TikTok has become a fun, temporary fix to our boredom right now as we sit around with nothing but time. If you’re not doing some POPSUGAR workouts (highly recommend) or working on your school work, there is a good chance you’re scrolling away on TikTok.
When there’s talk of TikTok, there is talk of the Hype House. Kind of similar to the idea of Jake Paul’s Team Ten house, it is essentially a house that TikTok creators live in to create content together.
This idea is meant for creators, such as famous TikTok star Charlie D’Amelio, to create a strong platform and continuously be surrounded by other creators to collaborate with. In an article about the Hype House by Taylor Lorenz for the New York Times, technologist and YouTuber Sam Sheffer explained why content houses exist. “From a management perspective, it’s great,” Sheffer told the Times. “It just means all the kids will focus on content.”
However, in recent weeks there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the creators of this house. First, it was the drama between Lil Huddy (Chase Hudson) and Charlie D’Amelio’s break-up, and now there is a dispute on who is truly behind the operations of the Hype House.
As of right now, the whole situation is a lot of he said, she said. Here is what you need to know about the Hype House drama so far.
Daisy Keech, a 20-year-old Instagram influencer, fitness guru and ex-member of the Hype House, uploaded a video on her Youtube channel titled “Truth about the Hype House.” In this video, she talked about her feelings of being left out as a co-founder of the Hype House. Keech says that she put down $18,000 of her own money for the deposit for what we now know as the Hype House, and how she and other “co-founders,” Alex Warren and Kouvr Annon, aren’t receiving recognition for creating the collaboration house.
Keech finds the most issues with 21-year-old Thomas Petrou, the unofficial manager of the Hype House; and her old friend, and 17-year-old Chase Hudson, aka Lil Huddy. Keech claims that they have been taking all the credit for being co-founders of the Hype House and have left her with no recognition. After posting the video, Keech left the house and is now pursuing a lawsuit against Hudson and Petrou.
Keech says that Hudson and Petrou are taking all the credit, and they have failed to mention her name in interviews regarding the Hype House founders. She was most upset when the New York Times came to the Hype House to interview and do a story on their content house. Keech said that she wasn’t asked many questions and didn’t speak up in regard to asserting herself as a co-founder.
In response to Keech’s video, Petrou decided to make his own Youtube video on the Hype House’s channel. In Petrou’s video, he mainly goes on to debunk a lot of Keech’s allegations. Although he refuted a lot of the things Keech stated in the video, the main point Petrou focused on was that the only thing Keech attributed to the Hype House was her down payment for the property.
According to Keech, she claims that she put down $18,000, Petrou put down $5,000, Warren and Annon put down $5,000 and Hudson put down the rest. However, Petrou said that her claims are false and that he and Hudson put down all the money and Keech venmo-ed Petrou, later on, to repay him for the down deposit. He also stated that Warren and Annon did not put down any money.
The New York Times interview doesn’t mention Keech in regard to the business operations anywhere. In fact, in the interview, it reads, “Hype House was the brainchild of Chase Hudson, 17, a TikTok star with more than eight million followers who is known online as Lilhuddy, and Thomas Petrou, 21, a YouTube star.”
In another section of the article, Lorenz details, “Alex, Thomas, Daisy Keech, 20, and Kouvr Annon, 19, live at the house full time. As the oldest, Thomas acts as a default den mother. Though Chase helped put money down for the house, Thomas manages schedules, handles the house issues, and resolves the inevitable conflicts. Unlike Team 10 and other groups, Hype House doesn’t take a cut of anyone’s revenue.”
The emphasis on the money involved with the down deposit is essential because Keech places her deposit on how that makes her the co-founder. However, Petrou said that her money was only for a deposit for the property, but she didn’t contribute much to the business itself.
Petrou stated that Keech often would stay in her room instead of building the Hype House’s brand, she would take vacations instead of participating in the press opportunities, and even went as far as to file for the trademark of the Hype House under her name.
While this situation is still developing, Keech has left the Hype House, and she is now pursuing her version of the Hype House. Her new home in Beverly Hills, California, is now the new property of her content house, Clubhouse Beverly Hills. Keech co-founded this new house with her best friend Abby Rao and it has members like Chase Keith and Kinsley Wolanski, all of whom are influencers.
Drama or not, the Hype House is still running with a lot of their initial members like the D’Amelio sisters, Addison Rae, and others. Houses like these will always have drama with creators coming and going. Regardless, it gives us something to read about so we can take a break from watching our favorite TikToks.
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