Onision
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{short description|American YouTuber (born 1985)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| name = Onision
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|11|11}}
| birth_place = Auburn, Washington, U.S.
| website =
| spouse = {{Ubl
| {{marriage|Skye Tantaga|2005|2010|end=divorce}}
| {{marriage|Kai Avaroe|2012}}{{cite web|last=Graves|first=S.|url=https://www.insider.com/onision-grooming-accusations-explained-controversial-youtuber-exposed-2019-12|title=One of YouTube's most reviled personalities is crumbling under scandal and asked us to pay $10,000 for an interview|work=Insider|date=December 10, 2019|access-date=December 16, 2019|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20191212173147/https://www.insider.com/onision-grooming-accusations-explained-controversial-youtuber-exposed-2019-12|archive-date=December 12, 2019}}
}}
| partners =
| other_names = {{Hlist|Gregory James Jackson|Gregory James Avaroe|Gregory James Daniel|James Jackson}}
| occupation = {{hlist|YouTuber|musician|author}}
| channel_handle = Onision
| channel_handle2 = UhOhBro
| channel_handle3 = OnisionSpeaks
| genre = {{hlist|Comedy|commentary}}
| years_active = 2006–present
| subscribers = {{Ubl
|1.99 million (Onision)
|1.74 million (UhOhBro)
|1.39 million (OnisionSpeaks)
|481 thousand (OnisionArchive)
|136 thousand (OnisionEncore)
}}
| views = 290 million (combined)
| silver_button = yes
| gold_button = yes
| silver_year = 2009
| gold_year = 2013
| stats_update = April 9, 2025
}}
James Jackson (born Gregory James Daniel; November 11, 1985),{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=James|url=http://onision.net/faq|title=Onision FAQ|website=onision.net|access-date=May 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017125008/http://onision.net/faq|archive-date=October 17, 2014|url-status=live}}{{Cite AV media|last=Jackson|first=James|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=z30qHFgxnUU|title=Facts About Onision (Story Time)|date=January 13, 2014|publisher=Onision|access-date=May 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211112321/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z30qHFgxnUU|archive-date=December 11, 2019|url-status=live|via=YouTube}} known professionally by his online alias Onision ({{IPAc-en|oʊ|ˈ|n|i|s|i|ɒ|n}} {{respell|oh|NEE|see|on}}), is an American YouTuber. His primary YouTube channel, "Onision", featured sketches and satirical clips; videos posted to his other channels focus on personal stories covering controversial topics as well as discussion with his viewers. His activity both online and offline has attracted controversy and criticism from online media outlets and viewers alike, as well as many allegations of abuse, sexual grooming of minors and rape.
As of April 2025, Jackson's main Onision channel has less than 2 million subscribers and over 290 million video views;{{cite web |last=Jackson |first=James |title=Onision – YouTube about page |url=https://www.youtube.com/user/Onision/about |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070619153929/https://www.youtube.com/user/Onision/ |archive-date=June 19, 2007 |access-date=May 15, 2019 |publisher=YouTube}} his secondary channel "UhOhBro" had received 1.74 million subscribers;{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=James|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/UhOhBro/about|title=UhOhBro – YouTube about page|publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208012409/https://www.youtube.com/user/UhOhBro/about|archive-date=December 8, 2019|url-status=live}} and his vlog channel "OnisionSpeaks" had received less than 1.4 million subscribers; the latter two channels have had all their uploads removed.{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=James|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/OnisionSpeaks/about|title=OnisionSpeaks – YouTube about page|publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207222629/https://www.youtube.com/user/OnisionSpeaks/about|archive-date=December 7, 2019|url-status=live}} A music video titled "Banana Song (I'm a Banana)", written and performed by Jackson, is his most-viewed video; as of October 2024, it had garnered over 95 million views.
