Tyler Oakley
{{short description|American YouTuber and activist (born 1989)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| name = Tyler Oakley
| image = Tyler Oakley by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
| caption = Oakley at VidCon 2014
| birth_name = Mathew Tyler Oakley
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1989|03|22}}
| birth_place = Jackson, Michigan, U.S.
| education = Michigan State University (BA)
| years_active = 2007–present
| channel_handle = TylerOakley
| subscribers = 6.82 million
| views = 682 million
| network = Studio71
| associated_acts =
| silver_year = 2011
| gold_year = 2013
| stats_update = May 1, 2023
}}
Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist, author, television personality and Twitch streamer. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ rights, as well as social issues including health care, education, and the prevention of suicide among LGBTQ youth.{{cite magazine |last=Friend |first=Tad |title=Hollywood and Vine: The entertainment industry seeks the future in viral video. ". |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/15/hollywood-vine |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=December 12, 2014 |archive-date=December 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213014617/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/15/hollywood-vine |url-status=dead }} Oakley regularly posts material on various topics, including pop culture and humor.{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alfonso-espina/young-youtube-partners-fi_b_2324241.html |title=Young YouTube Partners: Finding Success as Entrepreneurs and Internet Stars |website=HuffPost|date=December 31, 2012 |first=Alfonso |last=Espina}}{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/02/tyler-oakley-is-a-bigger-_n_2599750.html |title=Tyler Oakley Is A Bigger Fangirl Than You |website=HuffPost |date=February 2, 2013 |first=Aja |last=Romano}}{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasvoice.com/lgbt-activist-shares-youtube-brought-hate-inspired-speak-10103306.html |title=Tyler Oakley tells TCU audience how YouTube brought hate but also inspired him to fight it |date=March 5, 2012 |newspaper=Dallas Voice |access-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831184919/http://www.dallasvoice.com/lgbt-activist-shares-youtube-brought-hate-inspired-speak-10103306.html |archive-date=August 31, 2014 |url-status=dead }}
Since uploading his first video in 2007{{cite web |title=An Interview with Tyler Oakley |url=http://coreylambert.com/blog/tyler-oakley |website=coreylambert.com |access-date=August 16, 2015 |date=February 20, 2013 |archive-date=April 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143302/http://www.coreylambert.com/blog/tyler-oakley |url-status=dead }} while a freshman at Michigan State University, his YouTube channel has garnered over 683 million views, and, at its peak, had over 8 million subscribers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/youtube-stars-invade-hollywood-how-874812|title = How Studios Are Cashing in on YouTube Stars|website = The Hollywood Reporter|date = March 18, 2016}} He was featured in the 2014 Frontline investigative report "Generation Like", a follow-up on how teenagers are "directly interacting with pop culture" to the 2001 report, "The Merchants of Cool".{{cite web |url=http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/feb/17/frontline-generation/ |title=Frontline: Generation Like |publisher=Kpbs.org |date=February 17, 2014 |access-date=March 11, 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/media/generation-like/meet-tyler-oakley-youtubes-self-proclaimed-peter-pan/ |title=Meet Tyler Oakley, YouTube's Self-Proclaimed "Peter Pan" |publisher=PBS |date=February 18, 2014 |access-date=March 11, 2014}}
From March to October 2013, Oakley co-hosted a weekly pop-culture news update – "Top That!" – with Becca Frucht for PopSugar.{{cite web |url=http://www.popsugar.com/Pop-Culture-News-Tyler-Oakley-March-29-2013-28933219 |website=PopSugar |title=Grumpy Cat, Kim Kardashian in Flats, and More — Your Pop Culture Cheat Sheet! |date=March 29, 2013}} From 2013 to 2014, he performed the voice of Mr. McNeely in five episodes of the comedy web series The Most Popular Girls in School.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6jg3lv1UBE |title=MPGIS: Episode 31 feat. Tyler Oakley |via=YouTube |date=November 5, 2013 |access-date=August 15, 2015}} In 2015, he released his first collection of humorous personal essays under the title Binge, via publishers Simon & Schuster.{{cite web |url=http://tyleroakleybook.com/ |title=Tyler Oakley Book Website |access-date=March 11, 2014}}
Oakley was the host of The Tyler Oakley Show, which aired weekly on Ellen DeGeneres' ellentube platform.{{cite web|title=YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Launches Talk Show On Ellen DeGeneres' Digital Network|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2016/09/21/the-tyler-oakley-show-ellen-degeneres-ellentube/|website=tubefilter|date=September 21, 2016|access-date=October 9, 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Petski|first1=Denise|title='The Tyler Oakley Show' Launches On Ellen DeGeneres' Digital Network|url=https://deadline.com/2016/09/the-tyler-oakley-show-launches-ellen-degeneres-ellen-digital-network-1201823849/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=September 21, 2016|access-date=October 9, 2016}} In 2017, he was named in Forbes "30 Under 30".{{cite web|last1=Howard|first1=Caroline|title=Meet The 2017 Class Of 30 Under 30|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2017/01/03/meet-the-2017-class-of-30-under-30/|website=Forbes}}
