Deji's YouTube channel as they shared a sibling rivalry and used to appear in each others' videos.

JJ's overconfident and crazy personality means he sticks out in the FIFA YouTube community, and the humor in his videos often show the FIFA community's frustrations at the DEA and the FIFA games themselves. He is also very well known for his constant joking about his race as well as other issues that are known in society.

He used to date vlogger 'Seanyxxx' (better known as Seana), but broke up with her in 2014.

JJ lives on Edgware Road in northwest London.

Boxing career

Amateur career

KSI vs. Joe Weller

On August 2, 2017, a video was uploaded to Joe Weller's YouTube channel titled “BOXING MATCH: Joe Weller Vs Malfoy”. In the video Weller and English YouTuber Theo Baker have an amateur boxing match consisting of 3 rounds. Weller won the match on points after putting Baker in for 2 standing counts from the referee. Weller made a post on Instagram promoting the Malfoy fight. KSI responded to the post with a comment “Lemme fight the winner haha.” It was then confirmed on August 14, nearly 2 weeks later on Weller's Twitter that negotiations were underway. Then it was later confirmed that KSI and Weller would have a press conference at KSI’s own YouTube event, “Upload”.

On September 10, Weller and KSI had a press conference at The Upload Event at 4:30, which was livestreamed to YouTube via The Upload channel. As the press conference came to an end they both had a face off. In which KSI taunted Weller about his looks and then remarked “Do you need drugs? Do you need drugs to stay sane?” which was aimed at Weller’s previous mental health and depression issues. Then Weller exclaimed “Imagine 8000 people seeing your head crushed against the canvas, as Weller lifts his hands up!” and then shoulder barges KSI across the stage and causes a brawl between KSI and the friends or "goons" of Weller but they later subdued him. The next day Weller tweeted “Mental health is not a joke”.

KSI after winning against Joe Weller

The match took place on February 3, 2018. KSI appeared to have the upper hand throughout the fight, however Joe withstood the majority of the match. KSI was officially declared the winner by technical knockout one minute and thirty seconds into the third round. At the end of the match, the Sidemen members joined KSI in the ring to congratulate him, along with his family. KSI expressed his respect for Weller after the fight for being "way harder, way tougher than I thought," and praised him for his commitment to raising awareness for mental health, before calling out American YouTuber Logan Paul, his brother Jake Paul, and retired footballer Rio Ferdinand.

KSI vs. Logan Paul

KSI's fight with fellow British YouTuber Joe Weller, another Upload Agency event, was viewed by millions. The fight took place on 3 February 2018 at the Copper Box Arena in London. After KSI emerged as the winner and was awarded the YouTube Boxing Championship belt, an unofficial and unrecognised belt created for this event, he called out the Paul brothers, Jake and Logan. Initially, KSI challenged Jake Paul, Logan Paul's younger brother, to a fight. However, Jake backed down, allowing Logan to step in and fight KSI. At the same time, Jake fought KSI's younger brother, Deji, also known as ComedyShortsGamer at the time. During the London press conference, KSI ridiculed Logan, Logan's then-girlfriend Chloe Bennet, and his father Greg Paul to such an extent that both Paul brothers left the press conference prematurely.

KSI vs. Logan Paul at the Manchester Arena

The weigh-in took place on 24 August 2018, KSI weighed in at 187.2lb (84.9kg), 1.9kg heavier than his previous fight with Joe Weller. The fight ended as a majority draw, with two judges scoring the fight even at 57–57 and a third judge scoring 58–57 in favour of KSI. The fight sold out the Manchester Arena and did 1.3 million PPV buys and was labeled as "the biggest event in YouTube history" and "the largest ever amateur boxing fight". Taking the sum of all the videos on KSIvsLogan channel, the event so far has got 107M views.

Professional career

KSI vs. Logan Paul II

KSI after winning against Logan Paul

On September 4, 2019, it was announced that KSI would be making his professional boxing debut in a rematch against Logan Paul, which would be broadcast exclusively on DAZN in the United States. The fight was scheduled to take place on November 9 at the Staples Center and was promoted by Eddie Hearn. Unlike the first fight, the rematch was a professional fight without the use of headgear. KSI was trained by professional boxers Viddal Riley and Jeff Mayweather, uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The rematch, which consisted of six three minute rounds, resulted in a win for KSI via split decision, with two judges scoring the fight 57–54 and 56–55 for KSI, and one judge scoring it 56–55 in favor of Paul. KSI would reject an offer of a third fight with Paul, thereby ending the rivalry and leaving victorious.

KSI vs. Swarmz and KSI vs. Luis Alcaraz Pineda

On 22 June 2021, KSI announced that he is returning to boxing under his boxing promotional company titled Misfits Boxing. On 1 July, it was announced that KSI will be fighting Alex Wassabi on 27 August 2022. On 6 August, Wassabi pulled out from the fight due to a concussion he received while training, so Swarmz was announced as KSI's opponent the same day.

KSI vs. Swarmz at the O2 Arena

On 16 August, KSI announced he will fighting twice on 27 August and his second opponent is Bulgarian professional boxer, Ivan Nikolov. On 20 August, it was announced that Mexican professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda would be KSI's second opponent. Ivan Nikolov was previously announced as KSI's second opponent before Luis, but was pulled from the fight after it was revealed that he had a "white power" tattoo on his stomach, among other tattoos on his body referencing Neo-Nazi groups and symbols.

