The Untold Truth Of Tana Mongeau
Tana Mongeau is a massively popular YouTuber. At the time of this writing in 2019, her channel boasts an impressive 4.5 million subscribers. Those aren't rookie numbers, people. Known for her admittedly outrageous story time content, Mongeau gave fans an insider peek into her YouTube process during a 2016 interview with Fangirlish. "I mean I can definitely get a bit clickbaity at times ... but I always try to keep it real. That's just who I am," she explained, but added, "I don't know why crazy s**t happens to me, I really don't. My whole life I just always assumed that I'm one of those people who won't ever lead a normal life — but at this point, I wouldn't want a normal life."
Since then, this fan-favorite YouTube star has faced her fair share of controversies (both real and manufactured), scandals, and public beefs. Ready to hear all the dirt? Smash that like button and subscribe to the untold truth of Tana Mongeau.
Is Tana Mongeau's engagement to Jake Paul fake?
Almost immediately after Tana Mongeau announced her engagement to fellow YouTube star Jake Paul in late June 2019, a lot of social media users believed it was all just a publicity stunt — and it's easy to understand why. In 2017, Paul admitted that his alleged marriage with social media influencer Erika Costell was completely fake, telling The New York Times, "We're not even actually dating. It's like the WWE. People know that's fake, and it's one of the biggest things of entertainment."
While Mongeau insisted the engagement news wasn't a joke in response to a fan on Twitter, saying that Paul had indeed proposed during her 21st birthday party in Las Vegas, even jewelry experts started weighing in on the ring she flashed on social media. "Nothing is a sure thing without seeing the ring(s) up close, but everything about this little clip says 'fake,'" The Diamond Pro founder, Ira Weissman, told E! News, claiming that the "exaggerated sparkling light reflecting off of something" outside of the frame was "exactly what you would want to use to try to enhance the sparkle of a simulated diamond to make it look like the real thing."
Meanwhile, a source cited by the media outlet alleged that they "would not be surprised if there's a brand behind this." Hm...
She tried to make 'TanaCon' happen
Mongeau had a gripe to pick with VidCon after the yearly YouTuber conference didn't provide her with a "Featured Creator" badge in 2016. In a nearly 80-minute video called "Why I Won't Be Attending Vidcon 2018: A Rant," she explained that event security had forced her to leave after being "mobbed" by crowds and creating a safety hazard — a situation she claimed could have been avoided with said badge.
In protest, Mongeau created "TanaCon," a rival convention set to take place the same weekend as VidCon, according to Forbes. However, it was an unmitigated disaster. According to The Verge, it was labeled the "new Fyre Fest" due to scheduling conflicts (some creators attended both events), an over-capacity venue, and thousands of attendees stuck outside without food, water, or shelter from the sun. Once the event space filled up, many attendees were "advised to come back the following day," before the event was shut down altogether.
A year later, Mongeau told Paper magazine, "I think in the moment I was so excited for it to be a real possibility and I definitely was harboring a lot of really negative emotions towards VidCon, just thinking in a really unhealthy way." As for how she felt about TanaCon with the luxury of hindsight, she said, "Wow, this was a giant mistake with so many of the wrong intentions."
Mongeau's ups and downs with Bella Thorne
Actress Bella Thorne and Tana Mongeau were first romantically linked in September 2017, when they posted photos of the two kissing. "Dreams do come true kids," Mongeau tweeted alongside the snaps, while Thorne chimed in with, "Who's shook." However, their relationship was over a little over a year later.
"Tana and I aren't together anymore, pls stop asking," Thorne tweeted in February 2019. "We love U guys." Confirming their breakup, Mongeau shared alongside a broken heart emoji: "I love her forever don't get that twisted. she changed my life forever. don't rly wanna talk on it.. there's no negativity at all." By early June of that year, Mongeau publicly asked Thorne to take her back ... but less than two weeks later, she'd announced her engagement to Jake Paul.
Amicable split aside, Thorne didn't appear to take the news very well. The Famous in Love star posted a photo of herself with red, crying eyes on her so-called "fake" Instagram account (which she's publicly confirmed she runs). Alongside dozens of crying emojis, she wrote in the caption, "When ur ex gets engaged."
She had beef with ... Whoopi Goldberg?
After an alleged hacker threatened her with extortion over nude photos, Bella Thorne took back her power and posted the images in question on Twitter in June 2019. "Yesterday as u all know all my s**t was hacked," she wrote in part in a text-post. "For the last 24 hours I have been threatened with my own nudes I feel gross, I feel watched, I feel someone has taken something from that I only wanted one special person to see."
