Sneako
{{Short description|American YouTuber and online streamer (born 1998)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sneako
| image =
Sneako.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1998|9|8}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Online streamer}}
| years_active = 2013–present
| known_for =
| movement = {{plainlist|
}}
| relatives =
| module = {{Infobox YouTube personality|embed=yes
| genre =
| channels = [https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCV5rcu0zw_3gLEex_f1D_fg Sneako]
| years active = 2013–2022{{Cite web|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/c/thesneak0|title=SNEAKO's YouTube Statistics|website=Social Blade}}
| associated_acts =
| silver_button = yes
| silver_year = 2018{{cite tweet|user=Sneako|number=1079560512944390144|date=30 December 2018|language=en|access-date=25 April 2024|link=https://twitter.com/sneako/status/1079560512944390144|title=30k to 100k in two days. I've been doing Youtube for six years. You can literally do ANYTHING if you work hard.}}
| gold_button = yes
| diamond_button = no
| diamond_year =
| module =
| stats_update = September 4, 2022
}}
}}
Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy{{cite web |author=Petrizzo |first=Zachary |date=29 November 2022 |title=Racist YouTuber Joins Kanye West's Campaign |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/racist-youtuber-joins-kanye-wests-campaign |accessdate=9 April 2024 |website=Daily Beast}} (born September 8, 1998) better known online as Sneako (stylized in all caps), is an American political commentator and online streamer. He initially amassed over 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channels before being banned for repeated community guideline violations. Balinthazy is known for his commentary on cultural and societal issues, often with a conservative slant. His content has evolved from gaming commentary to a more controversial "Internet Rant" series, where he discusses topics like feminism, masculinity, religion, and conspiracy theories.
Balinthazy is generally considered to be part of the "manosphere", an ideological movement that promotes masculinity, misogyny, homophobia and antifeminism.{{harvp|Hodapp|2017|p=xv}}; {{harvp|Lumsden|2019|pp=98–99}}; {{harvp|Jane|2017|p=662}}; {{harvp|Marwick|Lewis|2017|pp=9, 13}}{{cite web|url= https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/boy-problems-andrew-tate-masculinity-crisis-manosphere/|title=Boy Problems|author=Whalen, Eamon|date=9 August 2023|website=Mother Jones|accessdate=9 April 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://uhighmidway.com/19241/showcase/falling-into-the-manosphere-pipeline/|title=Falling into the manosphere pipeline|author=Tan, William |author2=O'Connor, Clare |author3=Cox, Peter |author4=McRoberts, Clare|date=22 February 2023|website=U-High Midway |publisher=University of Chicago Laboratory Schools |accessdate=8 April 2024}} His commentaries also encourage antisemitism amongst young males.{{cite web|url= https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/11/6/ritchie-education-men-tate/|title=How Education Is Failing Young Men|author=Ritchie, Vander O.B.|date=6 November 2023|website=The Harvard Crimson|accessdate=9 April 2024}} Sneako amassed over 1.28 million subscribers on his main channel before his ban in October 2022.{{cite web |date=18 September 2023 |author=Feinstein, Naomi |title=Kid Yells "All Gays Should Die" During Encounter With Far-Right Streamer at Marlins Game |url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/sneakos-child-fans-spout-homophobic-misogynistic-rants-at-marlins-game-17859533 |access-date=9 April 2024 |website=Miami New Times}}
Career
De Balinthazy began uploading videos to YouTube in 2013. His early videos were apolitical gaming and filming man-on-the-street interviews, often about dating, before briefly working for YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast.{{Cite news |last=Merlan |first=Anna |date=August 14, 2024 |title=The heterodoxy: are 'free thinkers' like Joe Rogan driving young men to the right – or just confusing them? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/14/young-men-election-joe-rogan-donald-trump |access-date=August 19, 2024 |work=The Guardian}} His topics began to shift into right-wing trolling, such as asking White people on the street to say racial slurs for one dollar.{{cite web |author=Miller, Lisa |date=14 March 2023 |title=Tate-Pilled - What a generation of boys have found in Andrew Tate's extreme male gospel |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/andrew-tate-jail-investigation.html |accessdate=9 April 2024 |website=New York}} He would also host discussions on why men and women are not equal.
In 2022, De Balinthazy was banned from YouTube and Twitch, the next year.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Eleni |date=2 July 2024 |title=Twitch finally reinstates Sneako following unexpected ban last year |url=https://www.dexerto.com/twitch/twitch-finally-reinstates-sneako-following-unexpected-ban-last-year-2771497/|work=dexerto}} The ban led him to the streaming website Rumble, where he is popular with young male viewers.