Early life
Jackson was born Gregory James Daniel on November 11, 1985, in Auburn, Washington. Jackson has told fans that his mother raised him and his older sisters in a rural environment and that they were Seventh-day Adventists. Additionally, in his 2014 self-published Facts About Onision (Story Time) video, Jackson states that his mother "filed for divorce once it was made clear that his father was a child predator". During his teenage years, Jackson composed music and worked on web and graphic design. Jackson served in the United States Air Force in 2005, and received a general discharge under honorable conditions in 2008.{{Cite web |date=2007-03-09 |title=About Airman Daniel - America's Air Force & The Story of an Airman - The Unofficial Site by Gregory J. Daniel |url=http://americasairforce.com/americas-air-force-about-gregory-j-daniel.html |access-date=2024-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309133453/http://americasairforce.com/americas-air-force-about-gregory-j-daniel.html |archive-date=March 9, 2007 |url-status=live }}
Online career
=Video content=
Jackson's first videos were uploaded in 2003, involving self-made animations posted on his game review website, "gamersshadow.com".{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2024 |title=GamersShadows.com - The Shadow of Games |url=http://www.gamersshadow.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030219075641/http://www.gamersshadow.com/ |archive-date=2003-02-19 |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=GamersShadow}} He began filming and uploading comedy sketches of himself in 2004, to his website "mrodd.com" under the alias "Mr. Odd".{{cite web |date=November 13, 2022 |title=All Videos - Who is Onision? |url=https://whoisonision.com/index.php/All_Videos#Early_Videos_(up_to_2005) |access-date=May 20, 2024 |website=whoisonision}}{{Cite web |date=2022-11-29 |title=Collection: Onision's Mr. Odd Videos (Archive) |url=https://archive.org/details/mr.-odd-videos-collection/ |access-date=May 5, 2024 |website=Archive}}{{Cite web |date=2004-06-05 |title=MrOdd.com - It's Stranger Than You Assume |url=http://mrodd.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040605075031/http://mrodd.com/|archive-date= June 5, 2004|access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Archive}}
Jackson created his first YouTube channel on January 29, 2006 and started uploading content that same year.{{Cite web|last=Manarino|first=Matthew|url=https://newmediarockstars.com/2013/06/onision-the-definitive-timeline-of-youtubes-ultimate-villain/|title=Onision: The Definitive Timeline Of YouTube's Perfect Villain|date=June 27, 2013|work=NewMediaRockstars|access-date=May 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703132258/https://newmediarockstars.com/2013/06/onision-the-definitive-timeline-of-youtubes-ultimate-villain/|archive-date=July 3, 2013}} However, the earliest publicly available video on his channel is "I'm So Emo (Song)", uploaded on April 28, 2008. His earliest clips featured a character named Chibi, whom fans interpreted as a parody of Fred Figglehorn. In 2019, Insider wrote that Jackson was "best known for his objectifying content and controversial reputation", and detailed that "he rates pictures that women submit to him, gives his opinions on their bodies, and comments on other YouTubers". Many of the submissions that Jackson accepted and featured in his videos were of girls under the age of eighteen.
In 2009, Jackson uploaded "Banana Song (I'm a Banana)", which went viral. The video featured Jackson "jumping around screaming in a banana suit", as well as his first wife, Skye Tantaga. "Banana Song" was featured on the Comedy Central series Tosh.0 as the "Viewer Video of the Week" in 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cc.com/episodes/huyilx/tosh-0-february-3--2010---friendly-tackle-season-2-ep-204|title=Tosh.0 - February 3, 2010 - Friendly Tackle - Full Episode|date=January 13, 2010|publisher=Comedy Central|access-date=January 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207215735/http://www.cc.com/episodes/huyilx/tosh-0-february-3--2010---friendly-tackle-season-2-ep-204|archive-date=December 7, 2019|url-status=dead}}
