A popular “true crime” YouTube channel has been pulling in millions of views with videos about gruesome murders. As it turns out, None of them are real.
One of those videos, titled “Husband’s Secret Gay Love Affair with Step Son Ends in Grisly Murder,” claimed to detail a gruesome crime in Littleton, Colorado. After it amassed nearly two million views, viewers reached out to local reporter Elizabeth Hernandez. But there was no record of the crime—because it never happened. The murder was entirely fabricated by a YouTube channel called True Crime Case Files that used ChatGPT and AI-generated imagery.
According to 404 Media’s Henry Larson, over 150 similar videos had been uploaded to the channel in the past year, each racking up tens of thousands of views. Other videos carried titles like “Wife Secret Affair with Neighbor’s Teenage Daughter Ends in Grisly Murder” and “Coach Gives Cheerleader HIV after Secret Affair, Leading to Pregnancy.” Hernandez contacted the police about the fake crime videos and the channel was deactivated earlier this year.
Paul (a pseudonym created by 404 Media to protect his identity) told Larson that he created the fake “true” crime news to make viewers question why they were so interested in such salacious acts. While his methods are dubious at best, the question itself stands. More than half of all Americans say they consume some form of true crime, with Crime Junkie and Dateline NBC (the original inspiration behind Paul’s videos) both among Apple’s 10 most popular podcasts of 2024.
“I’m trying to overdose the viewer on luridness, to try to confront them with the fact that they seem to be so invested in the luridness of it all,” Paul told Larson, defending his AI-generated work. “People’s secret lives, their secret affairs that are really taboo.”
The videos were popular and lucrative enough that Paul was able to work on them full time. Before his account was made unavailable, he would create up to two videos a week, each taking around 2.5 hours to finish. A YouTube spokesperson told 404 Media, “We terminated the channel in question for multiple violations of our Community Guidelines, including our policies covering child safety that prohibit the sexualization of minors.”
However, Paul still defends his videos. “True crime […] at the end of the day, it’s a form of entertainment. Viewers are watching this not to be informed about things that will affect them personally,” he told Larson. “They’re really just there to be entertained and to have a thrilling mystery with some lurid elements.”
Login to add comment
Other posts in this group
Few statements communicate a sentiment more directly than the four words Jack Dorsey, a cofounder of Twitter, posted over the weekend o
Two California Democrats have introduced a bill that would allow rideshare drivers to bargain with gig companies, including Uber and Lyft, for better pay and certain benefits.
The measur
OpenAI on Monday launched its new AI model GPT-4.1, along with smaller versions GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4.1 nano, touting major improvements i
Daters: It might be time to spring clean your dating app profile.
More than 50% of young Americans have gone on a date with someone who looked different from their profile photos, accord
Mauritania isn’t typically a major tourist destination. But its only railway has recently become the subject of a viral TikTok travel trend: riding the “Iron Ore Train.” This 437-mile journey thro
Sony said it will raise prices starting Monday for some
Tariff exemptions announced Friday on electronics like