In a TikTok video from a now-banned account, titled A Woman's Worth, Sneako subtly used ad hominem remarks with a female interviewee to boost his masculine position while seemingly discrediting her femininity, describing her assertions of self-worth as "delusional".{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.txst.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/ecf2077d-c148-44c7-b339-7ce27b0142d7/content|title=Masculine And Feminine Communication: Through Tiktok: A Rhetorical Analysis|author=Adisa, Larry|year=2023|publisher=Texas State University|accessdate=24 April 2024}} He was banned from YouTube again in October 2024 after briefly being unbanned.{{Cite news|title=Sneako banned from YouTube again within 24 hours of unban|newspaper=The Express Tribune|date=21 October 2024|access-date=21 June 2025|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2504218/sneako-banned-from-youtube-again-within-24-hours-of-unban|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250621114938/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2504218/sneako-banned-from-youtube-again-within-24-hours-of-unban|archive-date=21 June 2025|url-status=live}}
Political positions
De Balinthazy has espoused misogyny, praised Adolf Hitler, and made antisemitic jokes. In addition, he is associated with Andrew Tate, who De Balinthazy credits for bettering his life,{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ikrd/andrew-tate-hustlers-university|title=Andrew Tate's Hustlers University 2.0 Has Made At Least $11 Million In Just One Month|date=30 December 2022|author=Dahir, Ikran|website=BuzzFeed News|accessdate=9 April 2024}} rapper Kanye West, and White nationalist Nick Fuentes. He defended fans shouting homophobic and transphobic statements at a sports game he attended, saying "they are children and obviously joking" and blaming pride flags in classrooms. De Balinthazy later claimed MrBeast was "pushing kids into transgenderism" and promoting the removal of their genitalia by supporting Ava Kris Tyson.{{cite web |last=Billson |first=Chantelle |date=27 March 2024 |title=Internet star claims MrBeast 'pushing transgenderism' by supporting Ava Kris Tyson |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/27/internet-star-sneako-claims-mrbeast-pushing-transgenderism-by-supporting-kris-tyson/ |accessdate=10 April 2024 |website=PinkNews |language=en-US}}
De Balinthazy became disillusioned with politics after Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign failed, and began to believe voting no longer "matters anymore" by 2020. He assisted Fuentes on West's 2024 presidential campaign to help produce social media videos for the campaign, and predicted Fuentes would be a future President of the United States at an America First Political Action Conference.{{cite web |date=18 July 2023 |title=White supremacist Nick Fuentes: 'We will make Jews die in the holy war' |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-750425 |accessdate=9 April 2024 |website=Jerusalem Post}} In June 2025, he conducted an interview with the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.{{cite news |last=Mays |first=Jeffery C. |date=2025-06-16 |title=Banned From YouTube, but Welcomed by Eric Adams at Gracie Mansion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/nyregion/adams-sneako-interview.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250621113713/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/nyregion/adams-sneako-interview.html |archive-date=2025-06-21 |access-date=2025-06-21 |work=The New York Times}} He later endorsed Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 New York City mayoral Democratic primary, stating that while he is not socialist himself, Mamdani was "the only non-Zionist candidate."{{Cite tweet |number=1937557910361604368 |user=sneako |title=I endorse Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor |first=Nico |last=De Balinthazy |date=June 24, 2025 |access-date=June 27, 2025}}
Personal life
De Balinthazy was born on September 8, 1998.{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Richik |date=March 21, 2023 |title=Who is Sneako? Tracing the career of controversial streamer who was permanently banned from YouTube |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/who-sneako-tracing-career-controversial-streamer-permanently-banned-youtube |access-date=June 26, 2025 |website=Sportskeeda}} He converted to Islam in mid-2023{{Cite web |last=Chakraborty |first=Nilotpal |date=2024-01-09 |title=Sneako and JiDion Find Themselves Entangled in a Fiery Debate on Religion Even as Fans Appear Divided |url=https://thesportsrush.com/streamer-news-sneako-jidion-find-themselves-entangled-fiery-debate-religion-fans-appear-divided/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=The SportsRush |language=en}} and lives in Miami, Florida.
Discography
=Singles=
- "Curry Freestyle" – Lil Pump featuring N3on and Sneako (2023){{Cite web|url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/758245-n3on-curry-freestyle.php|title=N3on, Lil Pump & Sneako - Curry Freestyle|website=Album of The Year}}
= Music videos =
- "Curry Freestyle" – Lil Pump featuring N3on and Sneako (2023){{cite web|url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/728443-dj-akademiks-n3on-sneako-lil-pump-collab|title=DJ Akademiks Forced To Sit Through Sneako, N3on, & Lil Pump's Ridiculous Song|editor=Cole, Alexander|date=26 October 2023|website=HotNewHipHop|accessdate=11 April 2024}}
Filmography
= Film =
- Unsubscribe (2020){{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/331218/trailer-unsubscribe-horror-film-that-used-loophole-to-become-1-in-america-now-streaming/|title=Trailer: Unsubscribe (Horror Film That Used Loophole to Become #1 in America) Now Streaming|author=Millican, Josh|date=23 June 2020|website=Dread Central|accessdate=10 April 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://rumble.com/c/SNEAKO Sneako] on Rumble
- {{Twitter|sneako}}
- {{IMDb name|nm11663800}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Internet|Gaming|New York City|United States}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneako}}
Category:Video game commentators
Category:YouTube channels launched in 2013