JayStation

Jason Ethier, better known as JayStation (born 14 February 1990 in Ottawa, Ontario), is a Canadian vlogger who garnered controversy for his fake prank videos on the video-sharing website YouTube. Beginning in 2015, he deleted his YouTube account after it became demonetized after his arrest on five accounts of trespassing by Ottawa police. That same month, Ethier then re-started on YouTube under the channel name ImJayStation, re-uploading all of his content except the ones relating to his trespassing.[1]

In 2020, he was criticized for a video in which he faked the death of his girlfriend Alexia Marano to increase views on the platform. He was later arrested for assault and assault with a weapon, and is due to appear in Toronto's Old City Hall on 16 March 2020.[2][3] Following this controversy, Ethier took a brief hiatus from making videos.

Controversies

'Contacting' dead celebrities

Ethier gained notoriety within the YouTube community over his attempts to contact dead celebrities through paranormal activities (notably ouija boards and 'spirit boxes') late at night (known as "3 a.m. challenges"), namely XXXTentacion and Mac Miller.[3][4] In June 26, 2019, following the death of Etika in that month, Ethier uploaded a video using a similar clickbait title to his previous videos. However, in this video, he apologizes for the content of his past ouija board and celebrity death videos.[5]

Disney World arrest

At around 6:30 p.m. on March 24, 2019, Ethier was arrested at Florida's Disney World on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest. He claims that he and a fellow YouTuber were in Florida filming haunted vlogs for future content.[6]

Security had been called on Ethier after he became agitated at the fact that his bag had been accidentally taken by another guest at the park. According to staff, Ethier became agitated after being told to check lost and found or guest claims, instead opting to berate the managers. He was asked to leave the filmed baggage check (which Disney said in an arrest affidavit was a violation of company policy) and was subsequently jailed on a $1,200 bond where he was later released.[7][8][9]

On Twitter and YouTube, Ethier called for his followers to boycott Disney World, threatened legal action against Disney, saying that his camera was stolen by Disney security guards and the Orlando Police Department, the latter of which has no jurisdiction over Disney property.[7]

Assault and fake death of girlfriend

In January 2020, Ethier falsely claimed to his YouTube audience that his girlfriend at the time, fellow YouTuber Alexia Marano, had been killed by a drunk driver in Toronto, Canada. Subsequent videos – originally presented as genuine by Ethier – show him visiting a makeshift memorial and attempting to contact her from the grave by using an ouija board. Due to the outlandish and incredulous nature of the claims made by Ethier in other videos in the past (such as claiming to have bought children and slaves off the dark web, summoned dead animals, and become decapitated using a voodoo doll), many viewers and YouTubers were suspect of the claims.[2][10]

He later admitted that the whole situation was a complete fabrication and hoax which was intended to increase his subscriber and viewer count and that he had planned to resurrect Marano in a later video. Marano ended her relationship with Ethier after the controversy and has since deleted her YouTube page.[3][11]

In a video posted on January 26, 2020, Ethier claimed Marano had been in on the scam from the beginning. He said Marano had left him and took her belongings with her, and that police arrived at his home to notify Ethier that Marano had accused him of assault and assault with a weapon.[12][13] Marano said on Twitter that she was "just a little girl caught in the crossfire".[14] Toronto Police confirmed that a warrant for Ethier's arrest was issued on February 3, that Ethier had been arrested and charged, and that he would appear in court on March 16 in Toronto's Old City Hall on charges of assault and assault with a weapon. It is unclear if the charges relate to the hoax.[2]

Hiatus from YouTube

On February 25, 2020, following the demonetization of his videos by YouTube and criticism from the YouTube community for his death prank video, Ethier apologized for his past errors and announced his departure from the platform in a 13-minute-long video uploaded to his main channel called 'Goodbye...'.[15] In the video, Ethier detailed his regrets from his YouTube career, from his paranormal vlogs faking communication with dead celebrities to his homophobic videos in which he drinks a "gay potion". YouTube also confirmed to Insider that Ethier's channel had been demonetized one week before Ethier quit his channel, meaning that he could no longer derive income from his YouTube videos.[16] In April 2020 Ethier returned to YouTube in a video with his former girlfriend Marano, and the two claimed to have resolved their differences.[17]

References
  1. "ImJayStation: the YouTuber who faked his girlfriend's death for hits". Dazed. 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  2. "'Death hoax' YouTuber charged with assault". BBC News. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. Lord, Annie (6 February 2020). "YouTube star arrested after faking girlfriend's death to gain subscribers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  4. Katzowitz, Josh (10 October 2018). "YouTuber blasted for 'exploiting' the death of Mac Miller with ghost-hunting video". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  5. "A YouTuber is being called out for clickbaiting Etika's death for views". We The Unicorns. Archived from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  6. "This YouTube star was arrested at Disney World—and he has the video to prove it". The Daily Dot. 29 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. Williams, Michael. "YouTube star claimed to be 'very powerful,' threatened lawsuit during Disney arrest, deputies say". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. O'Shea, Sean (28 March 2018). "Ottawa-based YouTube star charged after dispute with Disney World security officers". Global News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  9. Ancken, Erik von (26 March 2018). "YouTuber streams arrest at Disney's Epcot Center after claiming bag was stolen". WKMG. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  10. Katzowitz, Josh (23 January 2020). "YouTuber accused of faking the death of his girlfriend for views". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  11. White, Adam (28 January 2020). "YouTube star admits to faking girlfriend's death to gain subscribers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  12. Ethier, Jason [ImJayStation] (26 January 2020). "ALEXIA MARANO *THE TRUTH ABOUT HER*". YouTube. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  13. Justich, Kerry (1 February 2020). "YouTuber under fire after faking girlfriend's death for views. She's alive – and is accusing him of abuse". Yahoo! Lifestyle. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  14. Marano, Alexia [@AlexiaMarano] (5 February 2020). "sos just a little girl caught in the crossfire" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. Ethier, Jason [ImJayStation] (22 February 2020). "Goodbye..." YouTube. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  16. Harris, Margot (25 February 2020). "Controversial YouTuber who faked his girlfriend's death said he's 'taking a break' from the platform, but he didn't mention he was demonetized". Insider. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  17. Harris, Margot (5 April 2020). "Infamous YouTuber JayStation reunited with his ex-girlfriend months after faking her death and quitting YouTube". Insider. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
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