Early life
Mathew Tyler Oakley{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPGJrgEACAAJ|title=Binge|last=Oakley|first=Tyler|date=October 20, 2015|publisher=Simon + Schuster UK|isbn=978-1-4711-4513-1|page=3}} was born on March 22, 1989, in Jackson, Michigan. He has twelve siblings. When he was an infant, his parents divorced.{{cite web |last=Oakley |first=Tyler |title=Draw My Life |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqfSdF6M-g4 |via=YouTube |access-date=October 25, 2015 |date=June 21, 2013}} When he was in the sixth grade, Oakley moved to Okemos, and became involved in choir and drama. As a teenager, he had bulimia nervosa.{{Cite book|title=Binge|year=2015|url=https://archive.org/details/binge0000oakl_j0k8|url-access=registration|last=Oakley|first=Tyler}} Oakley came out as gay in high school.{{Cite web |title=Tyler Oakley on Coming Out to His Conservative Father: 'I'm Really Glad I Was Patient with Him' |url=https://people.com/movies/tyler-oakley-on-coming-out-to-his-conservative-father-im-really-glad-i-was-patient-with-him/ |access-date=September 3, 2023 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}
Oakley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in communication, marketing and social media from Michigan State University. While in college, he fell into a short depression after a breakup with a long-term boyfriend. Oakley admits he considered suicide at this time. His college years were also when he first became involved with YouTube, using the video sharing website to communicate with his high school friends, who were attending different schools.{{Citation|title=Draw My Life {{!}} Tyler Oakley| date=June 21, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqfSdF6M-g4|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2021}}
Career
=Social media=
Oakley is an active user of many social media platforms. A self-proclaimed "professional fangirl", he is a fan of Darren Criss from Glee, along with Julie Chen of CBS's daytime talk show The Talk. He also sang Christmas carols on stage with English-Irish boy band One Direction and television presenter Jerry Springer.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSib7NHuPQg |title=What Harry Styles Smells Like: One Direction Q&A |via=YouTube |date=November 25, 2013 |access-date=March 11, 2014}}
File:ObamaYouTubers307 (cropped).png in 2014]]
Oakley is known for receiving attention from major celebrities and organizations, such as Liam Payne from One Direction, Chris Colfer from the television series Glee and the restaurant chain store Taco Bell, namely on the social network Twitter after commenting on a previous tweet of theirs or tweeting about them. Due to Oakley's prominence among many social media platforms (particularly YouTube), he was given the opportunity to meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.{{cite web |title=Obama Meets With YouTube Advisors On How To Reach Online Audiences |url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/03/02/obama-meets-with-youtube-advisors-on-how-to-reach-online-audiences/ |website=Tubefilter |first=Joshua |last=Cohen |date=March 2, 2014 |access-date=December 2, 2014}} He did a video with First Lady Michelle Obama talking about education issues.{{cite news |title=First Lady Michelle Obama talks education with Tyler Oakley |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-first-lady-michelle-obama-talks-education-with-tyler-oakley-30587729.html |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |date=September 15, 2014 |access-date=December 2, 2014}}
Oakley attributes his success only in part to his accessibility as a young gay man. "It's not all about me being gay. It's kind of like an underlying theme for me [with gay life] sprinkled throughout the videos." He sees Ellen DeGeneres as a role model: "She embodies what I want my experience to be and my influence to be, where it's a positive one, it's a happy one, it's not something about the bad parts of life or the downsides of a lot of things. She's using her influence for good, and everyone knows who she is, what she stands for, and that she is a lesbian."File:Tyler Oakley Vlogbrothers 2016 03.png video in 2016]]The Advocate in their 2014 "40 under 40: Emerging voices" says that, due to Oakley's presence on YouTube, he is the first openly gay person that many people have met. Oakley is considered one of the world's leading Celebrity influencers, having an Influencer Score of 99 from the influencer marketing software Klear.
In December 2020, Oakley announced he was taking an indefinite hiatus from making YouTube videos.{{cite news |title=Tyler Oakley Announces He's Taking an Indefinite Break from YouTube After 13 Years: 'See Ya Later' |url=https://people.com/tv/tyler-oakley-announces-hes-taking-a-break-from-youtube-after-13-years/ |newspaper=People |date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=February 9, 2021}} He is currently actively streaming on Twitch, and sporadically uploads on YouTube.
= Acting =
Oakley appeared on the YouTube Premium show Escape the Night, appearing as "The Thespian" for 10 episodes in Season 2.
