[Update 5/18/2019:] ProJared issued another state indicating that he and his wife Heidi had previously agreed to enter into a polyamorous relationship.
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) May 18, 2019
[Original article:] YouTuber Jared “ProJared” Knabenbauer announced that he was divorcing his wife. The announcement was followed by his wife, Heidi O’Ferrall, taking to Twitter to air the couple’s dirty laundry, which had a domino effect of getting other people to air their own grievances and encounters with the YouTuber, some of which alleged misconduct on ProJared’s behalf.
It started with a tweet from ProJared on the evening of May 8th, 2019.
A statement. pic.twitter.com/qU3L0gZiPY
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) May 9, 2019
If you’re unable to read the message, Jared wrote…
“My wife Heidi and I have filed for divorce. I know this may comes as surprising and upsetting for many of you, but know that we do this so that we may both seek happiness for ourselves. During this time you may see a lot of rumors, speculation and gossip going around. I ask that you make your own observations and come to your own conclusions.
“I will add that this decision was reached after extensive individual therapy on my part and couples therapy together. With that said, this is all I plan on stating publicly regarding this matter. Heidi’s privacy, mental well-being and discretion has always been and will remain my highest priority through all of this. It is my hope that we both exit this marriage with style and grace. I plan on continuing to do everything I can on my part to make this happen.”
This created a firestorm of reactions from Jared’s wife, Heidi, who accused him of infidelity with a cosplayer named Holly Conrad.
Hollywood Life summarized most of it by including Heidi’s tweets in the story.
That said, I begged to know what I was doing that hurt him, so I could fix it. He could never give me actionable feedback. He couldn’t point to any of my current behaviors that needed to change. I spent every day desperate to please him while he gave me the silent treatment.
— Heidi O’Ferrall✨ (@AtelierHeidi) May 9, 2019
I held on to this marriage for SO LONG because I believed in his goodness and he gave me just enough false hope to keep me hooked. He insisted he was trying, if only I were better. I thought if I was humble & corrected myself, love would eventually win out.
— Heidi O’Ferrall✨ (@AtelierHeidi) May 9, 2019
Tbh I don’t even want people to hate Jared. That’s not the point. I don’t hate him. I think he needs help and I hope he gets it.
My story and pain are still valid, and being able to finally share this after a year of suppressing it is the most liberating experience I’ve ever had
— Heidi O’Ferrall✨ (@AtelierHeidi) May 9, 2019
This led to a firestorm of speculation, chatter, and for ProJared to start trending on Twitter.
Holly Conrad was then dragged into the discussion from the chatter that Heidi put out into the social media wild like a match in a dry bush during a torrid afternoon.
The flames spread and the fire rose.
Holly Conrad responded with her own series of tweets in an attempt to quell the noise on the morning of May 9th, 2019.
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. If you’ve followed me for a long time, you know that. Gonna get off twitter for a while ✌️
— 🌘ｈｏｌｌｙ 🌒 (@HollyConrad) May 9, 2019
But the cracks in Jared’s mask of celebrityhood didn’t end there. The fractures spread and split his fame like stain glass being pelted by pesky boys with a handful of pebbles.
Escalation was inevitable at this point and the social media zeitgeist devoured the drama in a whirlwind of salacious allegations.
This included people corroborating Heidi’s statements, but then taking things a step further, claiming that Jared had run his own private ring of soliciting nudes from fans via Tumblr and social media services. A few people came forward with their own stories about Jared.
i was 20 at the time, and submitted nudes to the blog and used to join him during his hentai rabbit watchroom sessions, where he’d detail in chat how horny he was watching
— zeel (@lesbianseal) May 9, 2019
i fully support and stand with his victims and hope that the piece of shit never gets to have a fanbase to exploit again
— zeel (@lesbianseal) May 9, 2019
There were a few people who did come out and claim that they were victims of Jared, including someone going by the handle of Charlie.
hey, im going to come out with my experience with jared. i will be posting evidence in this thread. pic.twitter.com/Pw0AwcjSlG
— charlie ლ(╹◡╹ლ) (@swampborzoi) May 9, 2019
Charlie’s story accompanied a story from Chai, who shared a similar experience.
cw / sexual manipulation
A small update regarding the Jared/Holly/Heidi situation, following my earlier post about it. I’ve answered the comments and questions I’m getting the most here. pic.twitter.com/bo8K3wSACr
— Chai (@chaitemporary) May 9, 2019
Jared has not acknowledged these other stories or the tales about the Tumblr groups where nudes were being exchanged, but images have been circulating across Twitter, where people claimed that they sent Jared nudes and he sent some of his fans nudes. There’s also an imgur album with some of the photos he was sending out to his fandom.
🎶 Sendin’ Nudes by Daylight, Cheatin’ on Wife by Moonlight, should have stuck to his Fleshlite, he is the one called Gamer Goon! 🎶 #ProJared pic.twitter.com/EvIItxDOi8
— GamesNosh (@GamesNosh) May 9, 2019
The irony of it all is that Jared had claimed back on June 29th, 2017 that he was a feminist, which received an ebullient response from none other than Holly Conrad.
👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌👏👏👏
— 🌘ｈｏｌｌｙ 🌒 (@HollyConrad) June 29, 2017
Previous to that Jared was lamenting his lack of female subscribers within his 890,000 person audience at the time (according to KIA). On April 13th, 2017 Jared tweeted the following.
I want everyone to feel welcome and be more appealing to all genders, but I have no idea how to go about doing that.
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) April 13, 2017
Video games have always had the incorrect stigma of it being a “boys club”, and I don’t want to be part of that stigma.
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) April 13, 2017
The fallout of all this trendy drama is that Jared has reportedly been losing a lot of his subscribers. After he attained 1 million subscribers he then saw thousands of people unsubscribing from him in light of the drama about the affairs and taking advantage of his audience for nudes.
Some people have been livestreaming Jared’s loss of subscribers, while others have been making memes of the whole ordeal.
PROJARED LOST HIS MILLION SUBS pic.twitter.com/HgiAt6QXIE
— Snoozie (@AaSnoozie) May 9, 2019
At the time of writing this article Jared’s subscriber base has dwindled down to 991,648.
Of course, this could simply be an immediate knee-jerk reaction to the drama and people who followed both Jared and Holly not liking how the divorce came about and all of the tawdry details that spilled out of the situation. It’s very possible that all of the social media attention could see Jared’s subscription numbers skyrocket when all is said and done. Then again, all of the news could have the opposite effect and people see him as a dishonest hypocrite and they unsubscribe and stay unsubscribed.
Regardless, it looks like everything that was once kept in the dark is eventually dragged kicking and screaming into the light.
(Thanks for the news tips Rala Cloft, Ebicentre and Joey the Garland)