Ryan Kavanaugh, Harvey Weinstein, and The Downfall of Triller
* I have no affiliation with Ryan Kavanaugh, H3, Triller, or any parties. This piece is meant to serve as a deep dive into this topic, the pending Triller v. H3 lawsuit, and so forth *
In the realm of digital media, trends come and go within the blink of an eye. One day, you could be making videos from your bedroom and can become a viral sensation overnight. Some of YouTube’s biggest creators have made their way into the boxing ring, making millions while fighting actual athletes in the past few years.
The Paul Brothers
Jake and Logan Paul were among the first YouTubers to put on some boxing gloves. In 2018, I covered Logan’s unfortunate forest incident that caused what many deemed the “ Adpocalypse 2.0”. Since then, Logan has been on somewhat of a redemption tour- creating his (slightly irritatingly-named) podcast, “IMPAULSIVE.”
Since his lighting mattress fires days, Jake Paul has also been rebranding himself. Jake first stepped into the ring back in late 2018, when he fought British YouTuber Deji Olatunji. He has been in three other fights with Nate Robinson, Ben Askren, and Tyron Woodly. Jake is undefeated, which isn’t surprising considering the fights he has participated in were unfair from the jump since he usually fights retired athletes.
There have been serious allegations against Jake Paul, including sexual misconduct by The New York Times and alleged crimes, causing an FBI raid to his home in May 2020.
Jake Paul Meets Triller
What is Triller? After going to the company website, you leave more confused than before. It is a short-form video app to post content to share with friends, family, and the world. It is essentially another version of TikTok (in my opinion.)
In January 2021, Jake Paul signed a deal with Fight Club, a boxing league launched by Triller. On April 18, Jake Paul was set to box Ben Askren, a retired MMA fighter. Many YouTube creators were discussing the event, including Ethan Klein of The H3 Podcast. Before the event, Klein had mentioned he was going to stream the event without paying for it. In the clip here, Klein discusses the fight and shows a clip while occasionally pausing and giving his thoughts.
The Origin of Klein vs. Triller/Kavanaugh
Shortly after the fight, Triller handed out lawsuits to several entities that they believed illegally streamed the Jake Paul v. Ben Askren fight for a total of 100 million dollars. The H3 Podcast was among the culprits that Triller claimed did the offense mentioned above. The lawsuit was thrown out ultimately after a judge deemed it frivolous.
After the lawsuit was thrown out, Triller sued H3 a second time, now claiming copyright infringement. This is not the Klein’s first lawsuit they’ve seen regarding Fair Use. In 2017, the couple won against YouTuber Matt Hoss, who claimed that their commentary on his videos was against fair use claims. The lawsuit set a precedent for this claim in court.
Fair Use permits a party to use a copyrighted work without the copyright owner’s permission for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Who is Ryan Kavanaugh?
Ryan Kavanaugh is the former founder of the now-defunct Relativity Media and now serves as one of the higher-ups at Triller. Ryan Kavanaugh is also well versed in the world of legal battles. According to Variety in 2019, Kavanaugh’s ex-partner accused him of running a Ponzi scheme.
Ryan and Ethan have since been going back and forth within the lawsuit, highlighted on The H3 Podcast. On a September episode of the Podcast, Klein revealed that Ryan Kavanaugh sent him a threatening DM.
The Kavanaugh-Weinstein Paradox
Throughout the lawsuit, one question running through the podcast has been concerning Ryan Kavanaugh and Harvey Weinstein. I have in the past covered the Weinstein allegations and the beginnings of the #MeToo movement. Many viewers and those on the show have some trouble differentiating between the two, saying they have a striking resemblance. Kavanaugh and Weinstein have an existing relationship, as seen in the photo linked here from Getty Images.
Since this question has been plaguing the minds of so many, Love and Ethan from The H3 Podcast created a website that will aid us in answering this. The website can be found at
https://doesryankavanaughlooklikeharveyweinstein.com/
Jake Cuts Ties With Triller
Since the fight, Jake Paul shortly left Triller to sign a deal with Showtime. With the ongoing lawsuit and the loss of its big stars, it is hard to say whether Triller will stay in the public consciousness in the years to come.