YouTube star JayStation — real name Jason Ethier — has been arrested after confessing to faking his girlfriend’s death to gain subscribers.
The arrest, for assault and assault with a weapon, happened on Monday (3 February).
Jason, 29, was recently embroiled in controversy after admitting to holding a seance to contact his “dead” girlfriend’s spirit in an attempt to boost his subscriber count.
He posted videos to his five million YouTube subscribers claiming that his girlfriend, fellow YouTuber Alexia Marano, had been killed by a drunk driver.
In the days after, Ethier posted a video filmed at what he claimed was a memorial space for Marano. He then posted another video in which he attempted to contact Marano using a ouija board.
In a follow-up video, the Canadian YouTube prankster admitted Marano is alive and well, but added that she had ended their relationship.
“I want to start out by saying I’m sorry to Alexia’s family for putting them through any hard times or stress about the death of their daughter,” he said.
“I didn’t intend them to get any hate, or put them through any emotional stress involving Alexia. I expected all of this to stay on YouTube and it didn’t.”
He then explained that he had hoped the hoax would boost his subscriber count.
“I thought of the idea of faking Alexia’s death and then doing a thing on YouTube thanking everyone and explaining to everyone it was just to gain traction,” he said. “So we were gonna say she died, then do a ouija board video, which we did do.
“Then we would resurrect her and get more followers. But now my girlfriend is gone and I’m in serious trouble.”
He is scheduled to appear in court at Toronto’s Old City Hall on 16 March, Metro reports.\
Ethier’s YouTube channel gained traction in recent years due to content involving Ethier’s attempts to contact dead celebrities from beyond the grave, including Mac Miller and XXXTentacion.
In 2018, the 29-year-old was arrested at Disney’s Magic Kingdom after attempting to live stream inside the park.
Marano, meanwhile, has deleted her own YouTube page.
