Ethan's beginnings on YouTube
Ethan's channel started in 2011, with h3h3productions being the bread and butter of his early career. Most of their content was comedy sketches and reaction videos, enhanced by their unique editing style and humor, quickly attracting viewers.
Their big break was their Vape Nation video, which mimicked and mocked the rising popularity of vaping culture among youth. The video was uploaded in March 2016 and went viral, establishing their place in the YouTube community.
From 2013-2018, h3h3Productions was at its peak, and Ethan was notably one of the most recognized YouTube stars in the game. Both his and his wife Hila's content made them significant creators, and even now, with their fluctuation in popularity, they are still recognizable figures.
The H3 Podcast and Teddy Fresh
After they launched their channel, the Kleins expanded their h3h3Productions to H3Podcast in 2017, which were longer-format videos that engaged in conversations about internet culture and society.
The H3 Podcast featured several guests—notably PewDiePie, Post Malone, Joji and Shane Dawson—which helped expand their audience and boosted their visibility.
In the same year, Hila Klein took the initiative to start her streetwear brand, Teddy Fresh. The clothing line is inspired by 90s fashion trends, with her vision focusing on bold graphics and colour palettes. In 2020, Hila’s color block hoodie became one of Teddy Fresh’s iconic pieces.
Later that year, Ethan grabbed the public's attention after he made accusations that James Charles copied their design. Although the drama might’ve gotten messy, sales were through the roof.
Soon after, Teddy Fresh scored huge collaborations from SpongeBob SquarePants, elevating the brand and their reputation. By 2021, they had collaborations with Care Bears and Looney Tunes, which further established their credibility as a brand. Several more collaborations, including Marvel, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla, and even Elton John.
Frenemies with Trisha Paytas
Media personality Trisha Paytas has been a regular guest on the H3 Podcast before and in September 2020, Ethan and Trisha started their Podcast, Frenemies, which focused on internet drama, gossip, and personal experiences.
The two quickly gained a substantial cult following, expanding their audience and having their episodes frequently trend on YouTube. Trisha later married Hila’s brother Moses.
With 39 episodes released, the show had a short lifespan, ending in June 2021. There were heavy disagreements between the two co-hosts over creative control and the revenue split, which was argued over in the last episode.
Leftovers with Hasan Piker
HasanAbi was featured on H3 in 2020, where he and Ethan bonded over their similar sense of humor, shared progressive left-wing views, and opinions on right-wing figures.
This eventually led to the release of Leftovers, a left-wing political comedy podcast with Ethan and Hasan as co-hosts. They announced and released their first episode in September 2021, with the first episode receiving over a million views in 24 hours. The podcast had 61 episodes, and guests included Amouranth and Richard D. Wolff.
Leftovers eventually went on a permanent hiatus in October 2023, when tension began to stir between Hasan and Ethan and their opposite views on the Gaza-Israel conflict.
H3 goes to court
Throughout his content creation career, Ethan Klein was center of several high-profile legal disputes that have not only impacted his channel but also set important precedents for content creators across YouTube.
The Fair Use landmark case
The Fair Use Lawsuit started in 2016 with YouTuber Matt Hosseinzadeh, also known as Matt Hoss, suing Ethan and Hila for copyright infringement and accusing them of using clips of his video Bold Guy vs Parkour Girl in one of their reaction videos.
Because Matt’s video wasn’t simply just republished, but had additional commentary from reacting to it, the content was deemed transformative. The Kleins were protected under fair use, which was a landmark decision because it was the first US court ruling that applied fair use to YouTube reaction/commentary videos.
Triller lawsuit saga
The Kleins later faced lawsuits from Triller over alleged copyright and defamation. Ethan had previously mocked Triller’s co-founder Ryan Kavanugh. Triller claimed that the Kleins unlawfully broadcast snippets of a boxing match between Jake Paul and Ben Askren without authorization, causing $50m in damages. Luckily for them, they won the court case and the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice under California’s anti-SLAPP motion, which protected the Kleins from Ryan refiling the lawsuit.
Ethan Klein's controversies
Throughout his content creation career, Ethan Klein has been no stranger to controversy. These have become defining elements of his public persona and continue to shape his place in the content creator landscape.
The HasanAbi Fallout
Since October 7, 2023, Hasan and Ethan's friendship and partnership have quickly turned into a back-and-forth feud. While the Leftovers podcast has been on permanent pause since then, the parting hasn't been peaceful.
