Good morning. Over the holidays, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson and gaming creator Thea Booysen got engaged. Congrats to the couple, and here’s to hoping Whobilly (who wrote MrBeast’s outro song) performs a MrsBeast version at the wedding.
Creators Take Action Against Honey
Devin Stone (left) files a lawsuit against Honey’s parent company, PayPal, and Marques Brownlee (right) removes clips from videos with Honey promotions / LegalEagle, Marques Brownlee
Two weeks ago, investigative creator MegaLag alleged that Honey, a browser extension tool and popular creator sponsor, has a history of committing advertising fraud and withholding earned commissions from creators.
Honey reportedly overrides creator affiliate links, keeping the revenue for itself.
More creators have come forward with their own Honey allegations, with some taking legal action. Here’s the latest →
Creators sue Honey. Devin “LegalEagle” Stone and creator Sam Denby’s Wendover Productions filed a class action lawsuit against PayPal, Honey’s parent company. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for revenue that should’ve gone to creators and a judicial order that keeps Honey from malpractice in the future.
MKBHD edits old videos. Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee scrubbed three Honey-sponsored videos to prevent future promotion.
“The lesson I’ve learned for myself and every other creator that’s got got working with Honey is to be even more skeptical about the products and companies that we actually put in front of our audience,” Brownlee said in a video.
“For me, that basically just looks like being extra committed to the long-term channel partners that I have with dbrand and collaborations with Ridge and things like that—those I know are great.”
Our 2025 Creator Predictions
New year, ever-evolving creator economy / Illustration by Moy Zhong
What are you buying and selling this year? Colin and Samir kicked off 2025 by sharing listener takes and their own predictions for what’s going to work (buy) and what isn’t (sell) in the coming year for creators.
Here’s what to know:
Buying → As more streaming services roll out ad tiers (43% of all streamers now offer ad-supported content) we’ll see more creators across streaming. For example, Kai Cenat on Netflix or Hulu.
“The quantity of content that’s required for an ad-supported model...the only answer is working with creators,” Samir said. “It’s not paying extremely high prices for Hollywood actors and directors.”
Selling → Mega creators that dominate YouTube like Emma Chamberlain or MrBeast
“I think it’s in the best interest of YouTube to have a more dispersed level of fame,” Colin said. “To make sure they’re very well known in a bunch of different communities, but to not have someone who represents the entire platform.”
And our two cents, based on recent reporting?
We’re buying livestreaming. Be it journalist Taylor Lorenz, musician Ricky Montgomery, or comedian Morgan Jay, we’ll see more stories of creators across backgrounds tapping into gamers’ chosen medium.
We’re selling solo Substack subscriptions. After a 2024 marked by tons of “going independent” success stories, we think writing creators will start gravitating toward other rev models. Think Johnny and Iz Harris’s Newpress creator collective or the Nebula news division.
Hit reply and tell us: What creator trends are you buying and selling in 2025?
The Future of TikTok
TikTok’s fate in the US may be decided soon / Illustration by Moy Zhong
With just 16 days until TikTok is set to be banned in the US, here’s the rundown on what comes next.
Last week, President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban to give him time to negotiate a “political resolution” once he takes office.
Meanwhile, TikTok is promising advertisers to return any down payments made at the start of the year. And creators are speaking out—some in defiance against the ban, others directing their followers to other platforms.
The Supreme Court is set to hear Trump’s and others’ arguments on January 10.
🔥 Press Worthy
YouTube’s Russian viewership has reportedly declined 80% since July due to suppression from the Russian government.
Spotify launches its creator monetization program.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) fails to pass in Congress.
Political creator Keith Edwards shares how he grew his following by 5x in a pivot from X to YouTube.
Joel Haver achieves his goal of releasing 12 movies in 12 months.
Nintendo creators fight fake takedown charges on YouTube.
📚 Thank You For Pressing Publish
The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: For Rest of World, writer Michelle Anindya explores how over 20 creators were elected into Indonesian parliament last year.
Watch: “Don’t miss out on the garden because you found a flaw in the gate” and other sage advice from auto creator James Pumphrey.
Listen: AI isn’t affecting language translation as much as we think, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn explains on NPR’s Planet Money.