On 27 August 2022, KSI defeated Swarmz via 2nd round KO and won the ICB World cruiserweight title and the MF cruiserweight title. Later in the night, KSI defeated Alcaraz Pineda via 3rd round KO and retained his MF cruiserweight title. KSI then proceeded to call out Slim Albaher, the winner of AnEsonGib vs. Austin McBroom, Andrew Tate, and Tommy Fury.

KSI vs. FaZe Temperrr

KSI after winning against FaZe Temperrr

In early 2022, KSI would start a feud with American mixed martial arts fighter Dillon Danis. The two went back and forth on Twitter. The feud would then carry on November 18 at MF & DAZN X Series 003 weigh-in, KSI was confronted by Danis who demanded that he signed the contract. Danis then proceeded to flick KSI's hat off and throw his coffee on him. This would cause KSI to charge towards Danis before being stopped by security. On November 19, KSI announced that his next opponent is Dillon Danis and the bout is scheduled to take place at the Wembley Arena on January 14, 2023 as the fourth event under Misfits Promotion since its inception.

On January 4, 2023, Danis withdrew from the bout due to lack of preparation, lack of a coach, and issues with the contracted weight. That same day it was announced that KSI would defend his MF cruiserweight title against Brazilian YouTuber and FaZe Clan founder FaZe Temperrr, replacing Danis within a weeks notice. On the night of the event, KSI defeated Temperrr via 1st round KO and retained his MF cruiserweight title.

KSI vs. Joe Fournier

On 4 October 2022, KSI was called out by British businessman and professional boxer Joe Fournier on his Instagram page for not fighting 'real boxers'. KSI opted with choosing American mixed martial arts fighter Dillon Danis as his opponent for MF & DAZN X Series 004. Fournier however, was scheduled to face Tony Christodoulou on the undercard with Fournier acting as the replacement fighter in the case that Danis where to withdraw. Unfortunelly, Christodoulou failed an MRI scan thus canceling Fournier's bout on 14 January 2023. On 4 January, Danis withdrew from the bout and was replaced by Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr instead of Fournier due to Temperrr being a southpaw.

KSI vs. Joe Fournier at Wembley Arena

After KSI defeated Temperrrr, KSI proceeded to call out Fournier, Tyron Woodley and Jake Paul. Fournier appeared and the two shared a stare down after the pair verbally agreeing to face each other in May. On 22 March, it was announced that KSI would face Fournier with the bout scheduled to take place at the Wembley Arena on 13 May 2023 as the seventh event under Misfits Promotion since its inception. On the fight of the night, KSI defeated Fournier via 2nd round KO and retained his MF cruiserweight title. Controversy arose after replays showed KSI landing an illegal elbow strike during the finishing sequence. Fournier intends to appeal the decision. On 19 May, the Professional Boxing Association officially ruled the bout as a no contest.

KSI vs. Tommy Fury

KSI and Tommy Fury face off in 2023

In November 2019, KSI won his professional boxing debut after defeating fellow American YouTuber Logan Paul via split decision at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. KSI was called out by British professional boxer Tommy Fury to a bout, which KSI later declined as he wanted to focus on his music career. In May, KSI fought Joe Fournier and originally won via a controversial knockout, but was later overruled to a no contest due to an unintentional elbow strike. Shortly after, KSI and Fury shared a stare down after the pair verbally agreeing to face each other next.

On 30 June, KSI uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel stating that Fury is demanding the fight takes place at 185 Ibs despite both parities verbally agreeing to 180 Ibs with no rehydration clause and gave Fury a deadline to sign the contract by 3 July at 6:00pm BST. On 1 July, Fury responded with an Instagram story stating that the fight will only take place at 185 Ibs and if KSI doesn't agree, he will rematch Paul in October. KSI then responded on Twitter accepting to fight at 185 Ibs however requested that they weigh in on the morning of the fight. On 3 July, Kalle and Nisse Sauerland, promoters of Misfits Boxing, had confirmed that both parties had agreed on the weight. On 28 July, it was announced that KSI and Logan Paul would both be headlining MF & DAZN: X Series 10 – The Prime Card as a double main event, on 14 October at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. On 30 July, it was revealed that KSI would face Fury for the MF cruiserweight title. Misfits Boxing co-owner Mams Taylor confirmed in a Twitter Spaces that both parties had agreed to 183 Ibs.

KSI vs. Tommy Fury at the Manchester Arena

In the lead-up to the match, KSI engaged in a controversial exchange with John Fury, directing a homophobic taunt at him. KSI later expressed regret and apologized for his actions, emphasizing his commitment to learning from mistakes. In a closely contested affair that consisted of both boxers clinching excessively, KSI lost the fight and title via unanimous decision. The result was originally announced as a majority decision, with judge Rafael Ramos' scorecard being incorrectly tallied to 57-57. Following Fury's victory, an enraged KSI interrupted Fury's post fight interview in the ring and called his loss "Outrageous" and stated “That is a robbery bro. How many jabs did you land? Look at your face, look at your eyes. I’m the YouTuber, you are the boxer so you have to win?" He further stated that he intends to appeal his loss.

