Inside The Lives Of The Hype House Stars

Slumber parties used to be the only way for a bunch of friends to sleep under the same roof. That is, until the dawn of social media. Young influencers with millions of followers thought it would facilitate a more creative environment by being around similar people. This meant going behind a typical coworking space to actually living together. It first started with the short-video app Vine. Then came mansions with YouTube stars like Jake Paul's Team 10. In December of 2019, Thomas Petrou, Chase Hudson, and Alex Warren dreamed up the name Hype House and signed a lease for a mansion in Los Angeles. "They introduced themselves with a Backstreet Boys-esque photo shoot, and within minutes #hypehouse began trending," according to The New York Times.

In this new space, some of the crew lived in the house full time while other influencers would occasionally visit. The house is a rotating cast of influencers, with plenty of drama, relationships, and good times. Plus, there's no shortage of documentation thanks to constant vlogs, TikTok videos, and Instagram posts. Big stars got even bigger, like Charli D'Amelio and Addison Rae. Some members left the house to pursue solo careers, while others show no signs of leaving. And in 2021, several members signed on to star in a Netflix reality series about their lives, according to the official house Instagram account.

For everyone wondering what it's like to be an influencer, this is a look inside the lives of the Hype House stars.

The D'Amelio family produced not one but two mega TikTok stars. Charli's older sister, Dixie, has an impressive following on the app. As of 2021, over 51 million people followed her account. With huge fan bases on YouTube and Instagram too, Dixie has no shortage of opportunities. Part of her growth can be attributed to her time in the Hype House, where she and Charli both collaborated with the other members. But just like her sister, Dixie decided to leave the house and build her empire in a different way. 

In a vlog for Vogue, Dixie revealed what a typical day in her life is like. She started with a morning workout, followed by a virtual fitting with the luxury brand Valentino for a photoshoot. Then, it was off to the recording studio to work on her music career. But it's not just work all day for the influencer. Dixie confessed that she loves "chill" evenings where she can unwind by baking or playing video games. Fans will get a much deeper insight into her days, thanks to Hulu. According to the Los Angeles Times, Dixie and Charli signed on to star on "The D'Amelio Show." The documentary-style series follows the sister and their parents as they all navigate their "growing family empire."

Chase Hudson was a star on TikTok before TikTok even existed. The app was originally launched as Musical.ly for members to post videos of themselves lip-syncing to songs. Hudson rarely goes by his birth name but his nickname Lil Huddy because his father's nickname is Huddy. As a co-founder of the Hype House, Lil Huddy is one of the few members that stayed a member into 2021. And despite being one of the biggest names on TikTok, he set his sights on the music industry. 

Lil Huddy admitted that he didn't write any music before decided he wanted to be a rock star. "I actually met with Interscope before I had anything," Hudson told Billboard, referring to the famous record label. "It was just kind of all an idea at first, and then I started to go in the studio, and really prove to them what I'm capable of. And then it happened, just after a couple of demos," he explained. Lil Huddy signed with Immersive Records and in 2021, he released his first two songs, "21st Century Vampire" and "The Eulogy of You and Me." Reportedly, Lil Huddy wrote these two pop-punk singles, plus two other songs, in only a week. He is aware that many people know him just as an influencer, so he has a lot to prove. "I can't get everyone to think I'm this musician off the bat, but people will slowly catch on," he said.

Though she was an original member of the Hype House, things soured quickly for Daisy Keech. In a since-deleted video, she revealed the reasons she decided to leave the house only a few months after its debut. As recounted by Seventeen, Keech claimed to give $18,000 to Thomas Petrou and Chase Hudson for use as a deposit on the house. And even though she had already known Petrou as a friend years before, Keech felt her voice went unheard in house decisions. "She reportedly wasn't ever credited as a cofounder, and she had no access to the Hype House's social media accounts nor the brand deals they were getting," the article explained. She went on to directly criticize Petrou, saying he loved "to be able to tell people what to do, when to do it and how to do it." When she voiced all her concerns to Petrou, he allegedly unfollowed her from the Hype House collective account and told other house members to do the same. 

After leaving, Keech started another house that some saw as direct competition. She, along with influencers Abby Rao, Chase Keith, Kinsey Wolanski, started The Clubhouse, per Seventeen. Then, as Keech explained in a YouTube video, she moved out of The Clubhouse. With no collective house, Keech continued to focus on growing her platforms. On her YouTube channel, she posts a lot of workout and diet videos.

