Shay Carl Butler is one of the most popular vloggers in the world. Forbes Magazine called him "one of the most successful video entrepreneurs on YouTube." He's made videos for nine years, and his channels "shaycarl" and "SHAYTARDS" have over six million subscribers combined.
In Shay's videos, he vlogs about his family - his beautiful wife, Collette, and his five adorable children. He documents their daily adventures, from his two daughters' battle with head lice, to the birth of their latest child, to a visit to the world's biggest slip n' slide. It seems like Shay has the perfect life.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCNsQ-lLQV0]]
However, last February the father of five was caught in a sexting scandal with web cam girl Aria Nina. She posted screenshots of their private messages on Twitter, and spoke about their relationship to another big YouTube personality, Keemstar. Aria says she was a fan of Shay's channel, and he contacted her first. Their conversations started out innocent, then turned sexual. But the flirting stopped when Shay insulted Aria, making her feel like "trash and scum of the earth."
“I said, ‘Oh, your son Daxton is so cute. Like, I want your baby. Can I have him? He’s adorable.’ He’s like, ‘You’re disgusting. Don’t ever talk about my family.’ He was just completely rude. I felt like all he did was express his sexual feelings to me and I was just some dump of sex emotions.”
After the scandal, Aria teased a vlogging career, and Shay announced he was leaving the Internet for an indefinite period of time. After years of constantly posting content, the daily vlogger was going dark - and his family's YouTube channels went dark too. At the time, Shay didn't comment on the cheating, but he revealed he was battling alcoholism and would be seeking treatment.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/830958793311727616]]
Now, after nine months, Shay's finally broke his silence. In a series of Tweets, he talked about his struggle with alcoholism, depression and making "the worst mistake of [his] life."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/928111042957156352]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/928111463343865858]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/928112174395932674]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/928112604483960832]]
"For the last 9 months I’ve become well acquainted with regret, gloom, shame, remorse, hate, rage, fear and DEPRESSION! They haunt my moments.
I made the worst mistake of my life and everyone saw it. It’s been the very first time I commiserated with those that suffer suicide.
Even stood on a ledge with a handful of drapes in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. I flee from that moment constantly.
These things may crush me. Can’t hide anymore. Can’t continue to fill this shame bucket anymore. Can’t wait for forgiveness anymore."
So far the 'Shaytards' haven't returned to YouTube, but they have made a comeback on Instagram. They've posted several photos and short videos, to the delight of their fans. Their Halloween picture got almost 100,000 likes.
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba7t7eQgHNc/?taken-by=shaycarl]]
Judging from Shay's most recent Tweet, he's in a much better place.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shaycarl/status/928262280327741443]]
Some people dismiss "YouTubers" as obnoxious jackasses that have the easiest lives in the world. But they're people just like everyone else - creative, hardworking, and battling their own inner demons in the pursuit of happiness. Whether you're a fan of Shay or not, you have to appreciate how he shares it all with his audience - the good times and the bad times.