In 2011, Jackson posted a number of clips with his then-girlfriend, Canadian singer Shiloh Hoganson. The clips were scripted but presented in a manner many fans interpreted as unscripted.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} In some of them, however, Hoganson is seen apparently experiencing transient amnesia; Adrienne Jourgensen, an ex-girlfriend of Jackson's, published a letter stating that Jackson believed Hoganson was lying about her memory loss. Jackson and Hoganson later stated that she was pregnant with Jackson's child but suffered a miscarriage.{{cite web|last=Cook|first=James|title=YouTube's most troubled star|date=December 10, 2013|access-date=January 1, 2017|work=The Daily Dot|url=http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/features/report/7407/youtubes-most-troubled-star/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103002341/http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/features/report/7407/youtubes-most-troubled-star/|archive-date=January 3, 2017|url-status=live}} On August 11, 2019, a 2011 video featuring Hoganson resurfaced online. In it, Jackson is heard telling her, "You know this video is never going to be online, right? No one will ever know how much I abuse you", before throwing candy corn at her and laughing as she cried. Hoganson also states in the video that Jackson lacerated her ear with scissors while she was sleeping.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1MqsqM6DEM|title=Greg Abuses Me|website=YouTube|date=August 11, 2019|access-date=September 3, 2023}}{{cite web|last=Schroeder|first=Audra|url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/onision-shiloh-hoganson-abuse/|title=Video of YouTuber Onision threatening ex-girlfriend resurfaces|work=The Daily Dot|date=December 6, 2019|access-date=December 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207200000/https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/onision-shiloh-hoganson-abuse/|archive-date=December 7, 2019|url-status=live}}
=Reception and criticism=
Jackson's on-camera and off-camera activity has received criticism from online media outlets as well as from fellow online content creators. In 2010, Tubefilter listed Jackson as one of "5 YouTubers On Their Way Up", alongside Shane Dawson and the Fine Brothers. The outlet described Jackson's channel as frequently updated with a "very rough, in-your-face R-rated style" and called Jackson "the most controversial YouTuber".{{cite web|last=Hyde|first=William|date=April 12, 2010|title=5 YouTubers on Their Way Up|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2010/04/12/5-youtubers-on-their-way-up/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102171812/http://www.tubefilter.com/2010/04/12/5-youtubers-on-their-way-up/|archive-date=January 2, 2017|access-date=January 1, 2017|work=Tubefilter}} In 2012, The Daily Dot described Jackson as "known for his militant vegetarianism, sex appeal, comedic skits, and controversial views on topics like circumcision." The publication has also criticized his content on multiple occasions; in 2013, James Cook wrote for the outlet, calling Jackson "YouTube's most troubled star".
In 2018, Jackson was included on a Daily Dot-published list of six YouTubers "worse" than Logan Paul.{{cite web|last=Katzowitz|first=Josh|url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/worst-youtube-channels/|title=Forget Logan Paul—these 6 wildly popular YouTube pranksters are worse|work=The Daily Dot|date=January 23, 2018|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127185557/https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/worst-youtube-channels/|archive-date=November 27, 2019|url-status=live}} The outlet opined that "[Jackson's] videos these days [2018] are just as obnoxious and irritating as they were nine years ago when he first struck YouTube gold with a truly terrible song about being a banana." Jackson has also received criticism from fellow YouTubers, notably Daniel Sulzbach (known online as "MrRepzion" or "Repzion"), Strange Æons, and Blaire White.{{cite web|last=Asarch|first=Steven|title=Who is Onision? YouTuber banned from Patreon after doxxing|url=https://www.newsweek.com/who-onision-youtube-banned-patreon-doxxing-predator-1474416|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127172059/https://www.newsweek.com/who-onision-youtube-banned-patreon-doxxing-predator-1474416|archive-date=November 27, 2019|access-date=November 27, 2019|work=Newsweek|date=November 27, 2019 }} In a 2019 email to Insider, Jackson shared that "People hated me, with a passion, for my opinions I openly held." In late 2019, Insider called Jackson "one of YouTube's most reviled personalities".
