Alia “Lia” Shelesh, born on October 22, 1992, is a renowned YouTuber known as SSSniperWolf.
Initially, she gained attention by uploading Call of Duty Let’s Play videos under the username sexysexysniper.
However, in 2013, Shelesh created the YouTube channel “SSSniperWolf,” which quickly gained popularity in the subsequent years.
As stated by British Vogue in 2020, she is widely recognized as one of the prominent social media personalities associated with online video games.
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Alia Shelesh
October 22, 1992 Liverpool, England
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| Occupation | YouTuber | ||||||||||||
| Organization(s) | Channel Red, LLC. | ||||||||||||
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| Also known as | sexysexysniper | ||||||||||||
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| Subscribers | 34.3 million | ||||||||||||
| Total views | 24.1 billion | ||||||||||||
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| Last updated: January 9, 2024 | |||||||||||||
In 2017, she decided to shift her content focus from video game-related videos to reaction videos.
In 2023, following backlash for sharing “freebooted” TikTok videos in her response-oriented content, she became embroiled in an online controversy over accusations of doxxing a critic, YouTuber jacksfilms, leading to a brief demonetization.
Early Life and Career
Alia Shelesh was born in Liverpool, England on October 22, 1992. Her mother is Turkish, and her father is Greek.
When she was six years old, her family relocated to the United States, where she discovered her passion for playing video games.
She initially pursued a career in pharmacy at a community college but later decided to drop out to focus on building her Youtube career.
She began sharing gaming videos on her YouTube channel “sexysexysniper,” featuring Let’s Plays of games like Call of Duty.
After starting in 2011 and 2012, she transitioned to the SSSniperWolf channel in 2013, with her first video showcasing fails in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Her channel’s name was inspired by the character Sniper Wolf from the Metal Gear video game series.
Over the years, Shelesh’s content evolved from gaming-focused to reaction videos, leading to a significant increase in her channel’s subscribers.
She gained recognition in various events and shows, such as Day of Doom in 2016 and hosting Clickbait in 2017.
She also appeared on FANtasies and participated in shows like Fear Factor and Ultimate Expedition.
She received nominations and awards for her contributions to the gaming community, including being listed in Forbes’ “Top Influencers” list in the “Gaming” category.
She won accolades like the “Favorite Esports Star” at the 2019 Kids’ Choice Sports and the “Favorite Gamer” at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2019 and 2020.
In 2021, YouTube ranked Shelesh as the third top creator in the US.
Additionally, she was honored with the Gaming Influencer of the Year Award at the American Influencer Awards.
Legal dispute involving Evan Young
On August 1, 2023, it was reported that Shelesh, a prominent YouTuber, had amassed a net worth of US$16 million, making her one of the highest-paid individuals in the industry.
However, on August 17, Evan Young took legal action against Shelesh, alleging breach of contract and financial improprieties related to their joint company, Channel Red.
Young claimed that Shelesh had failed to compensate him for his work on Channel Red.
Additionally, Young asserted that he had been responsible for curating and scripting Shelesh’s content for several years.
In response, Shelesh filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on October 5, 2023, arguing that the accusations were motivated by vindictiveness.
Shelesh’s attorneys also highlighted that shortly after filing for divorce, Young had locked her out of various YouTube channels they managed together, including the popular SSSniperWolf channel and her personal channel, Little Lia, where she shares beauty-related content.
Dispute involving jacksfilms
Another conflict arose between Shelesh and YouTuber John Patrick Douglass, widely known as jacksfilms.
Douglass accused Shelesh of profiting from the work of other creators by monetizing her reaction videos without giving proper credit.
He also criticized the nature of her content, claiming it lacked originality and did not meet the standards for fair use.
In 2022, Douglass created the “JJJacksfilms” account to parody Shelesh’s videos.
In response, Shelesh took to social media and accused Douglass of both sexism and plagiarism in a series of posts.
On October 13, 2023, Shelesh filmed near Douglass’s house and asked her followers if she should pay him a visit, mentioning that he lives close to her studio.
She shared a picture of his house on an Instagram story captioned “let’s talk like adults,” which she later deleted.
However, her followers managed to capture screenshots of it. In response, Douglass accused Shelesh of doxing him and criticized her actions as “creepy, gross, violating.”
He also requested YouTube to demonetize her. Shelesh defended herself by stating that she found Douglass’s home address on Google and claimed that she didn’t know how to dox.
She mentioned that Douglass had publicly registered his LLC to his home address.
Shelesh further stated that Douglass was fabricating drama to earn money and referred to him as a “creep.”
She also discussed the possibility of obtaining a restraining order against him, as she believed he was becoming obsessed with the situation.
On October 18, YouTube tweeted about the idea of doing a reaction video to a reaction video, which many users interpreted as a casual remark related to the ongoing situation.
This led to a backlash. By October 19, a Change.org petition was created, gathering 13,000 signatures to remove SSSniperWolf from YouTube.
The following day, YouTube temporarily demonetized her channel while expressing disapproval of both parties’ behavior.
This decision was seen as unfair by several other YouTubers.
Subsequently, Shelesh apologized to Douglass in a tweet, acknowledging that her actions were unacceptable and expressing her respect for YouTube’s decision.
She continued to upload videos on her “SSSniperWolf Top Videos” channel, but it was later also demonetized. On November 25, she uploaded a non-monetized video to her channel.
Critics’ reception of content
Kennedy Unthank, from Plugged In, praised her main channel for its focus on bringing laughter to viewers through daily uploads and the vast number of videos available.
However, Unthank raised a valid point regarding the potential issue of profiting from the work of others through reaction videos on YouTube’s monetization system.
While some of her reactions offer unique perspectives or add value, many videos seem to lack substantial original content compared to the clips being reacted to.
John McWhorter, a linguist at the New York Times, highlighted her use of Black English words and phrases as a seamless integration of expressions from that dialect.
Shelesh faced criticism when an old YouTube video resurfaced, showing her engaging in what appeared to be sexually suggestive behavior with minors on Omegle, a platform that randomly paired users for video calls.
Concerns arose among internet users regarding the appropriateness of her content and its potential impact on her young audience.
Personal life
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