On October 20, Mams Taylor confirmed on Twitter that KSI instructed a King's Counsel who informed the PBA on October 19 that an appeal will be submitted. Later that day, the PBA confirmed that KSI has formally submitted an appeal over the unanimous decision loss to Fury.

KSI vs. TBA

During the MF & DAZN: X Series 12 press conference, KSI revealed that he returning to the ring at the latter half of the year. On January 29, 2024, KSI relinquished the Misfits cruiserweight belt due to having other plans.

KSI vs. Jake Paul

On 8 February 2018, KSI made his debut as an amateur boxer against YouTuber Joe Weller at the Copper Box Arena in London. On that night, KSI defeated Weller via third round technical knockout. After the fight, KSI called out Jake and Logan Paul to an amateur bout. Initially, both Paul bothers declined KSI's offer and instead insisted that KSI should fight their father Greg Paul, or challenge them to an MMA fight. After constant back and forth, it was scheduled that KSI would fight Logan and Jake would fight Deji, KSI's younger brother, at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England on 25 August 2018. Jake won via technical knockout against Deji in the fifth round while KSI and Logan resulted in a majority draw. KSI and Logan then had a professional rematch on 9 November 2019 resulting in KSI winning via split decision.

KSI and Jake Paul face off in 2020

On 31 January 2020, Paul made his professional debut against British YouTuber AnEsonGib as the co-feature to the WBO world middleweight title bout between professional boxers Demetrius Andrade and Luke Keeler. During the KSI vs Logan Paul II bout, KSI insisted that Paul should fight Gib and if he were to win, then they would face each other. Paul won via technical knockout at 2:18 in the first round. After the fight, KSI and Paul exchanged words on stage. KSI and Paul were then expected to face each other however on 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown in the United Kingdom in responds to the COVID-19 pandemic which prevented KSI from being able to train for the bout.

Paul however, continued his boxing career, and faced NBA player Nate Robinson on 28 November defeating him via second round knockout. On 17 April 2021, Paul defeated retired professional mixed martial artists in Ben Askren via first round knockout. On 29 August, Paul defeated retired professional mixed martial artists Tyron Woodley via split decision. On 18 December, Paul defeated Woodley a second time via sixth round knockout after professional boxer Tommy Fury withdrew. On 29 October 2022, Paul defeated retired mixed martial artists legend Anderson Silva via unanimous decision. While the United Kingdom was in lockdown, KSI released two studio albums, Dissimulation and All Over the Place.

KSI challenges Jake Paul to fight at Wembley Stadium for 2023

On 27 August 2022, KSI made his boxing return after his three year hiatus against two opponents on the same night, British rapper Swarmz and Mexican professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda. On that night, KSI defeated both Swarmz and Pineda via second and third round knockout. Originally, KSI was set to face American YouTuber Alex Wassabi but was removed from the fight after sustaining a concussion. After Wassabi pulled from the fight, Paul took it to Twitter to call out KSI and offer him as his Wassabi's replacement. KSI declined his offer and stated that they already contracted another fighter incase Wassabi were to pull from the fight. On 8 August however, KSI tweeted an offer to Paul stating that they will fight in 2023 at Wembley Stadium with the winner taking 100% of the purse made from the event. Paul reasoned to KSI's offer and accepted the deal.

On 14 January 2023, KSI fought American YouTuber FaZe Temperrr (originally was scheduled as Dillon Danis, but Danis withdrew). On that night, KSI defeated Temperrr via first round knockout and proceeded to called out Paul after the bout. On 26 February, Paul finally fought professional boxer Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia and lost via split decision. KSI's manager Mams Taylor, revealed that Paul's team had decided that they no longer wish to have a bout in August favoriting a bout with American professional mixed martial artist Nate Diaz instead. On 13 May, KSI fought professional boxer Joe Fournier and originally won via a controversial knockout, but was later overruled to a no contest due to an unintentional elbow strike. KSI faced off with Paul's former opponent Fury, whom originally called out KSI in 2019, and intendeds to have a bout in late 2023. On 14 October 2023, KSI was defeated by Tommy Fury via a controversial unanimous decision. On 16 December, both KSI and Paul were active. Paul fought and defeated professional boxer Andre August via knockout in the 1st round while KSI and fellow YouTuber IShowSpeed held a charity spar for the Anthony Walker Foundation at the exact same time.

Boxing record

Professional

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
1	Win	1–0	Logan Paul	SD	6	9 Nov 2019	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Swarmz	KO	2 (3), 0:28	27 Aug 2022	The O2 Arena, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Luis Alcaraz Pineda	KO	3 (3), 0:50	27 Aug 2022	The O2 Arena, London, England	Won vacant MFB cruiserweight title
4	Win	4-0	FaZe Temperrr	KO	1 (6), 2:19	14 Jan 2023	Wembley Arena, London, England	Retained MFB cruiserweight title
5	NC	4–0 (1)	Joe Fournier	NC	2 (6), 1:26	13 May 2023	Wembley Arena, London, England	Retained MFB cruiserweight title Originally a KO win for KSI; Overturned due to an accidental elbow strike
6	Loss	4–1 (1)	Tommy Fury	UD	6	14 Oct 2023	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England	Originally scored MD win for Fury.