Controversies and legal issues
=Event and platform bans=
Jackson was banned from VidCon 2012 due to a video in which he stated that since his then girlfriend Adrienne Jourgensen slept with more than 20 people before she was with him, she is a "slut" and therefore "cannot be raped".{{cite web|last=Eördögh|first=Fruzsina|url=https://www.dailydot.com/society/onision-rape-vidcon-haters-youtube-banned/|title=YouTuber inflames viewers with rape comments|work=The Daily Dot|date=January 25, 2012|access-date=November 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310231228/http://www.dailydot.com/society/onision-rape-vidcon-haters-youtube-banned/|archive-date=March 10, 2014|url-status=live}} The video then received backlash from viewers outside of Jackson's core audience, as noted by NewMediaRockstars and The Daily Dot. VidCon co-founder Hank Green sent an email to Jackson stating "if it is possible that you will not be safe, we will not let you come [to VidCon]." Jackson responded to the ban in a Facebook post stating: "If you want someone to blame for my absence, you can blame the haters who spammed VidCon with anti-Onision mail and VidCon itself for giving into the pressure and going back on their word."{{cite web | url=https://www.lifeofonion.com/index.php?title=VidCon | title=VidCon - Life of Onion|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711123011/https://www.lifeofonion.com/index.php?title=VidCon|archive-date=July 11, 2019 }}
In November 2019, Jackson was banned from Patreon after posting the phone number of Billie Dawn Webb, a fellow YouTuber. Webb was one of several women who claimed Jackson and his spouse had groomed and manipulated them into a sexual relationship or otherwise engaged in harassment and abuse.{{cite web|last=Kelly|first=Makena|title=Controversial YouTuber banned from Patreon after alleged doxxing|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/26/20984785/onision-doxxing-patreon-deplatformed-twitter-youtube|work=The Verge|date=November 27, 2019 |access-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127020325/https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/26/20984785/onision-doxxing-patreon-deplatformed-twitter-youtube|archive-date=November 27, 2019|url-status=live}} Patreon confirmed in a statement to The Verge that they had banned Jackson "as he violated our Bullying and Harassment [policy] as it relates to doxing." In response to the ban, Jackson uploaded a video where he seemingly contorted himself, stripped down to his underwear, and poured a bottle of kombucha over his head.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVhmbCUJNOw|title=Wow|website=YouTube|date=November 29, 2019|access-date=September 3, 2023}} Jackson later said that this video, alongside a series of follow-up videos, were staged. Jackson subsequently opened a new website where his supporters could re-donate, but shut it down shortly after its launch.{{cite AV media|last=Jackson|first=Gregory|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53U7egj54cE|title=hiatus|work=UhOhBro|publisher=YouTube|date=November 27, 2019|access-date=December 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212094201/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53U7egj54cE|archive-date=December 12, 2019|url-status=live}}
In January 2021, following the release of Onision: In Real Life, Jackson's channels were suspended from the YouTube Partner Program.{{Cite web|last=Sung|first=Morgan|title=YouTube demonetized Onision|url=https://mashable.com/article/youtube-onision-demonetized/|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Mashable|date=January 21, 2021 |language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601164845/https://mashable.com/article/youtube-onision-demonetized/|archive-date=June 1, 2023}}
In media
A documentary about Jackson titled Onision: In Real Life was broadcast on January 4, 2021, during the launch of Discovery+, with Chris Hansen as producer and consultant.{{Cite web|title=Discovery+ Sets More Than 50 Original Titles for Launch Month {{!}} Hollywood Reporter|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/discovery-sets-more-than-50-original-titles-for-launch-month|access-date=2021-01-03|website=www.hollywoodreporter.com|date=December 3, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007114638/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/discovery-sets-more-than-50-original-titles-for-launch-month-4099770/|archive-date=October 7, 2021 }}
Discography
- Onision (2012)
- Explicit (2012)
- Bipolar (2012)
- Flucking Blitch (2013)
- The Puppet (2018)
- Shut Up (2018)
- With Character (2018)
- The Banana Man (2019)
- I'm a Meme (2019)
- I Am Trash (2020)
Bibliography
=Novels=
- Stones to Abbigale (2015)
- This Is Why I Hate You (2015)
- Reaper's Creek (2018)
=Biography=
- In Real Life (2023)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040725220002/http://mrodd.com/ Jackson's website as it appeared in 2004.]
- {{IMDb name|4728594|name=Gregory Jackson}}
- YouTube channels:
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/Onision Onision]
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/OnisionSpeaks OnisionSpeaks]
- {{Twitter}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:21st-century American male musicians
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:American former Christians
Category:American comedy YouTubers
Category:American critics of religions
Category:YouTubers from Washington (state)
Category:Former Seventh-day Adventists
Category:Internet-related controversies
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:United States Air Force airmen
Category:Vegetarian-related mass media
Category:American YouTube vloggers