Shortly after, the ladies of The View weighed in on the controversial matter — with one Whoopi Goldberg pointing the blame at Thorne. "If you're famous, I don't care how old you are, you don't take nude pictures of yourself," the comedian said, adding, "Once you take that picture, it goes into the Cloud and it's available to any hacker who wants it, and if you don't know that in 2019 that this is an issue, I'm sorry. You don't get to do that."
Where does Mongeau come into all of this? After Thorne called Goldberg's comments "disgusting" and refused to ever appear on the daytime talk show, Mongeau came to Thorne's defense on social media. "Yo F**K @whoopiegoldberg. f**k slut shaming," she wrote in her Instagram Stories (via We the Unicorns). "F**k blaming girls for bad things that happen to them & inciting fear." The YouTuber added, "Whoopi I feel so sorry for you to have that mindset."
Tana Mongeau was accused of exploiting Mac Miller's death
On the day of rapper Mac Miller's death in September 2018, Tana Mongeau posted a screenshot of a text conversation she'd had with him. "You had this love for life and what you do that made me fall for you 10x harder," she wrote in part in the caption (via Pop Crave). "I wanted to come over last night ... my soul is shattered ... what i would do for you to tuck my hair behind my ear and kiss me one last time ... I love you Malcolm. I love you."
The YouTube star later sent out a follow-up tweet hinting that she and the rapper had shared a secret relationship, which led many to believe she was using Miller's death to bring attention to herself. One Twitter user wrote, "Did.....tana mongeau just announce the fact she was dating mac miller in a post that was made to honour his death but just ended up being more about her?"
She was called out for using racist language
Mongeau entered into yet another feud in 2017 — this time with fellow YouTuber iDubbbz, when the two mutually called one another out for allegedly using racist language.
"So 3 million ppl subscribe to u and u openly say the n-word and [r-word]???? Kill yourself," Mongeau wrote in a since-deleted tweet (via The Daily Dot). For his part, iDubbbz hit back by unearthing videos and tweets of Mongeau appearing to repeatedly say the racist slur herself, reportedly saying "You f**king n***er," and tweeting out, "I'm [on my way] to my pet n***er's house."
In response, Mongeau sent out a series of tweets to her fans, writing, "I love you guys. but i have made a lot of mistakes, and the right thing to do is own up to them, and move on. an APOLOGY will be coming soon." She added, "I've made so many mistakes and even at 18, i'm still trying to learn. i intend on owning up to everything, and hoping you'll forgive me. ily." However, New York Magazine's Intelligencer pointed out, "She has yet to apologize or do any of the aforementioned owning up."
Mongeau also started drama with Noah Cyrus
In May 2019, Mongeau's celeb beefs continued when she uploaded a video targeting Miley Cyrus' baby sis, Noah Cyrus. The nearly 50-minute clip, "The time Lil Xan cheated on me + why Noah Cyrus HATES me: STORYTIME," detailed an alleged incident in which she ran into ex-boyfriend Lil Xan and Noah Cyrus (who was dating the rapper at the time) at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.
"I turn to see Lil Xan beelining toward me," Mongeau claimed in the video (via Us Weekly). "And I see, out of my peripheral [vision], a very, very unhappy Noah Cyrus walking up to us. And I'm standing there ... and she looks at me and it's just this awkward-a** silence ... She just looks so f**king unhappy that she even had to, like, walk up to us." She went on to allege that the younger Cyrus sibling looked her "up and down" before shoulder-checking her. "I hear from a bunch of other people that [Noah] just, like, hates me," Mongeau explained. "It hurt. It still hurts."
For her part, Cyrus responded via Twitter and basically told Mongeau that the alleged incident was all in her head. "lol this is hilarious," she wrote. "I deff dont hate you and for sure turned the opposite direction of you no shoulder check. lets hangout and talk about how b**chy girls are to other girls @tanamongeau dm me."
Branching out & making that money move
Not content with simply being a YouTube personality, Tana Mongeau began to expand her entertainment horizons in 2019. In addition to trying her hand at acting in the platform's murder mystery competition web series, Escape The Night (via Deadline), she also struck a deal with Viacom Digital Studios for her own show, MTV No Filter: Tana Turns 21.
Adding to her on-screen prospects, Mongeau has been making that money move through other lucrative projects. You want merch? This YouTuber has got merch: Need a $13 "Tana is My Daddy" mug?" In the mood for $25 thongs with "Scandalous" written on them? How about a $45 hoodie with a tattooed version of Mongeau's face on the front or joggers that say "canceled" down the leg? According to Seventeen, Mongeau will sell it to you.
Luckily for the social media personality, all of this has been paying off big time in her bank account. Social Blade reports that she's raking in between $9,300 and $148,500 per month from her channel alone, as of this writing in 2019. Meanwhile, the statistics website estimated that Mongeau's potentially generating up to $1,800,000 per year in revenue. Well, you can't hate that.