Amateur

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
1	Win	1–0	Joe Weller	TKO	3 (6), 1:37	3 Feb 2018	Copper Box Arena, London, England
2	Draw	1–0–1	Logan Paul	MD	6	25 Aug 2018	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England

Controversies

Eurogamer Incident

JJ was banned for life from the Eurogamer Expo (known today as EGX) in 2012 due to allegedly verbally harassing attendees for one of his "awkward in public" videos, a series where he purposely used to be awkward while interacting with the public to get a reaction out of them.

After the incident, Microsoft cut all ties. JJ subsequently apologized "for any offense the video of 15 months ago may have caused in the short time it was on his YouTube channel, references to it since and subsequently used by other people" and stated his desire to move on from the incident and be "be judged on the great content and value he gives to brands and partners, without controversy.

GudjonDaniel Beef

Until 2013, KSI was good friends with fellow YouTuber GudjonDaniel. The two created a lot of videos together on both of their channels, KSI even created Daniel's YouTube channel on 9 April 2010. The two drifted apart after KSI realised Daniel was simply using him to promote his own channel. In a KickTV interview with Daniel, the interviewers asked him if he plays FIFA with KSI. He replied with "Who the fuck is that?".

After this incident, KSI took to Twitter to express his opinions. The two stopped collaborating and Daniel ended up getting a lot of hate for many years until he quit YouTube a few years later. In early 2018, the two tweeted a picture of themselves together announcing that they made up and that their 'beef' had officially ended. It had taken nearly half a decade.

2015 Twitter Hack

On 19 April 2015, KSI, W2S and Miniminter were the victims of hacker account "BudyBear" which has since been suspended following this incident. The event allowed the hacker to access the phone books and photo albums of their mobile devices which was ultimately used against them.

Much like Miniminter, the hackers used JJ's Twitter account as a vessel for some very offensive remarks. They then found his photo album. In the afternoon of 19 April 2015, an image of KSI in his penthouse was deliberately leaked onto the Internet. The image showed him sat on a sofa alongside two naked women who were allegedly strippers. This image was immediately removed (for obvious reasons) following JJ re-gaining access to his Twitter account.

KSI, like Simon, subsequently posted an image of himself online, assuring his followers that he had finally regained control of his account. He made the decision to remove any evidence of this hacking.

Evolving

In early-2017, JJ "blacked-out" all his social media accounts. He posted a series of since-deleted tweets where he explained that he had come to dislike his "fame" and the special privileges he knows he gets on the grounds of being a "celebrity". He also tweeted a quote by Charles Darwin that says: "We stopped looking for monsters under our bed when we realised that they were inside us."

JJ didn't post anything to YouTube or social media from February to June 2017. This period in his career has come to be known as his "evolving phase". In an interview with DramaAlert in February 2017, JJ said he did all of this so he could "evaluate himself as a person" and stated that he that he "doesn't care about the fame or money" and that he wants to "cleanse himself" as a human. During this 5-month period, he lost over 2 billion views by privatising more than 1000 of his videos.

Despite not posting anything to his personal profiles, JJ was occasionally seen in Sidemen videos and also participated in their charity football match in May 2017. He appeared on the Homegrown Podcast in June 2017 where he explained the events and details of the previous 5 months. He stated that he was tired of all the controversy and restrictions that come with the life of a YouTuber. He said he didn't like the state of the website and how people no longer made videos for fun. He travelled around the world when he was off the internet.

Sidemen Diss Track Season

On 3 August 2017, KSI made a series of tweets announcing his disengagement with the Sidemen. Following this, he uploaded a short YouTube video on August 6, 2017 confirming his decision to leave the group. He claimed that the reason he was leaving was primarily due to Ethan, stating he "can't stand him". JJ ended the video with a segment of him "rapping" which included disses against the Sidemen, in particular Ethan.

The same day (August 6), Ethan uploaded a video titled "REPLACING KSI IN THE SIDEMEN HOUSE". In the video, Ethan joked that he was taking JJ's place in the Sidemen House, and proceeded to mess with JJ's room. The following day, Ethan uploaded a full length "diss track" targeting JJ regarding their current drama, simply titled "Drama".

Harry uploaded a three minute long diss track on August 8 titled "KSI Sucks". The video has over 64 million views and was considered by the audience to be one of the best tracks. Harry predominantly targeted JJ and his family in the song.

On August 9, RiceGum uploaded his reaction to Harry's diss track and was confused that Harry only mentioned him once throughout the song (as well as it being a compliment) despite his name being featured in the title. RiceGum also reacted to other diss tracks against him and complained about their hostility.

On August 9, KSI uploaded a video of his reaction to the aforementioned diss track created by Ethan. He confirmed he was working on his own diss track. The track titled "Earthquake" was uploaded on 12 August to KSI's main channel, and featured American YouTuber RiceGum. Ethan posted his own reaction video to the song less than 24 hours later.