= Live appearances =
In 2014, Oakley premiered a live show tour, "Tyler Oakley's Slumber Party", featuring him in pyjamas and doing skits, and interactive segments with the audience. His two initial shows in Chicago and in Royal Oak, Michigan in early October both sold out in 72 hours. In December 2014, seven dates, all on the East Coast, made up the next leg of the tour, which was expected to eventually go to 40 cities. Variety noted that the trend of "digital-native stars hitting the road for 'in-real-life' shows" had been increasing. Oakley had been a part of DigiTour's 2014 US Summer tour of YouTube and Vine personalities.{{cite journal |last=Spangler |first=Todd |title=YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Adds 7 Cities to U.S. Tour |url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/youtube-star-tyler-oakley-adds-7-cities-to-u-s-tour-1201347225/ |date=November 4, 2014 |journal=Variety |access-date=November 29, 2014}}
= Podcast =
Oakley has a podcast called Psychobabble with his best friend, Korey Kuhl. It launched in 2014 and as of 2022 has had over 400 episodes.
= Television =
On screen, Oakley has done appearances on broadcasting platforms, with some airing on national TV. He was seen on Insider Tonight, featuring co-hosts Kevin Frazier and Thea Andrews. He has interviewed live from the 2014 Kids Choice Awards red carpet, along with many other events that have him meeting and speaking to celebrities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2016/07/25/tyler-oakley-from-youtube-star-to-author-and-lgbtq-activist/|title=Tyler Oakley: From YouTube Star To Author And LGBTQ Activist|last=Schawbel|first=Dan|work=Forbes|access-date=October 6, 2017|language=en}}
Oakley, alongside best friend Korey Kuhl, competed in the 28th season of The Amazing Race, which aired in 2016.{{cite web |title=Jackson natives, YouTube stars Tyler Oakley, Korey Kuhl to appear on 'The Amazing Race' |url=http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2015/11/two_jackson_natives_youtube_bl.html |website=MLive |first=Danielle |last=Salisbury |date=November 14, 2015 |access-date=November 16, 2015}} They finished in 3rd place.{{cite web |title=Which Team Won Season 28 Of The Amazing Race|url=http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/news/1005220/the-winners-of-the-amazing-race-season-28-is-revealed/|publisher=CBS|date=March 16, 2016}} The two also participated in the 31st season of the show, which began airing on April 17, 2019.{{cite magazine | url = https://ew.com/tv/amazing-race-cast-season-31-big-brother-survivor/ | title = Meet the Amazing Race season 31 reality all-star teams | first= Dalton | last =Ross |date = April 5, 2019 | access-date = April 5, 2019 | magazine = Entertainment Weekly }} They finished in 2nd place.
In 2018, Oakley also appeared on the tenth episode of the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, where he was paired with Monét X Change for a makeover challenge.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/drag-race-recruits-social-media-influencers-for-a-middl-1826310470|title=Drag Race recruits social media influencers for a middling makeover challenge|last=Sava|first=Oliver|website=The A.V. Club|date=May 25, 2018 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/tyler-oakley-kingsley-frankie-grande-more-got-rupauls-drag-race-makeovers-you-have-to-see-the-final-results-photos-9210893|title=These Social Media Stars Got 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Makeovers & They Are SO GOOD|last=Blanton|first=Kayla|website=Bustle|date=May 29, 2018 }}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8457983/rupauls-drag-race-monet-x-change-exit-interview|title='RuPaul's Drag Race': Monet X Change Talks the Key to Lip Syncing, Working With Tyler Oakley & More|magazine=Billboard}}
Volunteering and charity
Oakley supports The Trevor Project, an organization for the prevention of suicide among LGBTQ youth.{{cite web |last=Grindley |first=Lucas |title=Tyler Oakley Could Be The First Gay Person You Ever Met |url=http://www.advocate.com/40-under-40-emerging-voices/2014/07/30/40-under-40-tyler-oakley-could-be-first-gay-person-you-ever |date=July 30, 2014 |work=The Advocate |access-date=December 2, 2014}} He interned with them in 2009, and since 2011 has co-hosted TrevorLIVE, the charity's annual red carpet event. In 2013 he raised $29,000 for his birthday in support of the Trevor Project having aimed to raise $24,000 (because it was his 24th birthday). In 2014, he raised $525,704 in a similar event, and in 2015 he raised $532,224.{{Cite news|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2015/02/11/tyler-oakley-launches-prizeo-campaign-to-raise-500000-for-the-trevor-project/|title=Tyler Oakley Launches Prizeo Campaign To Raise $500,000 For The Trevor Project|date=February 11, 2015|work=Tubefilter|access-date=October 6, 2017|language=en-US}}
Bibliography
- Binge (2015)
Awards and nominations
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|group=(2:35- 2:55)}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|5285568}}
- [https://www.wattpad.com/user/TylerOakley Tyler Oakley's official Wattpad profile]
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Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:American gay entertainers
Category:American LGBTQ rights activists
Category:American male bloggers
Category:American anti-Zionists
Category:American activists for Palestinian solidarity
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American Twitch (service) streamers
Category:American YouTube vloggers
Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners
Category:LGBTQ people from Michigan
Category:Male actors from Michigan
Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Michigan
Category:Michigan State University alumni
Category:Participants in American reality television series
Category:People from Jackson, Michigan
Category:People from Okemos, Michigan
Category:Streamy Award winners
Category:Writers from Michigan
Category:YouTube channels launched in 2007