Popular YouTuber CJ SO COOL reportedly had his channel temporarily suspended after outrage surrounding a video where he fed his children laxatives as a prank.
CJ SO COOL is Cordero James Brady, and his YouTube channel with pranks and vlogs featuring his family has nearly 6 million subscribers. Much of his content is harmless. There are music videos and fun family vlogs where he and his family go on vacation.
But then there is some more mean-spirited, prank-oriented content, like the “Fed The Kids Dog Doo Doo Prank” and “Gave Your Kid A Black Eye Prank.” Now, these might not be so “mean-spirited” depending on your perception. After all, the “black eye” was given with make-up, and it’s clear from watching the video that both parents are acting and nobody was really under the impression that anyone hit little Camari.
But still, CJ SO COOL’s antics drew the attention of Babe.net, which wrote a full-throated criticism of the channel, and took aim at videos such as the “Drowning Baby Prank.” They also called out a flippant vlog featuring CJ’s partner Royalty being filmed from a hospital bed after she had a miscarriage.
But the video got the most attention is one from apparently 2016 called “Give The Kids Laxative Prank”, and we must warn you, if you watch the video it was has intense fart sound effects.
There are disputes about whether the prank is real or fake. If it’s fake, it’s just very dumb and sets a bad example for his kids about how to get attention.
But if it’s real, it’s straight up child abuse.
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Babe.net talked to Dr. Kortney Peagram, the founder of an anti-child abuse organization, who said: “Harming your child on purpose with laxatives is child abuse. That’s child endangerment. That he is harming his children and bullying them to pull pranks on each other is really disturbing. He’s modeling inappropriate behavior and encouraging it by laughter… He’s teaching his children that it’s OK to harm each other for a good laugh.”
After writing to YouTube about the channel, Babe.net said that both the Laxatives video and a video called “Fireworks In The House Prank On Kids” had been removed. A YouTube spokesperson told them: “Content that endangers minors is unacceptable to us and we have strict policies prohibiting child endangerment and harmful and dangerous content. We remove content that violates our policies as soon as we’re made aware of it.”
Over the following days, several outlets reported that the CJ SO COOL channel had been temporarily suspended.
That being said, as of this writing, the channel looks to be reinstated, with many of the videos perfectly monetizable.
The Daily Mail talked to authorities and found that the Henderson, Nevada Police Department and Child Protective Services had conducted an investigation in 2016 after the laxatives video was first posted, but they wouldn’t comment on whether or not any charges were filed. The video appears to have only been deleted last week after Babe.net first published its story.
If all of this controversy is affecting Cordero Brady, he isn’t making it public.
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His social media is mostly still promoting his family’s tour, which wraps up this week in Southern California, and this all comes in the wake of the channel FamilyOFive getting permanently banned from YouTube after violent pranks involving children.
Look, we get it. You want to put out content that pushes the envelope and keeps your audience engaged, and who knows, we might see a video soon from Brady that admits all these pranks are fake.
But, even if that’s the case, you’re teaching your own kids and every kid that watches your videos that pulling these kinds of stunts is acceptable. We all know that many of the viewers, maybe even in the millions, will believe that it’s real.
What do you guys think? Should the CJ SO COOL channel get more than a slap on the wrist? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