On August 10, KSI uploaded his reaction to Harry's diss track. A few hours later, Harry uploaded a video recapping the events that had taken place so far (and discussing RiceGum's video), titled "W2S - KSI ROASTS MY SISTER". This featured Harry's "second verse", although wasn't a full length diss track. It didn't receive as much hate as his original song and Harry explained his reasons for being so brutal.

On August 13 - after uploading "Earthquake" aimed at Ethan, KSI uploaded a diss track titled "Little Boy" aimed at Harry as a response to "KSI Sucks". The video has over 61 million views. It included a lot of "controversial" lines relating to drug use which many of the Sidemen claimed was when the drama started turning serious.

The following day, Harry uploaded a video with his mum reacting to "Little Boy". In the video, Harry promised he'd post his response within "72 hours". The day after that (15 August), KSI reacted to Harry's reaction video - within his own video titled "I'm Getting Deported".

Aside from a few quips, not a lot happened between Ethan and KSI for the following week - though Ethan confirmed he was working on a response to JJ's track "Earthquake". On August 18, he uploaded "Finished" and announced it'd be the last diss track he'd create. KSI uploaded a reaction video the following day (19 August) and said he was still deliberating whether or not to respond.

On August 19, Harry's second diss track called "KSI Exposed" was uploaded. The video is now unlisted. KSI did not react to this track as he did with the others, and later revealed that he got so mad at Harry that he could not upload his reaction.

On August 24, KSI uploaded a diss track titled "Two Birds One Stone". It was targeted towards both W2S and Joe Weller, and was the final diss track in the W2S and KSI drama. He responded to the accusations from Harry's diss track and summed up the situation between himself and Joe Weller. Harry reacted to this track on the same day and provided no evidence that he would respond again.

It is believed that while the diss tracks between others in the group were made jokingly, the conflict between Harry and JJ escalated much more than originally intended. It did, however, conclude after JJ stated he would not make any more diss tracks against Harry in his final track.

Beef with NetNobody

On 20 August, SkyDoesMinecraft released his own diss track on KSI out of nowhere named "'Diss Track ED". On 25 August, after the main bulk of the Sidemen Diss Tracks had concluded, KSI reacted to Sky's track. In the video, KSI said that Sky first congratulated him for finally doing what he really feels and wants to do on YouTube. After KSI released his early diss tracks, Sky quickly started to "roast" KSI on Twitter claiming that JJ hasn't changed or "evolved" at all; until he released the aforementioned diss track. KSI said that he would be making a response diss track against Adam which would "ruin" him.

Adam stated in an interview with Keemstar in early September that he'd be dropping a second diss track immediately after JJ posted his response. On 4 September, JJ posted a video claiming he had gained access to - what he thought was - that very diss track. He reacted to Adam's "leaked" track alongside his brother in a video titled "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA". Most people thought the leak was legitimate and that Adam had indeed been ruined. Adam laughed and claimed on Twitter that the "leak" wasn't real and that he's actually made another.

On 8 September, KSI uploaded "Adam's Apple" - his official diss track against NetNobody. This track featured Adam's ex-wife Alesa and exposed a lot of personal information. However, like he originally claimed, soon after JJ uploaded "Adam's Apple", NetNobody uploaded "Bend the Knee" - his second diss track against KSI. In the video, he claims that he predicted/had knowledge of KSI's track and that the leak was part of a game he was playing.

On 11 November, DramaAlert uploaded a brand new video in which he said that if they both like his tweet, that they made up. Both of them liked his tweet, confirming that they don't have beef anymore.

Feud with Quadeca and Dax

JJ called out both Quadeca and Dax for being worse than him at rapping. Quadeca then responded with a full diss track called "Insecure" and Dax giving small hints at JJ in his track "Killshot Freestyle". JJ then replied with his diss track called "Ares" dissing both Quadeca and Dax. Dax then later appeared in Deji's diss track against JJ called "Unforgivable" with the information given to him by Deji. However, JJ refused to make a diss track back at Deji and instead tried to solve the situation behind the scenes.

JJ and Quadeca squashed their beef over a game of FIFA with both being interested to work with each other in music in the future. Miniminter later confirmed in his What's Good Podcast that the reason why JJ called out Quadeca in the first place was to make him famous, which he did. Quadeca then ended up being part of JJ's album "New Age" with the song "Roll the Dice" with Randolph, a song which Quadeca also performed live on the London show of JJ's New Age tour.

However, JJ's beef with Dax continued on Twitter after Dax made multiple tweets challenging JJ to a boxing match. JJ then responded in a video saying he is ready to fly Dax out from LA to London in a first-class flight, pay for the 5-star hotel charges with an Addison Lee ready with Dax's name written on it just so he can spar him. After many back-and-forths, Dax backed out from having a spar with JJ and claimed in a podcast that he was only using JJ for clout. JJ still occasionally pokes fun at Dax in some of his second channel videos.

On June 23, 2020, on Genius' channel, JJ claimed that he won't stop "clowning" Dax.