After Ethan dropped his Content Nuke video, Hasan's response of calling it "islamophobic" and "a failure" has just been the beginning. In response to the video, Ethan’s Twitch channel was banned for 30 days after he streamed because Twitch flagged it as "encouraging or glorifying extreme violence". Ethan tried to appeal the ban but got denied.
With Hasan’s presence in the new iDubbbz’s Content Cop video, Ethan invited Hasan to a live stream debate on his H3 Podcast and Hasan’s Twitch channel. The five-hour debate reached millions of views in less than 15 hours of airing and sparked intense online discussions. As both claimed to be winners of the debate, it did little to resolve their nearly two-year feud.
iDubbbz’s "Content Cop" comeback
Speaking of iDubbbz, Ethan Klein back to back-to-back controversies have grabbed the attention of Ian “iDubbbz” Carter with his new Content Cop series about none other than the H3 host himself.
The video specifically calls out Ethan's hypocrisy, changes in behavior and how he's handled his various online disputes. iDubbbz, who was once close friends with Ethan, continued to address the difference between his previous content style and persona and his current one.
Ethan's overall response has been defensive. Considering how the year has started for him, he's claimed that the video feels like a bandwagon attack with no constructive criticism and an overall mean-spirited video. Even with Ethan in the hot seat, iDubbbz is also receiving negative feedback about the video.
Internet trolls vs. Ethan Klein
The r/h3snark Reddit community, which emerged in 2023 as a thread dedicated to criticizing and harassing Ethan and previous co-host Trisha, has escalated beyond hate comments. There have been allegations that the subreddit fostered harassment that eventually led to Child Protective Services (CPS) being called on their family due to false rumors of child neglect.
Twitch streamer Denims amplified the rumors of child neglect, and while she denied it, she launched a GoFundMe, which she has now refunded, to pursue a defamation lawsuit against Ethan. With ongoing tensions and lawsuits, r/h3snark has gone on hiatus and found a new home in r/leftovers.
The Post Malone and Joji Podcast incident
As mentioned, the H3 Podcast has featured notable guests like Post Malone and Joji. Back in 2017, in the early days of the podcast, the trio, or quartet, including Hila, drank a box of Bud Light and smoked Post Malone's stash of cigarettes while chatting about their careers and every other odd topic.
The conversation got awkward, though, when Ethan remarked, "Women in a natural setting are to be conquered" in context to humans' evolutionary behavior. If you saw Joji's face, then that pretty much summed up everyone's response to this comment. As you can imagine, the public didn't take this lightly.
And as Joji left behind his Filthy Frank days and focused on his music career, he has also distanced himself from Ethan, as they haven't had a public collaboration since. The infamous clip has resurfaced several times over the years, creating debates over evolving internet personas.
Ben Shapiro and his antisemitic circle
Ethan's no-filter personality is one of the things that draws in fans, but also gets him in trouble.
In 2022, Ethan called out conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for platforming people like Candace Owens, who has made "soft" antisemitic comments. With both Ben and Ethan coming from Jewish descent, Ethan commented on his podcast, "If there's another Holocaust, I hope Ben gets gassed first or last."
And while Ethan might've meant this as a joke, that didn't stop YouTube from suspending his channel for a week. As Ethan's a very outspoken person, his words got major backlash, especially from the Jewish community.
Is Ethan addicted to cocaine?
Ethan has admitted on his podcast that he did try crack cocaine once in New York. Though if you're wondering if he's an addict, the answer is no. The rumors of Ethan being on cocaine get mixed up with his Tourette's syndrome—something that Ethan has openly spoken about several times.
While haters like to make these types of accusations to stir up drama and invalidate him, even fans can admit that Ethan overshares everything, so if he were on drugs, we'd probably be hearing it straight from him.
Can't stop, won't stop
Ethan's had a long run on YouTube, and it doesn't look like it's coming to an end anytime soon. Even with the backlash and hate, Ethan still has a strong core audience that's fond of his bluntness and the approach he takes when talking about complex topics.
If you're watching H3, it's expected that Ethan is going to make some sort of controversial comment, and while the internet likes to be politically correct, Ethan's audience has learned to be more forgiving and understanding.
So, whether you love him or hate him, it looks like Ethan will be supplying plenty of content for you to choose from. As he's bounced back from bans, podcast break-ups and attempts to cancel him, h3h3Productions or H3 Podcast won't be giving you a season finale for a while.