Larri Merritt, who goes by Larray, grew up in Compton, California. In an interview for Forbes, he described a difficult childhood full of bullies and suppressing his true self. Larray said that in his hometown, "men didn't accept people who are flamboyant. So, I had to hide myself and act straight; which was the most terrible thing as a child." Even when he moved out of Compton and into the suburbs with his dad, Larray said that his life was still difficult. At that point, he had a healthy following on social media but remembered people bullying him and shouting "homophobic slurs from their cars at me." This didn't stop Larray from posting and growing, 

Part of this influencer's appeal is that he's so accessible to his fans. He admitted that "sometimes I give my fans my number and I'll FaceTime them or I'll Zoom them." According to Larray, the fans are the main reason that influencers became popular in the first place. He's even quick to call out other influencers who can become numb to the popularity. Larray recalled once when a fellow influencer refused a fan photo, he "took the fan's phone and took the picture."

In addition to his YouTube vlogs about life in the house, Larray is also expanding into other forms of entertainment. He is also a rapper and musician. And according to Forbes, Larray is trying to get into acting work and was scheduled to appear in a time-travel movie.

The Hype House welcomed its first set of twins as members with brothers Jack and James Wright. According to Seventeen, the Wright brothers — who only turned 17 in 2020, were the youngest members of the house at the time. Jack posts many videos on his TikTok account hanging with his twin. And he also shares the screen with another famous Hype House member, Sienna Mae Gomez. In a YouTube video, Jack shared what it was like to live in the Hype House for a day. It involved boxing in the house gym, doing backflips into the picturesque pool, and trying on a zebra print jacket.

Jack and his brother are also incredibly talented athletes. According to an Instagram post by their dad, both were top eight in the nation as All-Americans in pole vault and shot put. Their dad also shared that his two boys helped out in a mission to Germany. On another Instagram post, he explained their help with the non-profit organization History Flight. The mission involved "researching, recovering and repatriating America's service members," according to the organization's website.

Since the start of the Hype House, Kouvr Annon has been an integral member. She and her boyfriend Alex Warren, along with Thomas Petrou and Daisy Keech, were the four people who lived full-time at the Hype House in the beginning. According to The New York Times, Annon was 19 at the time she relocated permanently into the Los Angeles mansion. Prior to the collaboration house, she was already dating Warren. According to Seventeen, Annon and Warren started dating in 2018. At the time, the couple was in a long-distance relationship until Annon relocated to Los Angeles. When she made it out to California, the two stayed together, and fans loved their content. Annon often posts cute videos with Warren on her TikTok account. 

As recounted by Seventeen, Annon revealed in 2020 that she was the subject of a viral video. But the video became popular for hurtful reasons — someone posted a popular video criticizing Kouvr's body. She posted on Instagram that she struggled with body image, especially around other women. "It's so hard to be confident in yourself and love yourself when the world tell you that [you're] 'fat' or 'ugly.'" Fellow Hype House member Charli D'Amelio stood by Kouvr's side and also condemned the body-shaming video. She posted on Twitter and asked her followers and everyone reading to put an end to body shaming. "Its disgusting and disrespectful," she said, adding, "its not a joke."

Alex Warren is one of the co-founders of the Hype House. And according to The New York Times, Warren was the one who thought of the name. Chase Hudson wanted to call the collaborative mansion the House of Olympus but was outvoted by Warren's name choice. But not long before starting the infamous influencer house, Warren was nearly at rock bottom in his life. On The Tom Ward Show, Warren revealed that when was 17 years old, his parents kicked him out of their house. With nowhere to sleep, he called his friends and hopped from place to place. He spent several nights sleeping in his friends' cars, all while making vlogs about the experience. Even without a proper home, Warren told himself and others all along that he knew he wanted to be a YouTuber. This openness helped his dream come true and turned Warren into a star on YouTube.

After moving to the Hype House, most of his days are spent hanging with his girlfriend, Kouvr Annon. Warren posts photos and videos of the couple on his Instagram page and YouTube channel. "I don't do drugs, I don't do alcohol. My absolute high, like dopamine, is when posting," he told Tom Ward. "Once I have a video go up, it is the best feeling in the entire world," he said about creating content.