Feud with MaximillianMus

MaximillianMus and JJ had a small feud in late January 2019, at the time Max released a song called "Oh Yeah Yeah" which throughout the song, repeated the phrase "Oh yeah yeah". The song went viral and hundreds of videos comment sections were being raided by people spamming "Oh yeah yeah" on them, one of the channels that were affected by this was JJ. JJ tried to stop this, since he thought it was ruining YouTube, by starting "Operation Blackout" where you would blackout your profile picture, and just spam "STOP" on all YouTube comment sections being raided by "Oh yeah yeah" comments When he was doing a One Question Go video, Max managed to get in the server in time, and confronted JJ about Operation Blackout. The operation was a failure, so JJ surrendered and changed his profile pic to Max's except with a bandanna temporarily, and that fixed his comment section, and after a couple of months the meme died out. It is assumed that he and Max are now on good terms.

KSI vs Deji Drama

Prior to the family drama truly kicking off, a number of events happened in November 2018. Notably a series of diss-tracks between Randolph and Deji. In one of Deji's diss-tracks (released on 26 November 2018), he released a screenshot of KSI's personal bank account to "prove" that KSI paid for Randolph's wedding. KSI posted a reaction video the following day, expressing his disappointment in his mum and dad for allowing Deji to access the bank account.

Christmas Day 2018

On 25 December 2018, Deji kicked KSI out of his house. The events were made public on Twitter. Deji claimed that KSI came to fight with Deji and threatened to smash his computer. Deji allegedly locked himself in his office and KSI said he would smash the door and "beat him up". Deji then claimed he asked KSI if he could leave the house or he would call the police. Both Deji and KSI (unbeknownst to each other) were recording the events.

Deji's Explanation

On 25 May 2019, Deji created a video simply called "bye". In the video, Deji claimed KSI had been abusive towards him at an alarming rate. Deji alleged that KSI had thrown various objects at him, among other things. Deji went on to tell a story which supposedly occurred in 2015. He said he fell in love with an anonymous girl and recorded various videos with her. However, KSI apparently slept with her, causing Deji major upset and depression. Deji added that KSI has supposedly attempted to "steal" multiple girls that Deji has liked.

He explained that he only made Unforgiven because he was annoyed that KSI wasn't neutral in the situation (instead only being on Randolph's side). Deji also claimed that KSI actually got to hear Randolph's second diss-track in advance and made no effort to stop it being published.

Deji also claimed that Randolph used private footage of KSI and Deji from their chat-log, (which nobody else had access to). Deji says that the allegations that he had slept with underage girls and had left girls pregnant are false. He went on to say that he had supported KSI every-second, even when KSI received sexual assault allegations in 2012.

Deji went on to say that he had had suicidal thoughts about all of the events. He claimed that no one supported or helped him from losing followers. He claimed that he asked KSI to tell people to stop hating on him.

KSI's Explanation

After Deji released his video "exposing" his brother, KSI made a response video by the name ending it all. In the whole video, KSI debunks Deji's claims, making his part of the story out in the public. The video is 1 hour long, in which KSI is defending himself and exposing Deji's video as an overrated hoax.

Aftermath

After Deji's video got released, both of KSI's channels started losing subscribers. KSI responded on Twitter that he can't wait to make a response to this whole video. Once KSI released his video, the tables turned. Deji started losing subscribers on both accounts, while KSI started gaining them again.

Feud with RiceGum

On 1 May 2020, RiceGum appeared on DramaAlert to talk about his beef with KSI. Rice explained that he wanted a free ticket from KSI to attend the boxing match against Logan Paul. So he accepted a free ticket from Paul, and a "petty" KSI then unfollowed Rice on social media and deleted their video. KSI would respond to Rice in a video titled "Ricegum says he makes better music than me..." To start things off, KSI reacted to the unfollowing claims by showing that he hadn’t actually unfollowed Rice on everything something he quickly fixed by unfollowing Rice’s Twitter. Then, in response to the claim that he re-uploaded the "Earthquake" video just for the views, he simply decided to show how little he cares by sharing his screen and deleting the video permanently. While Rice believed the Paul invitation to be the source of why KSI unfollowed him, JJ explains that it was actually caused by two disses: a line from his "DaAdult" track and a quote from his podcast appearance, in which he asserts "I feel like my songs are better than [KSI’s]." Rice cited that, when asked about splitting the earnings, he told KSI “Just keep it, man. I don’t even want anything … just give me a feature back.” KSI says this is nonsense, and that he’s "pretty sure" the split was “50-50,” that the YouTuber "got paid for the track" and is "still getting paid for the track."

In June 2021, KSI uploaded a video titled "RICEGUM IS SO SALTY", in the video he reacted to Rice targeting his girlfriend "You guys date normal girls. It’s a waste of clout. You might as well turn up." KSI questioned the "waste of clout" comment, saying that Rice himself is a waste of clout and that the comments are "so weird." He adds: "I really hope people don’t have this mentality when it comes to their significant other, man." clarifying that women aren’t just trophies to be 'shown off'. Following these comments in the clip, Rice decides to watch KSI song "Holiday", which had reached number two in the official UK charts. Within about three seconds of the song starting, Rice says that it’s "trash" and accuses KSI of "buying views." KSI retorts that it’s no wonder RiceGum "is dead when it comes to music. You wouldn’t know good music if it hit you in the face." KSI goes on to confirm that he is a platinum recording artist, something Rice believes he holds over KSI and even mocks Rice's "dead" song streams on Spotify.

