“My wife Heidi [O’Ferrall] and I have filed for divorce,” online gaming personality ProJared, 33, tweeted on May 9. “During this time you may see a lot of rumors, speculation and gossip going around,” he added, and that was the understatement of the year. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Heidi, unloaded on Twitter, accusing ProJared of “f*cking Holly Conrad behind my back for months. … I have proof. Explicit conversations and photographs of their relationship, which he extensively lied to me about on many occasions.” The scandal has rocked a corner of the online streaming community. While all the JonTron fans mock ProJared and the Reddit detectives piece this scandal together, here’s the scoop on the man in the middle of it all:
1. ProJared is a YouTube personality. ProJared, born Jared Knabenbauer, is “a YouTube video game reviewer who is most known for his One Minute Reviews,” according to KnowYourMeme. His first video was posted to YouTube on Sept. 17, 2010, and as of May 2019, his main channel had over a million subscribers. In addition to these reviews, he makes longer videos, like Top 10 lists. On his Let’s Play channel, which includes videos of Jared playing video games, he has over 300k subscribers. Among some of his higher-profile videos is the 2017 interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, the then-President of Nintendo of America.
2. His wife, Holly, is a gamer and a cosplay star. “It’s good to be back in costume. Comic book Black Widow today at Louisianime!” Heidi tweeted on April 19, 2019 (h/t Heavy.com), as she posed in a very authentic Black Widow costume. While Heidi is predominantly known as a cosplay star, she also has a Twitch channel of her own.
3. Jared’s channel is part of the NormalBoots network. “NormalBoots is a collective of influential internet creators with a thriving community of people who love gaming and entertainment,” according to NormalBoots website. “With over 6.82 million engaged viewers, Continue?, Did You Know Gaming, Peanut Butter Gamer, ProJared, Satchbag’s Goods, and That One Video Gamer leverage a multitude of social platforms to provide fun and enjoyable videos, livestreams, and live events around the world.”
4. Jared’s wife accused him of cheating on her with the ex of another YouTube personality... So, here’s where this alleged cheating turns into a scandal. Heidi accused Jared of cheating on her with Holly Conrad, aka YouTube personality Commander Holly, aka the ex-wife of Ross O’Donovan, a member of the popular streamer group/channel, Game Grumps. Ross and Holly announced their split in September 2018 (“Still good friends and there’s nothing but love!” he tweeted.)
After Heidi accused Jared of cheating, Holly responded by tweeting, “If you want to believe a hyperbolic statement from someone you don’t know on the Internet with no previous background information and use it to demonize strangers, so be it. This isn’t anyone’s business but theirs. If it’s worth anything, you all know me. I’d never hurt anyone and I only want the best and happiness for those around me.”
projared cheating on his (now ex wife) heidi with holly, as in commanderholly who was married to ross rubberninja of the game grumps while pbg tells heidi that coming out about her abuse "aint it" all while people try to defend jontron in the background i… pic.twitter.com/FDFoIi9gH1
— @dracanboys !! (@dracanboys_old) May 9, 2019
5. …which is the reason why JonTron, another streamer, was also charting. “ProJared” was charting on Twitter after the allegations broke, as was another name: JonTron. JonTron, aka Jon Jafari, 29, is another YouTube video game personality, one with over 5.3 million subscribers. JonTron created the NormalBoots network with PeanutButterGamer (Austin Hargrave) in 2010 and launched the GameGrump channel with EgoRaptor (Arin Hanson) in 2012. Austin, in a move that did no one any favors, responded to Heidi’s adultery accusations by tweeting, “this ain’t it, chief.”
JonTron left Game Grumps in 2013 to focus on his own channel and, in 2017, he was ousted from NormalBoots after appearing on a livestream hosted by Sargon of Akkad, a far-right YouTube personality. He also debated politics with Twitch streamer Destiny, in which he claimed “wealthy black Americans commit more crimes than wealthy white Americans,” per Kotaku. The online backlash led to JonTron stepping down from NormalBoots, and the network stating that they would continue “with him as an honorary founder, but not as an active member.”
With all that said, schadenfreude is a real thing on Twitter. As ProJared, of NormalBoots, was accused of cheating on someone associated with the Game Grumps community, JonTron’s fans were reveling in the scandal…even though he wasn’t involved.