Use of Transgender Slur

In March 2021, KSI faced criticism for misgendering a trans person and using a transphobic slur in a Sidemen video. He later apologised, claiming not to have known that the word was offensive.

Channel Strike

In March 2021, KSI posted on his second channel a Try Not To Laugh video. The video was taken down by YouTube for the content of “child endangerment” and gave KSI a second strike on his channel. Following the guidelines set in place by Google, KSI's account was banned for two weeks and he returned to YouTube seeming a bit more enlightened as to what his videos should contain.

Using a Racial Slur

On April 2 2023, the Sidemen uploaded a video titled "Sidemen Countdown 2". In the video, KSI team had to form the longest possible word from nine letters - and KSI used a racial slur towards Pakistani descents. The other players were seen laughing afterwards. The video has since been removed from the Sidemen YouTube channel. After the incident, fans of KSI and Sidemen took to social media to express their disgust at the moment, calling KSI out and compelling him to apologize for the moment.

KSI apologizes for the racial slur

"I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video. There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry…I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human. Im not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot." KSI then added, "so I’ve decided I’m gonna just take a break from social media for a while." He has not confirmed how long this break from social media will be and what platforms he will be stepping away from.

A few days later, KSI was seen visiting mosques speaking to community members in an effort to educate himself on issues facing the Pakistani community, and to apologize for what he said in person. Before his press conference with Joe Fournier, KSI apologized in a video for his use of a racial slur in a Sidemen video.

As a result of the controversy, a KSI TV show that was being made by the BBC would be cancelled.

Leaking IP on stream

KSI return to streaming for the first time in ten years on February 7, 2024. KSI was an hour into his comeback stream on YouTube when he blurted out an expletive, revealing that his IP address had been leaked by a viewer. “God dammit,” he groaned. “God dammit, guys. My IP got leaked. I got to end the stream. I’m sorry. I’ll see you lot in a bit.” Despite the leak, KSI went live again on his YouTube channel, joking that he suffered a “few technical issues,” although the initial VOD has since been privated.

Crypto scam allegations

In February 2024, Coffeezilla, a YouTuber who exposes cryptocurrency scams, uploaded a video on his YouTube channel accusing KSI of a pump and dump scam. Coffeezilla directly contacted KSI, which he explained they were simply “coins I put my own money into thinking they would do well. I didn’t have any malicious intent in trying to scam. I was new to crypto so I was excited. Putting money in random things trying to chase the pumps and ultimately lost heavily. I hope people didn’t take my advice/tweets as gold because looking at my track record, I was f***ing dogsh**.” KSI continued in saying “I wish I was an evil genius that would pump and dump at the right time, because at least then people would say I had some wit about me. Reality is, I was just sh** at crypto. I put in 2 million of my own money and lost it all in the end. I made zero profit on crypto.” Addressing direct tweets in which he claimed to be “bullish” on certain tokens, KSI argued he was merely presenting “the opposite” on social media. Coffeezilla didn’t exactly “buy” this account of the story, and remains dubious over KSI’s involvement in the crypto space.

KSI responded to Coffeezilla with a GoogleDoc made by Vibhor, KSI also said he will make his own response to Coffeezilla. XCAD founder Oliver Bell, came out and shutdown Coffeezilla’s claim that KSI pumped and dumped, saying “He’s an active XCAD investor and believer, he has bought more than sold.” On February 21, KSI responds to Coffeezilla’s scam allegations saying "I turned down tens of millions of deals, why would i scam my fans for 150$".

In other media

JJ's first and only acting appearance was in a film called Laid in America which premiered in September 2016. It stars JJ (as Duncan) and Caspar Lee (as Jack) about two foreign exchange students in America who, on their last day in the country, go on a quest to lose their virginity. However, with over half a million people downloading the movie illegally it is unlikely there will ever be a sequel.

Following his establishment as an iconic figure in the British media industry, JJ began to be invited to appear on numerous popular television shows, most notably on the reality series Gogglebox, and the fourth season of The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off - the latter was watched by 5 million people in the UK.

Business ventures

The Prime logo

With the Sidemen in 2021, JJ launched the restaurant chain Sides, specialising in burgers and dishes which would ordinarily be considered "side dishes". In January 2022, JJ launched a new beverage brand called Prime. This was a joint business venture with Logan Paul, with the goal of celebrating old rivals coming together and creating something special.

Wealth

JJ's prominent career on YouTube led to him becoming one of the wealthiest YouTuber's in the U.K. very early on. He bought a Lamborghini Aventador in 2014, estimated to have cost him around £500,000. Even when he was doing YouTube whilst still in secondary school, he was earning around £1500 a month. Following his musical career taking off in the mid-2010s as well as his boxing career beginning in 2018, his combined income made JJ a comfortable multi-millionaire. In the late-2010s, he became one of the richest YouTubers in the world having an estimated net worth of $15 million. In 2020, The Times magazine stated that JJ earns an estimated £12 million per year from his combined ventures.

JJ also made a significant amount of money from his BEAST clothing company in the early-2010s, although the company is now defunct. JJ is also on the board of directors for Sidemen Entertainment Ltd. along with the six other members of the Sidemen. He owns a share of all the Sidemen companies which further contribute to his wealth.

Trivia

• KSI has a combined total of over 30 million subscribers across his two YouTube channels. 
• KSI's singles - Down Like That, Wake Up Call and Poppin have received over 300 million streams globally. 
• KSI's main channel is the second most subscribed UK YouTuber channel after DanTDM. 
• "KSI" stands for "Knowledge Strength Integrity". He got these words tattooed on his body in 2017.
• In his "Googling Myself" video, JJ said that he is agnostic.
• KSI renamed his second channel from 'KSIOlajidebtHD V2' to 'JJ Olatunji' so that he could get his real name on the 10 million subscribers Diamond Play Button.
• KSI has trypophobia.
• According to Deji, KSI didn't speak to his parents until Deji was born.

Subscriber milestones

Note: The following dates are according to Social Blade. Dates may vary by one or two days due to differences in time zones.

KSI

• 1 million subscribers: December 30, 2012.
• 2 million subscribers: April 25, 2013.
• 3 million subscribers: August 7, 2013.
• 4 million subscribers: October 29, 2013.
• 5 million subscribers: February 17, 2014.
• 6 million subscribers: June 20, 2014.
• 7 million subscribers: October 3, 2014.
• 8 million subscribers: January 10, 2015.
• 9 million subscribers: April 10, 2015.
• 10 million subscribers: July 30, 2015.
• 11 million subscribers: November 3, 2015.
• 12 million subscribers: February 19, 2016.
• 13 million subscribers: June 5, 2016.
• 14 million subscribers: August 1, 2016.
• 15 million subscribers: November 13, 2016.
• 16 million subscribers: March 11, 2017.
• 17 million subscribers: August 25, 2017.
• 18 million subscribers: February 11, 2018.
• 19 million subscribers: July 20, 2018.
• 20 million subscribers: January 27, 2019.
• 21 million subscribers: January 30, 2020.
• 22 million subscribers: October 24, 2020.
• 23 million subscribers: June 23, 2021.
• 24 million subscribers: August 26, 2022.

JJ Olatunji

• 1 million subscribers: August 11, 2013
• 2 million subscribers: March 12, 2014
• 3 million subscribers: December 22, 2014
• 4 million subscribers: November 25, 2015
• 5 million subscribers: January 2, 2019
• 6 million subscribers: January 26, 2019
• 7 million subscribers: May 15, 2019

Decline

• Below 7 million subscribers: May 28, 2019

Regrowth

• 7 million subscribers: June 3, 2019
• 8 million subscribers: January 1, 2020
• 9 million subscribers: May 17, 2020
• 10 million subscribers: August 3, 2020
• 11 million subscribers: November 10, 2020
• 12 million subscribers: February 8, 2021
• 13 million subscribers: June 14, 2021
• 14 million subscribers: September 5, 2021
• 15 million subscribers: May 1, 2022
• 16 million subscribers: September 27, 2022

KSIClips

• 1 million subscribers: June 9, 2022
• 2 million subscribers: January 5, 2024

View Milestones

KSI

• 1 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 2 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 3 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 4 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 5 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 6 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 7 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 8 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 9 Thousand Views: Febuary 2010
• 10 Thousand Views: March 2010
• 20 Thousand Views: March 2010
• 30 Thousand Views: April 2010
• 40 Thousand Views: May 2010
• 50 Thousand Views: June 2010
• 60 Thousand Views: July 2010
• 70 Thousand Views: August 2010
• 80 Thousand Views: August 2010
• 90 Thousand Views: September
• 100 Thousand Views: October 2010
• 200 Thousand Views: April 2011
• 300 Thousand Views: May 2011
• 400 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 500 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 600 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 700 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 800 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 900 Thousand Views: June 2011
• 1 Million Views: July 2011
• 2 Million Views: July 2011
• 3 Million Views: August 2011
• 4 Million Views: September 2011
• 5 Million Views: September 2011
• 6 Million Views: September 2011
• 7 Million Views: September 2011
• 8 Million Views: October 2011
• 9 Million Views: October 2011
• 10 Million Views: October 2011
• 20 Million Views: November 2011
• 30 Million Views: December 2011
• 40 Million Views: January 2012
• 50 Million Views: Febuary 2012
• 60 Million Views: March 2012
• 70 Million Views: March 2012
• 80 Million Views: April 2012
• 90 Million Views: May 2012
• 100 Million Views: May 2012
• 200 Million Views: October 2012
• 300 Million Views: January 2013
• 400 Million Views: April 2013
• 500 Million Views: August 2013
• 600 Million Views: November 2013
• 700 Million Views: Febuary 2014
• 800 Million Views: May 2014
• 900 Million Views: July 2014
• 1 Billion Views: September 2014
• 2 Billion Views: October 2015
• 3 Billion Views: October 2016
• 4 Billion Views: March 2018
• 5 Billion Views: November 2019
• 6 Billion Views: July 2023

Gallery

KSI talking with Kate Middleton about TikTok

References

Attribution

This page uses Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International-licensed content from Wikipedia.

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Wikitubia Hall of Fame

KSI is recognized by the Wikitubia community as one of the best on YouTube!